And the Winner Is…Yes, More & More Tony Predictions!!
June 10th, 2006The press is going nuts predicting Tony Award winners–and nearly all reporters are talking about the major horse race between Jersey Boys and The Drowsy Chaperone. Others are talking about who “will win” and “should win” in the various nomination categories. Here are some of the latest:
Newsday.com’s Linda Winer predicts the following:
Best Musical:
Should Win: Drowsy Chaperone
Will Win: Jersey Boys
On the other hand, Jersey Boys broke the curse of the jukebox musical with a thoroughly enjoyable, gracefully crafty show that tells the up-and-down story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons as if no one had ever tilled bio-pop territory before. The gifts of Des McAnuff’s direction and the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice are that they make hard things look easy.
Leading Actor, Musical:
Should win: Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd
Will win: John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys
Canada’s CBC: Many are looking forward to what is being set up as a “best musical” battle between Chaperone and Jersey Boys, about the rise of 1960s singing group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Some theatre purists have championed Chaperone — a loving tribute to and sendup of musical theatre — because it is an original creation with a new score, not based on or inspired by an existing work, as is so common with many productions these days. However, others have thrown their votes to Jersey Boys, saying the popular, well-produced and dramatically scripted show transcends its label of “jukebox musical” — a show, like Mamma Mia or the now-closed Johnny Cash musical Ring of Fire, that draws heavily from a real-life singer or band’s musical oeuvre.
NY Times: It will probably look like this: Drowsy picks up best book and score, and Jersey Boys takes home the top prize.
The category of best actor in a musical is easily one of the most competitive. But in the past few weeks John Lloyd Young, who plays — mostly sings — Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, has worked the campaign trail like a seasoned pro, even giving Katie Couric a send-off on the “Today” show. What’s more, Mr. Young, a Broadway neophyte who almost did not get the part, comes with a narrative — “a star-is-born kind of thing,” one voter said.
USAToday:
Should win: The Color Purple
Will win: The insiders’ darling Chaperone by a hair, over the popular favorite, Jersey Boys.
Will win: John Lloyd Young, for his marvelous singing, and for making Frankie Valli more of a human being than most jukebox-musical heroes.
Should win: Christian Hoff, whose Jersey boy-turned-pop star was as authentic as Young’s (and sexier).
New York Post: The Man in the Chair, who probably doesn’t even own a Four Seasons recording, will stand up to claim the Tony.
Best Actor: Tough call between JLY and Harry Connick, Jr. But Young has pulled ahead, largely because he’s been all over the place, performing Four Seasons songs at one benefit after another.
