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It's Time to Dish on the 2017 Tony Award Nominations!


It's May 2nd, 2017, aka the second most important day in any theatre nerd's year... TONY NOMINATION DAY!!! (The most important day in any theatre nerd's year is Tony Day itself, but we'll talk about that more as June 11th draws closer.)

This morning we all woke up and prepped our streaming devices so we could watch Jane Krakowski and Chris Jackson announce the nominees from this year's absolutely stacked Broadway season. That is, we watched until the Tony livestream crashed and caused mass panic nationwide. I took to Twitter, refreshing my feed every 5 seconds or so anxiously awaiting news of the nominees.

I've spent the day reading other people's tweets and posts as well as discussing the nominations with friends and family. However, I can't get enough of Tony season, so where better to continue discussion than on my very own blog? So here we go guys, and feel free to discuss and debate with me after you read my thoughts!

First off, the nominations that excite me!
  • Dear Evan Hansen gets 9 noms! I fell head over heels in love with this show almost two years ago during its world premiere at Arena Stage, and seeing it grow into this big Broadway hit has brought me so much joy. DEH deserves every bit of recognition it has received thus far. 
    • Ben Platt gives one of, if not the best, theatrical performances I have ever been lucky enough to witness, and if he doesn't win Best Actor in a Leading Role I will throw a FIT. 
    • Mike Faist's portrayal of Connor Murphy is probably one of the more underrated performances of the season, and I am THRILLED, as a fan of the show and of his, to see his work be honored. For those of you who first knew Mike as the original Morris Delancey in Newsies, you understand when I say my fansie heart exploded this morning when I saw he was nominated. 
    • Rachel Bay Jones absolutely breaks my heart as Evan's mother. Also, watching how her character has developed in the last two years has been nothing short of inspiring. She deserves this nomination, and as far as I'm concerned, she deserves that Tony. 
    • I'm so glad to see the book, the direction, and the orchestrations (LACKETY LACK!!!) all get nominated, but as I was discussing with a friend earlier, I think the projection design in this show is executed perfectly and deserves recognition. Obviously that doesn't qualify as scenic, but I think the Tonys should create a multimedia category to recognize the growing trend of using projections in theatre. 
  • Come From Away gets 7 noms! Before moving to Broadway, this show performed several out-of-town tryout runs, including at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC where I was lucky enough to see it. I was afraid all season Come From Away would get overshadowed by the buzz of larger hits like Dear Evan Hansen, Great Comet, and Anastasia. I'm relieved to see how well-received it is in NYC.
    • Jen Colella. I'm sorry, but If/Then did not showcase her talents NEAR enough. She blew me away in DC, and her Tony nom is incredibly well-deserved. In a mind-blowingly talented ensemble cast, she is a standout. 
  • Hello, Dolly! gets 10 noms! Hello, Dolly! is a show near and dear to my heart for many reasons. I knew this long-anticipated revival had to be superb. I haven't seen it yet; my tickets aren't until January, but from everything I've heard, I knew and hoped it would get an insane amount of buzz. I have no doubt it will walk away from Tony Night with a bunch of trophies. 
    • Best Choreography noms: The choreo for Holiday Inn was absolutely fantastic. Jump rope while tap dancing is not easy people - believe me, I've done it before myself. I was pleasantly surprised to see Come From Away recognized in this category as well. It is not a typical "song-and-dance" show by any stretch, but the crispness of the movement onstage is executed brilliantly. 
    • Best Actor/Actress in a Featured Role noms: Seriously are they kidding me with these?! Gavin Creel, Andrew Rannells, Kate Baldwin, Mike Faist, Rachel Bay Jones, Brandon Uranowitz, Jen Colella, Lucas Steele, Stephanie J. Block... Could they list more A-List Broadway stars into these two categories?! I don't want any of them to lose. Can there be a five-way tie?!?!
    Now, the nominations that I'm not so excited about...
    • Josh Groban: Before I start, let me qualify something here before I get annihilated by everyone. I LOVE Josh Groban. I'm a longtime fan of his. I saw his performance in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, for which he is nominated, and I very much enjoyed it. His acting was excellent and his vocals, as expected, were superb. HOWEVER. I truly believe his performance as Pierre does not constitute an Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role nomination. Granted, he is onstage for almost the entire show, but sits and observes and is hardly seen by most of the audience. A handful of times during the show he gets up from his spot in the pit, yells at Natasha or Anatole for about five minutes, sings a beautiful song, then sits back down. Not only do I not believe that necessarily constitutes a Tony nomination, I do not believe that constitutes a Tony nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role. I would like an explanation as to why the American Theatre Wing disagrees with me, and just about everyone I've talked to today. How does Josh Groban, who essentially performs for about a half an hour of the show, get nominated in the same category as, say, oh I dunno, BEN PLATT, who spends two and a half hours always onstage, engaged, speaking, singing, acting his face off, and throwing his entire emotional and physical being into his character?! I don't understand. Someone please explain the rationale to me, and I want a better explanation than "He's a celebrity with his name over the title on the marquee who can sing pretty." And that's all I'm going to say about that for now. 
    • Groundhog Day the Musical: DISCLAIMER - I hate the movie Groundhog Day. I don't understand why it's a musical. Apparently it's very good??? The West End production won two Oliviers including Outstanding New Musical, and NYC audience members seem to love it. I haven't seen Groundhog Day myself, and the only thing that's making me consider seeing it is that it walked away this morning with 10 Tony nominations. I want to find out why... but I don't want to pay $100 to find out. Someone explain!!!
    Who Got Snubbed???
    • Anastasia: Seriously. This show has been getting an insane amount of buzz since the tryout run in Hartford. How did it only walk away with two noms? The costume design nom is a no-brainer, but I thought it would get far more... at the very least, a Best Musical nom. Aside from Ben Brantley's overly-cynical review, the show received mostly good feedback from reviewers. I know this was a stacked season, but still. My homegirl Anya needs some more love!
    • Bandstand: I've been hearing a lot of buzz about this one, and it too only walked away with two noms. I've heard nothing but good things, and I even heard Tony buzz for the show's two leads, Corey Cott and Laura Osnes. Granted, I have not seen Bandstand, but the buzz I heard overhyped the amount of nominations it ended up receiving. 
    • Jennifer Laura Thompson & Will Roland: These are two actors from Dear Evan Hansen who gave wonderful performances, the former highly emotional and the latter comic relief. I was really hoping for some love to be thrown their way. For me at least, they stood out in an incredibly talented cast. I don't know who wouldn't have been nominated in their categories in their place, but I wished for recognition for them. 
    • Holiday Inn: This little show with a limited run early in the season was unfortunately forgotten come awards time, with the exception of the Best Choreography nom. It had the perfect recipe for a great Broadway show - flashy dance numbers, a dreamy leading couple (shout out to my Broadway Bae Bryce Pinkham), beautiful Irving Berlin songs, and a happy-go-lucky storyline causing everyone to leave the theatre with smiles on their faces. It deserved more recognition than what it got. 
    Those are my thoughts, what about you? What do you think was snubbed? What noms are you excited about? Tell me your thoughts in the comments! Regardless, it's important to remember that this is a time to celebrate live theatre. We are lucky to live in a time when theatre and Broadway is thriving. There is an immense amount of talent on the Great White Way right now, and to narrow it down to five or less nominees per category had to be a Herculean task given all the Tony voters had from which to choose. Regardless of who was or was not nominated, let's take this time to celebrate the arts, the importance of live theatre, and the sense of community live theatre provides all over the world. 

    Happy Tony Season 2017, everybody!!!

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