Tonys 2018 Reactions
The hashtag for the Tonys this year has been #thisisbroadway - well it seems to in fact be more of a strange year for Broadway rather than anything else.
Take the nominations for Best Musical this year - all of them have been adaptations of films or tv shows, rather than be original material. Call me a bit of a snob in that case, but come on, can you really get your head around a SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical .....? Whether you're a fan of the show or not....?
Speaking of the sponge living in a pineapple under the sea, the fluorescent bright production garnered 12 (!) nominations, but won only 1, for Best Scenic Design of a Musical. Mean Girls, the musical adaptation of the classic 2004 Tina Fey-written comedy also got 12 nominations, but failed to win a single one (so not fetch!). Frozen, the adaption of the highest grossing animated film of all time had 3 nominations, but unfortunately, Anna, Elsa, Olaf and co also came away empty handed.
So what happened?! Well, just as Robert De Niro announced "F*** TRUMP" in his speech, Tony voters seemed to go "F*** POPULARITY" to pull a massive upset - the final nominee, The Band's Visit, the least well-known of the nominees, pulled a near-Hamilton sweep after winning 10 out of its 11 nominations!
Like I said, it is definitely the least-known, being based on a true story and then a small Israeli film rather than a big Hollywood blockbuster, following an Egyptian Police Band, who get stuck in an Israeli town after taking the wrong bus; but after only seeing a few clips, even I can tell it seems the most interesting musical (despite having only having got the cast recording so far (I went straight for Frozen instead)). On the night, it won the "Triple Crown" (Best Musical, Book and Score), Best Actor in a Musical for Tony Shalhoub, Best Actress in a Musical for Katrina Lenk, Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Ari'el Satchel and loads more.
So did any more musicals get a look in? Whilst the 1 for SpongeBob was the only other new-musical win, each of the eligible revivals won at least 1 award a piece.
Firstly, winning Best Revival of a Musical, is the re-imagined prodution of Once On This Island, written by Lyn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (who also wrote the songs for Anastasia and Ragtime). I was incredibly happy about this one; I didn't think it would win as it opened in last autumn, instead of the spring like the other two nominated revivals did, plus it was also the riskier choice. But any clips on YouTube will tell you it is unlike any other staging you'll have seen, creating a Caribbean island in the middle of the Circle in the Square Theatre (which is in the round) - so well done to them!
Secondly, is the reivial of My Fair Lady, which won Best Costume Design in a Musical, and finally Carousel, which won Best Choreography (no surprise there as I've heard it is very ballet-heavy), and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Lindsay Mendez's performance as Carrie Pipperidge, beating out Mean Girls' Ashley Park (Aaaand none for Gretchen Weiners, bye!) and Dame Diana Rigg among others.
The final thing to talk about are the Plays, and in that department, it was an EXTREMLY good night for the Brits! Harry Potter and the Cursed Child won 6 awards, including Best Play, another set to add on its many Olivier wins last year. Meanwhile, following on from its run in London earlier this year, and it's Olivier wins, the National Theatre's production of Angels in America won Best Revival of a Play, along with Best Actor and Featured Actor in a Play for its stars Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane respectively. Finally, I must mention Glenda Jackson, who at the age of 82 (!), won her first Tony for Leading Actor in a Play for her performance in Three Tall Women. Her co-star Laurie Metcalf also won her second consecutive award for Featured Actress in a Play.
Who knows what Broadway will bring next season, but it certainly can't be more varied, or bonkers, than this!
Take the nominations for Best Musical this year - all of them have been adaptations of films or tv shows, rather than be original material. Call me a bit of a snob in that case, but come on, can you really get your head around a SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical .....? Whether you're a fan of the show or not....?
Speaking of the sponge living in a pineapple under the sea, the fluorescent bright production garnered 12 (!) nominations, but won only 1, for Best Scenic Design of a Musical. Mean Girls, the musical adaptation of the classic 2004 Tina Fey-written comedy also got 12 nominations, but failed to win a single one (so not fetch!). Frozen, the adaption of the highest grossing animated film of all time had 3 nominations, but unfortunately, Anna, Elsa, Olaf and co also came away empty handed.
So what happened?! Well, just as Robert De Niro announced "F*** TRUMP" in his speech, Tony voters seemed to go "F*** POPULARITY" to pull a massive upset - the final nominee, The Band's Visit, the least well-known of the nominees, pulled a near-Hamilton sweep after winning 10 out of its 11 nominations!
Like I said, it is definitely the least-known, being based on a true story and then a small Israeli film rather than a big Hollywood blockbuster, following an Egyptian Police Band, who get stuck in an Israeli town after taking the wrong bus; but after only seeing a few clips, even I can tell it seems the most interesting musical (despite having only having got the cast recording so far (I went straight for Frozen instead)). On the night, it won the "Triple Crown" (Best Musical, Book and Score), Best Actor in a Musical for Tony Shalhoub, Best Actress in a Musical for Katrina Lenk, Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Ari'el Satchel and loads more.
So did any more musicals get a look in? Whilst the 1 for SpongeBob was the only other new-musical win, each of the eligible revivals won at least 1 award a piece.
Firstly, winning Best Revival of a Musical, is the re-imagined prodution of Once On This Island, written by Lyn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (who also wrote the songs for Anastasia and Ragtime). I was incredibly happy about this one; I didn't think it would win as it opened in last autumn, instead of the spring like the other two nominated revivals did, plus it was also the riskier choice. But any clips on YouTube will tell you it is unlike any other staging you'll have seen, creating a Caribbean island in the middle of the Circle in the Square Theatre (which is in the round) - so well done to them!
Secondly, is the reivial of My Fair Lady, which won Best Costume Design in a Musical, and finally Carousel, which won Best Choreography (no surprise there as I've heard it is very ballet-heavy), and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Lindsay Mendez's performance as Carrie Pipperidge, beating out Mean Girls' Ashley Park (Aaaand none for Gretchen Weiners, bye!) and Dame Diana Rigg among others.
The final thing to talk about are the Plays, and in that department, it was an EXTREMLY good night for the Brits! Harry Potter and the Cursed Child won 6 awards, including Best Play, another set to add on its many Olivier wins last year. Meanwhile, following on from its run in London earlier this year, and it's Olivier wins, the National Theatre's production of Angels in America won Best Revival of a Play, along with Best Actor and Featured Actor in a Play for its stars Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane respectively. Finally, I must mention Glenda Jackson, who at the age of 82 (!), won her first Tony for Leading Actor in a Play for her performance in Three Tall Women. Her co-star Laurie Metcalf also won her second consecutive award for Featured Actress in a Play.
Who knows what Broadway will bring next season, but it certainly can't be more varied, or bonkers, than this!
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