A critic’s picks in a hard-to-predict Broadway year, plus nods to shows from Off Broadway and other, odder corners.
Though I see hundreds of shows a year, I’m not a seer. Nor am I the kind of theater lover who easily sorts treasured experiences into tranches of good, better and best. Nevertheless, here I am with prognostications and preferences for the Tony Awards that will be given out on June 12.
The Will Win category simply lists my predictions in a hard-to-predict year. The Should Win category indicates how I would vote if I were allowed to, with an exception: I get more wiggle room, including the chance to select two “winners” in some cases. Even then, I was often torn, cherishing nearly equally some shows and artists likely to win and some that weren’t nominated at all.
Which brings us to the Should Have Been Nominated category. A larkish Times tradition allows me to include not just other work seen on Broadway but also (as indicated by an asterisk) artists and productions hailing from Off Broadway and other, odder climes.
Potential “nominees” in this category are always too numerous to acknowledge — and this year I’m skipping some I’ll probably get to champion next year, like the cast and team behind “Kimberly Akimbo,” a terrific musical that played at the Atlantic Theater Company this past winter and transfers to Broadway in the fall.
But even then I wanted to celebrate more of the work that helped us feel less alone in a chaotic year — hence my introduction of a noncanonical best ensemble category. After all, this was a season when merely making theater was a victory.
Best Play
WILL WIN
“The Lehman Trilogy”
SHOULD WIN
“Skeleton Crew”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
“Dana H.”
“Pass Over”
“A Case for the Existence of God”*
The 2022 Tony Awards
This year’s awards, which will be given out on June 12, are the first to recognize shows that opened following the long pandemic shutdown of Broadway’s theaters.
- Season in Review: Thirty-four productions braved the pandemic to open under the most onerous conditions.
- Game of Survival: During a time unlike any other, productions showed their resourcefulness while learning how to live with Covid.
- A Tony Nominee: Myles Frost is drawing ovations nightly on Broadway with his performance in “MJ,” a musical about Michael Jackson’s creative process.
- The Missing Category: This Covid-stalked Broadway season has made clear that a prize for best ensemble should be added, our critic writes.
Best Musical
WILL WIN
“A Strange Loop”
SHOULD WIN
“Girl From the North Country”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
“Oratorio for Living Things”*
Best Play Revival
WILL WIN
“Trouble in Mind”
SHOULD WIN
“Trouble in Mind”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
“Cyrano de Bergerac”*
“Wedding Band”*
Best Musical Revival
WILL WIN
“Company”
SHOULD WIN
“Caroline, or Change”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
“Into the Woods”*
Best Actor in a Play
WILL WIN
Simon Russell Beale, “The Lehman Trilogy”
SHOULD WIN
David Threlfall, “Hangmen”
or
David Morse, “How I Learned to Drive”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Jon Michael Hill, “Pass Over”
James McAvoy, “Cyrano de Bergerac”*
Best Actress in a Play
WILL WIN
LaChanze, “Trouble in Mind”
SHOULD WIN
Deirdre O’Connell, “Dana H.”
or
Mary-Louise Parker, “How I Learned to Drive”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Emily Davis, “Is This a Room”
Mary Wiseman, “At the Wedding”*
Brittany Bradford, “Wedding Band”*
Best Actor in a Musical
WILL WIN
Myles Frost, “MJ”
SHOULD WIN
Jaquel Spivey, “A Strange Loop”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Jay O. Sanders, “Girl From the North Country”
Best Actress in a Musical
WILL WIN
Joaquina Kalukango, “Paradise Square”
SHOULD WIN
Sharon D Clarke, “Caroline, or Change”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Kearstin Piper Brown, “Intimate Apparel”*
Best Featured Actor in a Play
WILL WIN
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Take Me Out”
SHOULD WIN
Chuck Cooper, “Trouble in Mind”
or
Ron Cephas Jones, “Clyde’s”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Brandon J. Dirden, “Skeleton Crew”
Brandon J. Dirden, “Take Me Out”
Tony Awards: The Best New Musical Nominees
The 2022 nominees. The race for best new musical at the Tony Awards — traditionally the most financially beneficial prize — is a broad six-way contest this year. Here’s a closer look at each nominee:
Best Featured Actress in a Play
WILL WIN
Phylicia Rashad, “Skeleton Crew”
SHOULD WIN
Phylicia Rashad
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Gaby French, “Hangmen”
Evelyn Miller, “Cyrano de Bergerac”*
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
WILL WIN
Matt Doyle, “Company”
SHOULD WIN
John-Andrew Morrison, “A Strange Loop”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Claybourne Elder, “Company”
Austin Scott, “Girl From the North Country”
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
WILL WIN
Patti LuPone, “Company”
SHOULD WIN
Patti LuPone
or
Jennifer Simard, “Company”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Julia Lester, “Into the Woods”*
Best Director of a Play
WILL WIN
Sam Mendes, “The Lehman Trilogy”
SHOULD WIN
Sam Mendes
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Tina Satter, “Is This a Room”
Best Director of a Musical
WILL WIN
Marianne Elliott, “Company”
SHOULD WIN
Conor McPherson, “Girl From the North Country”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Michael Longhurst, “Caroline, or Change”
Lee Sunday Evans, “Oratorio for Living Things”*
Best Book of a Musical
WILL WIN
Michael R. Jackson, “A Strange Loop”
SHOULD WIN
Michael R. Jackson
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, “Six”
Best Score
WILL WIN
Michael R. Jackson, “A Strange Loop”
SHOULD WIN
Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, “Six”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Heather Christian, “Oratorio for Living Things”*
Best Choreography
WILL WIN
Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ”
SHOULD WIN
Camille A. Brown, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
Michelle Dorrance, “Flying Over Sunset”
Best Ensemble
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED
The six queens of “Six”
The seven colors of “For Colored Girls”
The 12 singers of “Oratorio for Living Things”*
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
