2011 Tonys: Post-Awards Wrap-Up

A little post-show commentary, if you will.
(for one of the most predictably underwhelming awards shows of the year)

2011 Tony Moments:
The Good, The Bad & The Boring
in no particular order…

1. Ladies in Red

BEST/WORST: Judith Light

Like the Oscars, red was the color of choice, but unlike their movie-star counterparts, these Broadway Babies did not have the funds, nor the stylists, to make the color work. Luckily for us all, there’s Judith Light, rockin’ a 1970s-glam-crazy-grandmother-look. Love her. But someone give a girl a cheeseburger already.

2. Joel Grey who?

The Normal Heart Featured Actress winner Ellen Barkin was remorseful that she didn’t mention Joel Grey in her speech, but “my work experience was only with George.” Thus proving my theory correct that Joel Grey didn’t so much co-direct as reminisce about the days when he played Ned Weeks. Clearly he was much too busy forgetting his lines in Anything Goes.

3. Three Generations of Finch

Robert Morse! Matthew Broderick! Daniel Radcliffe!
The cast of How to Succeed offers the best production number of the evening, showcasing Rob Ashford’s super-clever and energetic choreography in “Brotherhood of Man.” Someone remind me again why Kathleen Marshall won for her tired tapping? As for D-Rad: you were robbed (of a nomination).

4. Al Pacino joins the cast of Hair

No, seriously, Al. What’s with the headband? …And the trollop?

5. Don Cheadle introduces the cast of The Scottsboro Boys

Because there weren’t any (African American) theatre actors to introduce the number (about African Americans)…?

6. Brooke Shields = Hot Mess (x2)

Expletive-happy and unable to hold a tune or remember her lines, she’s about to replace Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family. Naturally.

7. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Turns on the ZzzZzzz

I thought the point of cutting loose Julie Taymor was to make the show, um…better.

8. Bad Company

Wait a minute — that’s not Raúl Esparza! And where are all their instruments?!
This sucks.

Frances McDormand loves her job!

9. An “American Classic”

Lord love you, Frances McDormand, but surely that wasn’t your dressiest jean jacket. And I get that you LOVE your job, but you’re frightening D-Rad. Please tone down the cray-cray.

10. Most Awkward/Unfunny White Boy Rap

…goes to NPH. So much for “straightening out” these awards, buddy.

Ok, folks, that’s it for the 2011 Tony Awards!

I predicted 19 out of the 26 winners…not my best work, admittedly, but it was a good time. But not as good of a time as the 2012 Oscars will be! (Aww, yeah, get ready!)

2011 Tony Awards: Best Play

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST PLAY

1. War Horse/Good People
Nick Stafford / David Lindsay-Abaire

2. Motherf**ker with the Hat
Stephen Adly Guigis 

3. Jerusalem
Jez Butterworth 

This year’s crop of nominees is pretty fantastic, but the category itself is a complex and unfair one. Is this “Best Play” or is it “Best Production of a Play”? Why do the musical categories distinguish between the “Best Book” and “Best Musical,” but playwrights get the shaft?

When it comes down to it, this is recognized by most everyone as the “Best Production” category, and so we must treat it thusly. But since I’m not an actual voter, I can cheat and choose two winners. And so, “Best Production” goes to War Horse, but “Best Play” goes to to Good People.

Oh, Jerusalem. You came across the pond accompanied by such buzz. All the Britons loved, adored and worshipped at the alter of your creator, Jez Butterworth, and then New Yorkers seemingly followed suit, with ample praise for your worthy muse, Mark Rylance. Now, I hate to say this, because I don’t like this type of distinction, but: it must be an English thing. Because while your countrymen bestowed hyperbolic praise on your tale of Johnny “Rooster” Byron, a roguish ne’er-do-well who faces eviction from his trailer in the woods and refuses to acquiesce to authorities, stateside critics did not. Sure, nearly every review was positive-to-a rave, but it was a rave for one Mr. Rylance, without whom, your “state-of-the-nation” play would cease to have any hold over American audiences. Shakespearean ambitions (in language, themes, length) plus irregular success with said ambitions equals a good production of a promising play with a brilliant performance. Alas, this does not a Tony Award-winner make.

Motherf**ker with the Hat is a solid, funny, thoughtful work about addiction and relationships and addiction to relationships. While Anna D. Shapiro keeps the pace quick and the humor edgy, drawing solid performances out of all of her cast except for Chris Rock, you simply can’t escape the fact that this feels, looks and sounds like just about every other Stephen Adly Guirgis play. And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s also not enough to win the Tony.

If we sent Good People to London, would Britons react similarly to our reception of Jerusalem? (That Frances McDormand — so bloody fantastic!… but really, what’s the point here?) Set in Bostons’s Southie neighborhood David Lindsay-Abaire’s latest follows Margie Walsh who is facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break. Raising difficult questions with unsentimental observation and scrappy characters, Good People explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America. Relevant to our difficult economic times without ever grasping for topicality and full of intricate relationships and richly complex characters, Good People received a suitably solid and un-flashy production from director Daniel Sullivan.

But War Horse has this award on lock, despite its sentimental and predictable story of a boy and his horse in WWI. Full of overly familiar plot lines and two-dimensional characters, Nick Stafford’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel is certainly not award-worthy — but Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris‘s production is. War Horse is, by far, the most imaginative, visionary and theatrically moving work of the season. In a category full of  über-realistic nominees, its astonishing visual storytelling rightly stands out as the worthiest for New York theatre’s top award.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Musical

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST MUSICAL

1. The Book of Mormon

2. The Scottsboro Boys

3. Sister Act

4. Catch Me If You Can

Missing: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

I almost refused to include Catch Me If You Can in the ranking. With only three other nominations  – orchestrations, actor, sound design — it has zero business being included here, especially considering it booted out the super-fun, super- sassy smarty-pants Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. One of the most dreadful musicals I’ve experienced in a long, long time, there is a reason Catch Me was not recognized for its book (Terrence McNally’s cheesy ’60s variety show framing device fails all around) or score (big, brassy, and uneven), and Jack O’Brien’s production did little to improve upon the source material. In fact, the cheesy (do we see a pattern here?) production values made it all just that much more painful to watch, with its Pepto-Bismol pallette of pastels, plastic-y costumes, loud-louder-loudest sound design and showgirl choreography (Jerry Mitchell, this is not Vegas, and you are not choreographing another Peep Show). Catch Me is as shallow and soulless as they come, and the only person involved who emerges with full dignity intact is the always stellar Norbert Leo Butz.

Sister Act is consistently good, fluffy fun, despite its slim book and just-ok Menken score, but with only five nominations, its chances are slimmer than its plot.

In The Scottsboro Boys, the beloved musical duo of Kander and Ebb doesn’t fail to provide their signature eye-poppin’ musical sequences cleverly peppered with social commentary and imaginatively staged by director-choreographer Susan Stroman. But the erratically structured and toned musical misses many cues thanks to bookwriter David Thompson, and so even with a its super-healthy 12 nominations it has no shot against the mega-Mormon musical…

With a staggering 14 nominations, most of which are sure to be winners, The Book of Mormon will take home this award. This irreverent work may not attempt to reinvent or subvert the musical wheel, nor is it South Park on hilarity-inducing crack. But Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone offer a well-made, very funny, minimally offensive, brilliantly performed, completely original Broadway musical. Already declared “God’s favorite musical,” it’s sure to be Tony’s too.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Book of a Musical

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL

1. The Book of Mormon
Robert Lopez, Matt Stone, Trey Parker

2. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Alex Timbers 

3. Sister Act
Bill & Cheri Steinkellner, Douglas Carter Beane

4. The Scottsboro Boys
David Thompson

David Thompson’s work on The Scottsboro Boys is erratically dark and acute and earnest and sentimental — and regrettably, rather insubstantial (not unlike his work on Steel Pier and that other huge debacle,Thou Shalt Not). The musical tells the true story of nine African American boys accused of rape in 1930s Alabama, and of the boys’ innocence, there is no doubt  – neither in history nor in this musical re-telling of that history.  As Thompson portrays them, they are so innocent that little else matters — including who they are beyond Wrongfully Accused Black Men. These two-dimensional innocents would work if the creators had stuck with what is an inspired concept —  telling the story of the Scottsboro boys as a minstrel show – but the majority of the musical consists of incredibly earnest tragedy in which the boys are equal parts self-pity and indignation.

Apparently Bill and Cheri Steinkellner’s original book for Sister Act was such a mess that the producers were forced to bring in a show doctor, Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed), to assist in adapting the screenplay of the tremendously popular film. Beane’s mark is all over the place, with lots of funny quips one right after another, but the effort here is obvious — he’s pushing too hard for the jokes. And while the writers make sure to hit all the pertinent plot points of the movie, character development is nearly non-existent, leaving the performers, including the superb Patina Miller as Deloris Van Cartier, not much to build on.

Old Hickory gets all emo on us in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which represents the smartest and most ambitious book in this category, if a slightly erratic one. Creating strong parallels to present-day politics, writer-director Alex Timbers pulls references from all over the place to tell the tale of one of America’s most controversial presidents. The result is a sharp, irreverent spoof that is as shrewd as it is hilarious, but that also tackles too much and veers into preachy-earnestness at the end.

Strange how the year’s most offensive offering is also one of its most traditional. From the straight (well, you know what I mean) leading man with his second-act confidence-booster; to the comic, scene-stealing supporting man; to the wide-eyed ingenue love interest with her “I want” song (“Sal Tlay Ka Siti” — say it out loud), Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone ’s The Book of Mormon faithfully adheres to the traditional book musical structure. It’s a super-tight libretto that carefully follows a pair of mismatched, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Mormons are sent on a mission to squalid and violent Uganda. The characters are distinctive, the journey is clear and the jokes are hilarious.  This is certainly the most confident and consistent of the nominees.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Original Score

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1. The Scottsboro Boys
John Kander

2. The Book of Mormon
Robert Lopez 

3. Sister Act
Alan Menken

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
David Yazbek

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is terrific fun, and I enjoyed The Full Monty, so I was looking forward to Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, but unfortunately, I didn’t catch it before its January closing. Even more unfortunate, many critics likened David Yazbek’s score to Latin Muzak. Ouch.

In the 1990s, Alan Menken could do no wrong. Man was on a hot streak — The Little Mermaid (ok, that was ’89), Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Hercules. But those were all scores for Disney films, and Menken’s only had one solid theatre hit: Little Shop of Horrors. But like Little Shop, Sister Act‘s score really isn’t as magical as Menken’s ‘toon work. It’s full of flavors — soul, funk, disco — but none of them are truly satisfying, except for the proclamatory “Take Me to Heaven!” And I hate to say it, but I couldn’t possibly have been the only one missing the songs from the film (“My Guy (My God),” “I Will Follow Him”).

So the question here, of course, is: do you honor a legend or the runaway hit of the year? Tony voters will barely recollect a score they haven’t heard since at least December, though they probably won’t remember in much more detail the one they heard last week, either.

The Book of Mormon‘s plucky score — with African anthems and overly earnest ballads — by Robert Lopez (Avenue Q) lives to serve the comedy, as it should. Though it’s lively and fun, it’s not particularly memorable, so let’s hope John Kander’s work from his final collaboration with Fred Ebb (who passed away in 2004) is honored with a golden guy come Sunday night. The music of The Scottsboro Boys references jazz and gospel and, of course, cakewalks, with Kander’s signature razzle dazzle ominously highlighting the wrongness of it all as the grinning Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo softshoe the tragedy as dark comedy. A fine and melodic score, it’s certainly the worthiest here.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Play

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY

1. The Normal Heart

2. The Merchant of Venice

3. The Importance of Being Earnest

4. Arcadia

If Arcadia is Tom Stoppard’s mastework, I suppose I’m just not a Stoppard fan. But the current revival does very little to support the playwright’s strengths in lyrical language and densely-packed ideas — in this case, about mathematics, Byron and romance across the centuries. David Leveaux’s direction is entirely misguided: the performances are uneven — partially due to miscasting (Lia Williams) and partially because the actors talk at each other (Billy Crudup, nominated, and Bel Powley — why is she screeching?), as though given no motivation to connect not only what they’re saying — but to each other. The major exceptions are Raúl Esparza (not nominated) as Valentine, who appears to feel, deeply, each line he speaks, and Tom Riley (not nominated), who is quick-witted and charming as Septimus Hodge. Even the set design, with its huge openness, is bafflingly vague and unsupportive (and a dead ringer for the design of the recent The Seagull – oh wait, it’s the same designer. Right.). This Arcadia is simply a misfire all around.

You can’t go wrong with Oscar Wilde, but you can easily fail to take risks because the material is so damn witty that it’s nearly fool-proof. That’s exactly the case with Brian Bedford’s very solid, ho-hum production of The Importance of Being Earnest which originated in Stratford, Ontario two years ago.  The cast is great, the costumes are perfectly fine, and Bedford received rave reviews across the board for his hilariously dour dowager (yes, Lady Bracknell is played by — yawn — a gentleman in Victorian drag). But what it comes down to is this: whoever the marketing genius was that came up with the “Jersey Shore Gone Wilde” videos (see example below) is the one who should have directed this production. That is just the kind of winking attitude that would’ve utterly delighted the devilishly-witted Wilde.

As previously stated, director Daniel Sullivan takes the so-called comedy The Merchant of Venice and smartly draws out its most tragic undertones, starting with the dimly-hued lighting and skeletal metal set to the devastating performances, including Lily Rabe‘s wise and witty Portia and Al Pacino‘s harrowing and humanized Shylock. Sullivan’s production is sensitive, complex testament to how the problem play can work wonderfully given the right director and vision.

Equal parts hostility and heart, George C. Wolfe and Joel Grey‘s searing, minimalist production of The Normal Heart does exactly what it should do by focusing on content over context with a spare, direct design that draws out the most staggering ensemble work on Broadway, including a vigorous standout performance by Joe Mantello. It’s an astonishing example of how truly worthy plays — even less than perfect ones like the preachy-passionate Heart — can endure over time, no matter how specific to a date and place they appear to be. The Normal Heart is visceral and gripping theatre, and Broadway hasn’t been this exhilarating in a long, long time.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Musical Revival

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

1. How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying

2. Anything Goes

What is the point of this category? If there are only two revivals worthy of nomination, why bother?

Truth be told, I don’t believe Anything Goes is worthy (though just about everyone else does), and that’s said with a whole lotta disappointment, because I get a kick out of the Cole Porter classic. In fact, I think it’s the top. It’s de-lovely. It’s oh-so-easy to love.

Except this production is not.

The costumes are delightful, Sutton is delicious, but Marshall’s work is dilemma, period. This light-as-air musical should be frothy, fast-paced fun but director-choreographer Kathleen Marshall generates a drowsily-paced and largely funny-free production. The performances are uneven with the gangly Adam Godley winning the day as the prim and ridiculous Lord Evelyn Oakleigh and the seasoned Joel Grey losing with his forgetful and frail Moonface Martin, and the serviceable choreography excels only in the energetic “Blow, Gabriel, Blow.” The Queen Bee of Musical Revivals — rarely does Marshall helm a new work — this simply isn’t her finest effort. This production of a comedic gem is neither conceptually innovative or a thrilling throwback.

I’m not sure I can write any more about Rob Ashford‘s production of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying without coming off as a giddy idiot, so I’ll just say it once more: I loved it. It’s not nearly perfect, but it’s a blissfully bright Broadway musical with a full, fantastic orchestra; clever, beautifully executed choreography; and a dynamic, dedicated cast. It’s an absolute joy to watch, and I’ll be watching again on Friday. There’s no better endorsement than that.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Direction of a Play

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY

1. Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris
War Horse

2. Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe
The Normal Heart

3. Daniel Sullivan
The Merchant of Venice

4. Anna D. Shapiro
The Motherf**ker with the Hat

This is not even a competition.

But let’s pretend, for a moment, that it is. George C. Wolfe and Joel Grey‘s tight, minimalist production of The Normal Heart does exactly what it should do by focusing on content over context with a spare, direct design that draws out the the finest and most staggering ensemble work on Broadway.

Director Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County) keeps the pace quick and the intensity high in The Motherf**ker with the Hat, emphasizing an edgy humor and tense relationships that keep the play on a constant, irresistible burn. On the other hand, she favors overwrought designs — do those sets really need to revolve around so damned much? — and she’s unable to pull forth an engaging performance from a stiff Chris Rock who delivers his lines as though jokes from his stand-up routine.

One of the Bard’s most difficult works, Daniel Sullivan (Good People, Top Girls) takesThe Merchant of Venice, the so-called comedy, and smartly draws out its most tragic undertones, starting with the dimly-hued lighting and skeletal metal set to the devastating performances. Sullivan gracefully and sensitively reveals Shylock’s degredation and inner-strength in an added scene in which the Jew submits to a forced baptism, but refuses to be stripped of his dignity. It is startling in its devastation and shocking in its violation — but a microcosm of the complex production as whole.

But it’s War Horse – the rare instance on Broadway of daring artistry and collaboration — that is like nothing we’ve seen since Julie Taymor mind-erupting re-imagining of Disney’s The Lion King. Under the direction of Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, the story of a boy and his horse is told in the most beautifully complex way, played out with extraordinary, life-sized puppets; wistful projections; folksy anthems; and a dedicated, united ensemble of actors. Elliott and Morris weave all aspects together seamlessly, transforming what could have simply been a sentimental story about a boy and his horse into the most theatrically moving, visionary work of the season.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Choreography + Best Direction of a Musical

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

1.Rob Ashford
How to Succeed…

2. Susan Stroman
The Scottsboro Boys

3. Casey Nicholaw
The Book of Mormon

4. Kathleen Marshall
Anything Goes

Missing: Andy Blankenbuehler, The People in the Picture

 

BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL

1. Casey Nicholaw & Trey Parker
The Book of Mormon

2. Rob Ashford
How to Succeed…

2. Susan Stroman
The Scottsboro Boys

3. Kathleen Marshall
Anything Goes

Choreography is one of my favorite categories. Smart, sharp choreography can raise the quality of any musical — and I mean any. During Andy Blankenbuehler‘s opening sequence in The People in the Picture, I thought to myself, “This musical cannot possibly be as bad as everyone says it is…” and then of course, the book scenes began, and it all got very bad, very quickly (except for you, Donna).

The unique thing with musicals, of course, is that so often nowadays, the choreographer is also the director. This makes perfect since, as they have a more intimate sense of the rhythm and movement of a show, and they can translate that dynamic into the book scenes and vice versa. For the 2011 Tony Awards, the nominees for Best Choreography and Best Director are the same four folks (though you need to throw Trey Parker in for the other half of The Book of Mormon directing team).

But my lists rank differently for each category — so what gives?

All but one of these are dance (heavy) shows, with The Book of Mormon being the exception. Casey Nicholaw‘s terrific choreography cleverly lampoons classic musicals such as Oklahoma! and The King and I, tap dances the homosexuality right out of those peskily repressed Mormons and infiltrates dancing devils into a cracked-out nightmare sequence. While The Book of Mormon is the tightest production of all the nominees, one of the many reasons is because its directors, Nicholaw and Trey Parker, know how to manipulate and infuse the well-crafted choreography in the best possible way, and the overall effort is a nearly seamless series of laughs.

On the other hand, you can’t beat Rob Ashford‘s sexually-charged, tongue-in-cheek, modern choreography for How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. Ashford interjects movement where before there was none — dancers burst out of nowhere during “Rosemary,” with exuberant leaps and lifts that perfectly capture the high of that first, life-altering kiss — keeping the energy high and the production moving with his super-stylish, comic choreography. There are so many simultaneous, intricate stage pictures in the show-stopper “Brotherhood of Man” that unless you have an aerial view, you’re bound to miss something. The quintessential dancer’s director, Ashford is more than capable of bolstering an actor’s strengths — he draws a very fine, energetic performance out of musical newbie Daniel Radcliffe — while maintaining the integrity of the artistic work and making it his own. But at times he overcrowds the stage with busy bodies and big, Broadway movement, and the production can seem a smidge too sleek and polished. Sadly, he’ll go away empty-handed from this year’s awards.

That leaves Best Choreography to the two big guns of the dancer-director hyphenate, Marshall and Stroman. Kathleen Marshall certainly isn’t going to win Best Director for her slowly-paced, funny-free (except for Adam Godley’s stiff Brit) production that pulled a rather painful performance out of a forgetful Joel Grey. She is, however, the obvious choice of winner for choreography. If we’re playing the numbers game, Anything Goes is the biggest show with the biggest cast and the most musical numbers to dance through — not to mention a crew of tapping sailors, a Broadway dancer-icon and dozens of the best showtunes to shake a tail feather to. She, more than any other nominee, has a distinct — one may even say unfair — edge, and so it’s inevitable she take home the Tony for her choreography that is neither groundbreaking nor all that thrilling.

Susan Stroman, on the other hand, demonstrated much more creativity in the choreography department. Her work in The Scottsboro Boys was a surprising amalgamation of styles — line dances, cake walks and even a thrillingly inspired electric-chair tap-dance — that managed to find humor in even the most tragic situations. When creating a singular moment, she shined, but as a whole, the show was uneven: Stroman never quite figured out how to balance the distancing, disturbing effects of the minstrelsy with the overly earnest, underdeveloped book scenes. She’ll walk away with zero awards come Sunday night.

2011 Tony Awards: Best Actress in a Play

Note: My personal rankings are listed in order from best to worst, with #1 being my favorite, while predictions for the actual winner will be in orange.

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY

1. Nina Arianda
Born Yesterday 

2. Frances McDormand
Good People

3. Lily Rabe
The Merchant of Venice

4. Hannah Yelland
Brief Encounter

Vanessa Redgrave
Driving Miss Daisy

I didn’t see Driving Miss Daisy (I saw it more times than any reasonable person should when I interned a regional production many moons ago), but Vanessa Redgrave received such mix reviews that it’s cleary Tony was scraping for a fifth nominee with her.

And apparently a fourth as well. After almost a year of listening to countless raves and constant gushing over the “most magical” show in New York, I finally got myself to Studio 54 to see Brief Encounter. Neither the show, based on the much-adored Noel Coward film about a woman who meets a stranger in a railway station and is tempted cheat on her husband, nor Hannah Yelland‘s performance thrilled me as I thought they would. With so much “stage magic,” Yelland was like an actor in front of a green screen — there to assist the spectacle, not the other way around. The entire production strained to be romantic and lush and imaginative, and with such a skeleton of a book, Yelland had not much to do but emote by swinging across the stage on a chandelier to denote the ecstasy of love. With all that theatre going on, who’s got time to act?

Lily Rabe made for a supremely wise and witty Portia in The Merchant of Venice. Holding her own sharing the stage with force-of-nature Al Pacino, she infuses the trial scene with an anger and strength that rivets, and she walks away the winner. If the production hadn’t closed in February, Rabe would be considered much, much stronger competition for the movie star and the rising star that have since entered the scene.

How does Frances McDormand do it? Critics rave, audiences flock, and there she is, performing raw desperation and unapologetic pride with such un-showy humility that it looks the most natural thing in the world. She plays Margie, a life-long Southie gal, recently unemployed, caring for her mentally-challenged daughter. This tough cookie could easily by dislikable and unsympathetic, but not in the able hands of McDormand. Margie is pigheaded and confrontational, but McDormand carefully chips away at her armor, revealing that the layer of skin underneath isn’t so thick after all. It’s a stunning, multi-faceted performance.

McDormand’s is the performance you think will win, and you believe she deserves it too. But then you can’t help but fall giddily in love with the fresh-faced, bubbly talent of Nina Arianda. The recent NYU grad is pure comic joy as the giggly blonde bombshell who betters her mind through self-discipline and the careful dedication of her teacher-reporter in the revival of Born Yesterday. Lushly dressed in a flowy satin blouse and bold empire-waist trousers (thank you, Catherine Zuber), Arianda commands the stage with her brilliant comedic sensibility: each gutteral giggle and wide-eyed knee-slap elicits the same in us, and her innocence, crassness, joy, confusion, and honesty reveals a layered complexity that exists nowhere else in this production. Whether she’s absentmindedly humming “Anything Goes” to her own pitchy tune, or confidently defining “peninsula” as “that new medicine,” Arianda simply sparkles, giving life to an otherwise serviceable revival. Everyone is entirely taken with her, and Tony should be no exception.