With the 2016-17 Broadway season already half over, I thought I’d give a roundup of the overall response to each production as well as their current chances at next year’s Tony Awards. I can’t give you my personal opinions on any of the shows because I haven’t seen them since I don’t live in New York. I’ve lined up each production under the following categories they’ll be eligible for at the Tonys.
Best Musical:
It seems like we already have a great horse race between two shows for Best Musical. What would be so interesting about this Tony race is that the race for Best Musical is usually between a critical juggernaut and a commercial juggernaut (Thoroughly Modern Millie vs. Urinetown; Newsies vs. Once). At this point, the race is shaping up to be between two critical juggernauts that transferred from off-Broadway to Broadway, and are currently doing good business at the box office. This race could potentially be as exciting as The Lion King vs. Ragtime, An American in Paris vs. Fun Home, etc. What are the two shows I’m talking about?
Dear Evan Hansen-On paper, you’d think that a completely original musical opening in the fall about a lonely teenage boy who becomes involved with a family tragedy after their teenage son committed suicide would have a really hard time finding an audience. Yet, the new musical Dear Evan Hansen is proving to be very popular among critics and audiences alike with a $10,000,000 advance. Do expect this to be a strong contender at the Tonys this spring. Not to mention that within these past two years, there’s been a star-making performance that may have opened in the fall, but would constantly be raved about all season long. Two years ago, it was Alex Sharp in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; he went on to win the Tony for Best Lead Actor in a Play. Last year, it was Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple; she went on to win the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. This year, it’s Ben Platt, who already appears to be a strong frontrunner for Best Lead Actor in a Musical as the title character of Evan Hansen. Adam Feldman of Time Out New York even tweeted that Ben Platt’s performance is up there with Alan Cumming’s in Cabaret, Nathan Lane’s in The Producers, and Hugh Jackman’s in The Boy From Oz. Not to mention that the young songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul should have lots to celebrate along with this: their movie musical La La Land gaining enormous Oscar buzz and principal photography beginning on their next movie musical, The Greatest Showman on Earth.
Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812-After a series of three prior productions, the Broadway premiere of Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 has delivered all around. It’s currently grossing over $1,000,000 a week (thanks to Josh Groban), and earned rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. I can already see it being a strong contender come Tony season. I also think the three Tonys it already has a great shot at winning are Best Direction of a Musical for Rachel Chavkin, Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Bradley King, and Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Mimi Lien all for turning the inside of the Imperial Theatre into the world of the musical.
As for the other new musicals that opened this season...
A Bronx Tale-While the new musical adaptation of Chazz Palminteri’s one-man show has so far been doing pretty good at the box office, the overall response to the show itself has been mixed. There were some nice reviews thrown in from some of the critics, including one from Charles Isherwood of The New York Times. He felt that even though the show was flawed, he still liked it well enough to give it a Critic’s Pick. With all of that being said, I’m still don’t see what kind of nominations A Bronx Tale could receive come awards season. There are some creative individuals who’ve been nominated several times before. Tony-Winning composer Alan Menken is a frequent nominee for Best Original Score (Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Newsies*, and Aladdin); Three-Time Tony-Winning orchestrator Doug Besterman is a frequent nominee for Best Orchestrations, but he already has two more productions coming this season (Anastasia and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory); Two-Time Tony-Winning lighting designer Howell Binkley is a frequent nominee for Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jersey Boys*, In the Heights, West Side Story (2009), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011), After Midnight, and Hamilton*); And Six-Time Tony-Winning costume designer William Ivey Long is a frequent nominee for Best Costume Design. But I’m not sure if any of their name recognition will end up being enough to gain support from Tony nominators, especially with a lot of the competition coming in the spring.
Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical-The response may have been mixed on Roundabout’s production of this stage adaptation of the 1942 film musical, but there are aspects of it that received glowing notices from critics. High School Musical star Corbin Bleu, who previously appeared on Broadway as replacements in In the Heights and the most recent revival of Godspell wowed everyone as a song-and-dance man in the Fred Astaire role from the original film. He could be remembered with a Tony nomination this spring for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. The critics also singled out Denis Jones for his choreography. If you’ve seen the recent performance by the cast on Macy’s Parade, you could see why. He might just land a Tony nomination this spring for Best Choreography. Larry Blank might be remembered as well in Best Orchestrations for taking on Irving Berlin’s beloved songs from the American canon. Alejo Vietti could also be remembered in Best Costume Design of a Musical for the number of holiday outfits he designed.
In Transit-The response to the first a cappella musical has been pretty average. Ben Brantley of The New York Times even compared the show to Care Bears. With In Transit currently running in one of the smallest theatres on Broadway, its grosses have been pretty low, but at least they’re doing well in terms of capacity. I wouldn’t expect this show to not only stick around long, but also receive any kind of awards recognition whatsoever.
Paramour-While the very first Broadway musical from Cirque du Soleil has been running since May to decent grosses, yet mixed capacity (it is currently playing in one of the largest venues on Broadway). As for the response to the show itself, not any good. I wouldn’t expect this show to mentioned anywhere when Tony nominations are announced on May 2nd, 2017. Paramour is set to play its final performance on April 16th, 2017 as the Lyric Theatre will be undergoing some renovations (most likely for the Broadway transfer of Harry Potter & the Cursed Child), but the producers are planning to move it into another venue.
Best Play:
There weren’t a lot of new plays that debuted this past fall. There will be many more opening in the spring. At this point, the only new play from this season that has a great chance of getting recognized by the Tony nominators this spring is...
Heisenberg-This two-hander from Simon Stephens, the award-winning playwright of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has so far proven to be the best reviewed new play of the season. Many of the critics felt that Mary-Louise Parker gave her best theatrical performance since her Tony-Winning role in Proof. Veteran actor Denis Arndt, who at age 77 manages to give a successful Broadway debut. While there are still several productions we have yet to see from more high profiled theatre directors, Mark Brokaw might have a chance of receiving his very first Tony nomination for Best Direction of a Play.
As for the other ‘new plays’ that opened so far this season...
The Encounter-Simon McBurney’s immersive one-man theatrical experience mostly good reviews from critics. But sadly, the two categories it would have done well in at the Tonys (Best Special Theatrical Event and Best Sound Design) have been retired.
Oh, Hello on Broadway-While this new comedy from Nick Kroll and John Mulaney did receive mostly favorable reviews from critics, it likely still won’t be nominated for Best Play as that it has no snob appeal. While some comedies have been nominated for Best Play in the past such as Hand to God, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (the latter actually winning the award in 2013), they still had dramatic and emotional substances inside of them. I think the most likely fate this play will have at the Tonys is Nick Kroll and John Mulaney appearing during the telecast as their alter egos Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland.
Best Revival of a Musical:
If there were five or less eligible musical revivals this season, the nominators would've only been given three slots to fill for Best Revival of a Musical. A fourth slot would've only been possible if there was a close race between two shows in the nominating process within three votes or less. But as there are currently six eligible musical revivals that are on/set for Broadway this season, the Tony nominators will be given four slots to fill. We have four more revivals coming in the spring (Hello, Dolly!, Miss Saigon, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sunset Boulevard), but let’s talk about the first two, shall we?
Cats-The very first Broadway revival of Cats has been running since last summer, its grosses have been pretty good, but the response has been underwhelming. It already looks like Cats will be completely left out of next year’s Tony Awards not just because of its response, but also because it really is more of a remounting of the original production with some tweaks and additions. Not to mention that the new choreography by Two-Time Tony Winner Andy Blankenbuehler won’t even be eligible for Best Choreography.
Falsettos-Lincoln Center Theatre’s revival of Falsettos received mostly positive reviews from critics, with all-out raves for Stephanie J. Block and kind words for Andrew Rannells and child actor Anthony Rosenthal. Some were more reserved about Christian Borle, and David Rockwell’s set elicited a split opinion, some thought it worked well as a metaphor for characters shaping their lives in a changing world, while others thought it was just ugly. In any case, the production which is scheduled to run through January 8th seems to have a chance of being remembered by the Tony nominators this spring. It may not win anything since it will be long gone by the time next year’s Tony Awards rolls around, but I think it could be nominated for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Stephanie J. Block, and Best Direction of a Musical for James Lapine. I’d also keep an eye out on Brandon Uranowitz as a possible nominee for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as I’ve heard great things about his performance as well. As for Christian Borle, he already has another Broadway show lined up for the spring (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), so if he does well there, that might be the one Tony nomination he’ll receive this season.
Best Revival of a Play:
So far, we’re not off to a great start for play revivals this season. We shall see how the rest of them will turn out in the spring, but for the ones that already opened...
The Cherry Orchard-Before Roundabout’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard started performances, there was a lot of anticipation for it based strictly on the talent involved. Updated text by Stephen Karam, the award-winning playwright of The Humans, and an all-star cast featuring Diane Lane, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Joel Grey, John Glover, Chuck Cooper, Tavi Gevinson, and many more. With all of those ingredients on paper, you’d think “What could go wrong?” Bringing British theatre director Simon Godwin on board to direct a production that’ll leave critics and audiences feeling dismissed by it. Even Ben Brantley of The New York Times felt that the production was “terminally confused” and “the most clueless interpretation of Chekhov I have seen.” Considering the mostly underwhelming response, don’t expect The Cherry Orchard to receive any Tony nominations in the spring.
The Front Page-Producer Scott Rudin actually came up with a clever idea by having the critics come to review this production on opening night as opposed to a later preview performance (which was actually how Broadway shows were reviewed in the old days). As for the response itself, there was quite a bit of talk about too much exposition and the play not having aged well. However, the notices were positive overall with generous praise for the cast, especially Nathan Lane, who may just earn himself another Tony nomination this spring for Best Featured Actor in a Play (since his character apparently doesn’t even show up in the three-act comedy until near the end of Act II). And from the photos I’ve seen, Douglas W. Schmidt might also have a shot at a nomination for Best Scenic Design of a Play.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses-This new production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses came to Broadway after an acclaimed run in London, but it wasn’t as acclaimed on this side of the pond. The overall response has really divided the critics. The best received aspects of this production were the overall design aspects, and a breakout performance by Birgitte Hjort Sorensen. The most respect this production could end up receiving from Tony nominators this spring will probably be Best Featured Actress in a Play for Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, Best Lighting Design of a Play for Mark Henderson, Best Scenic and Costume Design of a Play both for Tom Scutt (who I still have no idea how his costumes for King Charles III last year were even nominated).
So like I said, some of these productions could be receiving Tony nominations in the spring, others, not so much. What do you think?
Best Musical:
It seems like we already have a great horse race between two shows for Best Musical. What would be so interesting about this Tony race is that the race for Best Musical is usually between a critical juggernaut and a commercial juggernaut (Thoroughly Modern Millie vs. Urinetown; Newsies vs. Once). At this point, the race is shaping up to be between two critical juggernauts that transferred from off-Broadway to Broadway, and are currently doing good business at the box office. This race could potentially be as exciting as The Lion King vs. Ragtime, An American in Paris vs. Fun Home, etc. What are the two shows I’m talking about?
Dear Evan Hansen-On paper, you’d think that a completely original musical opening in the fall about a lonely teenage boy who becomes involved with a family tragedy after their teenage son committed suicide would have a really hard time finding an audience. Yet, the new musical Dear Evan Hansen is proving to be very popular among critics and audiences alike with a $10,000,000 advance. Do expect this to be a strong contender at the Tonys this spring. Not to mention that within these past two years, there’s been a star-making performance that may have opened in the fall, but would constantly be raved about all season long. Two years ago, it was Alex Sharp in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; he went on to win the Tony for Best Lead Actor in a Play. Last year, it was Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple; she went on to win the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. This year, it’s Ben Platt, who already appears to be a strong frontrunner for Best Lead Actor in a Musical as the title character of Evan Hansen. Adam Feldman of Time Out New York even tweeted that Ben Platt’s performance is up there with Alan Cumming’s in Cabaret, Nathan Lane’s in The Producers, and Hugh Jackman’s in The Boy From Oz. Not to mention that the young songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul should have lots to celebrate along with this: their movie musical La La Land gaining enormous Oscar buzz and principal photography beginning on their next movie musical, The Greatest Showman on Earth.
Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812-After a series of three prior productions, the Broadway premiere of Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 has delivered all around. It’s currently grossing over $1,000,000 a week (thanks to Josh Groban), and earned rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. I can already see it being a strong contender come Tony season. I also think the three Tonys it already has a great shot at winning are Best Direction of a Musical for Rachel Chavkin, Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Bradley King, and Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Mimi Lien all for turning the inside of the Imperial Theatre into the world of the musical.
As for the other new musicals that opened this season...
A Bronx Tale-While the new musical adaptation of Chazz Palminteri’s one-man show has so far been doing pretty good at the box office, the overall response to the show itself has been mixed. There were some nice reviews thrown in from some of the critics, including one from Charles Isherwood of The New York Times. He felt that even though the show was flawed, he still liked it well enough to give it a Critic’s Pick. With all of that being said, I’m still don’t see what kind of nominations A Bronx Tale could receive come awards season. There are some creative individuals who’ve been nominated several times before. Tony-Winning composer Alan Menken is a frequent nominee for Best Original Score (Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Newsies*, and Aladdin); Three-Time Tony-Winning orchestrator Doug Besterman is a frequent nominee for Best Orchestrations, but he already has two more productions coming this season (Anastasia and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory); Two-Time Tony-Winning lighting designer Howell Binkley is a frequent nominee for Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jersey Boys*, In the Heights, West Side Story (2009), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011), After Midnight, and Hamilton*); And Six-Time Tony-Winning costume designer William Ivey Long is a frequent nominee for Best Costume Design. But I’m not sure if any of their name recognition will end up being enough to gain support from Tony nominators, especially with a lot of the competition coming in the spring.
Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical-The response may have been mixed on Roundabout’s production of this stage adaptation of the 1942 film musical, but there are aspects of it that received glowing notices from critics. High School Musical star Corbin Bleu, who previously appeared on Broadway as replacements in In the Heights and the most recent revival of Godspell wowed everyone as a song-and-dance man in the Fred Astaire role from the original film. He could be remembered with a Tony nomination this spring for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. The critics also singled out Denis Jones for his choreography. If you’ve seen the recent performance by the cast on Macy’s Parade, you could see why. He might just land a Tony nomination this spring for Best Choreography. Larry Blank might be remembered as well in Best Orchestrations for taking on Irving Berlin’s beloved songs from the American canon. Alejo Vietti could also be remembered in Best Costume Design of a Musical for the number of holiday outfits he designed.
In Transit-The response to the first a cappella musical has been pretty average. Ben Brantley of The New York Times even compared the show to Care Bears. With In Transit currently running in one of the smallest theatres on Broadway, its grosses have been pretty low, but at least they’re doing well in terms of capacity. I wouldn’t expect this show to not only stick around long, but also receive any kind of awards recognition whatsoever.
Paramour-While the very first Broadway musical from Cirque du Soleil has been running since May to decent grosses, yet mixed capacity (it is currently playing in one of the largest venues on Broadway). As for the response to the show itself, not any good. I wouldn’t expect this show to mentioned anywhere when Tony nominations are announced on May 2nd, 2017. Paramour is set to play its final performance on April 16th, 2017 as the Lyric Theatre will be undergoing some renovations (most likely for the Broadway transfer of Harry Potter & the Cursed Child), but the producers are planning to move it into another venue.
Best Play:
There weren’t a lot of new plays that debuted this past fall. There will be many more opening in the spring. At this point, the only new play from this season that has a great chance of getting recognized by the Tony nominators this spring is...
Heisenberg-This two-hander from Simon Stephens, the award-winning playwright of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has so far proven to be the best reviewed new play of the season. Many of the critics felt that Mary-Louise Parker gave her best theatrical performance since her Tony-Winning role in Proof. Veteran actor Denis Arndt, who at age 77 manages to give a successful Broadway debut. While there are still several productions we have yet to see from more high profiled theatre directors, Mark Brokaw might have a chance of receiving his very first Tony nomination for Best Direction of a Play.
As for the other ‘new plays’ that opened so far this season...
The Encounter-Simon McBurney’s immersive one-man theatrical experience mostly good reviews from critics. But sadly, the two categories it would have done well in at the Tonys (Best Special Theatrical Event and Best Sound Design) have been retired.
Oh, Hello on Broadway-While this new comedy from Nick Kroll and John Mulaney did receive mostly favorable reviews from critics, it likely still won’t be nominated for Best Play as that it has no snob appeal. While some comedies have been nominated for Best Play in the past such as Hand to God, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (the latter actually winning the award in 2013), they still had dramatic and emotional substances inside of them. I think the most likely fate this play will have at the Tonys is Nick Kroll and John Mulaney appearing during the telecast as their alter egos Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland.
Best Revival of a Musical:
If there were five or less eligible musical revivals this season, the nominators would've only been given three slots to fill for Best Revival of a Musical. A fourth slot would've only been possible if there was a close race between two shows in the nominating process within three votes or less. But as there are currently six eligible musical revivals that are on/set for Broadway this season, the Tony nominators will be given four slots to fill. We have four more revivals coming in the spring (Hello, Dolly!, Miss Saigon, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sunset Boulevard), but let’s talk about the first two, shall we?
Cats-The very first Broadway revival of Cats has been running since last summer, its grosses have been pretty good, but the response has been underwhelming. It already looks like Cats will be completely left out of next year’s Tony Awards not just because of its response, but also because it really is more of a remounting of the original production with some tweaks and additions. Not to mention that the new choreography by Two-Time Tony Winner Andy Blankenbuehler won’t even be eligible for Best Choreography.
Falsettos-Lincoln Center Theatre’s revival of Falsettos received mostly positive reviews from critics, with all-out raves for Stephanie J. Block and kind words for Andrew Rannells and child actor Anthony Rosenthal. Some were more reserved about Christian Borle, and David Rockwell’s set elicited a split opinion, some thought it worked well as a metaphor for characters shaping their lives in a changing world, while others thought it was just ugly. In any case, the production which is scheduled to run through January 8th seems to have a chance of being remembered by the Tony nominators this spring. It may not win anything since it will be long gone by the time next year’s Tony Awards rolls around, but I think it could be nominated for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Stephanie J. Block, and Best Direction of a Musical for James Lapine. I’d also keep an eye out on Brandon Uranowitz as a possible nominee for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as I’ve heard great things about his performance as well. As for Christian Borle, he already has another Broadway show lined up for the spring (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), so if he does well there, that might be the one Tony nomination he’ll receive this season.
Best Revival of a Play:
So far, we’re not off to a great start for play revivals this season. We shall see how the rest of them will turn out in the spring, but for the ones that already opened...
The Cherry Orchard-Before Roundabout’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard started performances, there was a lot of anticipation for it based strictly on the talent involved. Updated text by Stephen Karam, the award-winning playwright of The Humans, and an all-star cast featuring Diane Lane, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Joel Grey, John Glover, Chuck Cooper, Tavi Gevinson, and many more. With all of those ingredients on paper, you’d think “What could go wrong?” Bringing British theatre director Simon Godwin on board to direct a production that’ll leave critics and audiences feeling dismissed by it. Even Ben Brantley of The New York Times felt that the production was “terminally confused” and “the most clueless interpretation of Chekhov I have seen.” Considering the mostly underwhelming response, don’t expect The Cherry Orchard to receive any Tony nominations in the spring.
The Front Page-Producer Scott Rudin actually came up with a clever idea by having the critics come to review this production on opening night as opposed to a later preview performance (which was actually how Broadway shows were reviewed in the old days). As for the response itself, there was quite a bit of talk about too much exposition and the play not having aged well. However, the notices were positive overall with generous praise for the cast, especially Nathan Lane, who may just earn himself another Tony nomination this spring for Best Featured Actor in a Play (since his character apparently doesn’t even show up in the three-act comedy until near the end of Act II). And from the photos I’ve seen, Douglas W. Schmidt might also have a shot at a nomination for Best Scenic Design of a Play.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses-This new production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses came to Broadway after an acclaimed run in London, but it wasn’t as acclaimed on this side of the pond. The overall response has really divided the critics. The best received aspects of this production were the overall design aspects, and a breakout performance by Birgitte Hjort Sorensen. The most respect this production could end up receiving from Tony nominators this spring will probably be Best Featured Actress in a Play for Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, Best Lighting Design of a Play for Mark Henderson, Best Scenic and Costume Design of a Play both for Tom Scutt (who I still have no idea how his costumes for King Charles III last year were even nominated).
So like I said, some of these productions could be receiving Tony nominations in the spring, others, not so much. What do you think?