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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tony Talk: Our final winner predictions in all 26 categories, including competitive Best Actress in a Musical and Best Play Revival
Welcome to Tony Talk, a column in which Gold Derby contributors Sam Eckmann and David Buchanan offer Tony Awards analysis. In the final week of the 2024-2025 Broadway season, we debate our winner predictions for the biggest prizes and in the most hotly contested categories for one last time. The Tony Awards air Sunday on CBS and Paramount+. David Buchanan: We are now just days away from the Tony Awards, so it's time for us to offer our (nearly) final predictions! For such an incredible season on Broadway, it seems like a lot of the top categories have coalesced around one contender. I think we're both in agreement that Maybe Happy Ending is far and away the favorite for Best Musical. I know there has been growing support for Death Becomes Her in the past two weeks, but not enough to displace those beloved Helperbots, right? More from GoldDerby 'Only Murders in the Building' Emmy odds for Selena Gomez, the Martins, and all those guest stars 'Dune: Prophecy' showrunner teases the Fremen and which books Season 2 could cover Eriq La Salle on developing 'On Call's' 'imperfect' hybrid style and returning to acting Sam Eckmann: Yes, I'm feeling super confident about Maybe Happy Ending taking Best Musical. Death Becomes Her has become a popular alternate, but with no actual guaranteed wins, it isn't favored enough to overcome the androids in one of the biggest Broadway success stories of the season. Speaking of unlikely successes, I'm also certain that Cole Escola's radically queer camp-fest Oh, Mary! will take Best Play. It's one of the strongest lineups we've ever seen in this category, but that's also why it's so hard for anything to surpass Mary Todd Lincoln here: voters are in love with them all and not coalescing around a single alternative. Do you think the revival races are as clear cut?Buchanan: I agree on Oh, Mary! for Best Play. There are two potential challengers — Purpose and John Proctor Is the Villain — and if voters go somewhere else, I think it would be for Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who has been doing a lot of press in support of his Pulitzer Prize winner. But a zeitgeist-capturing show like Oh, Mary! is hard to beat. The revival races are a bit murkier. Of the two categories, I'm more confident in Best Musical Revival, where I have Sunset Boulevard out front. I've made this comparison before, but this year strikes me as similar to the Oklahoma! versus Kiss Me, Kate contest in 2019, where the more divisive, riskier production pulled off a victory over a more straightforward, conventional staging. Did Gypsy's win at the Drama Desk Awards change your prediction? Eckmann: I've spoken with voters who have returned for a second viewing of Gypsy this spring and found that many elements of the production have clicked into place in a way that they said didn't happen in the fall. So the show is experiencing an upswing. Still, I think George C. Wolfe's omission in the directing category plants Gypsy firmly in second place to Sunset Boulevard. Even those who aren't enamored with Jamie Lloyd's directorial concept say they respect the uniqueness of the show. The closer race is Eureka Day vs. Yellow Face for Best Play Revival. David Henry Hwang and company have certainly run the larger awards campaign, with countless voter screenings of the PBS video capture of Yellow Face. And yet, Eureka Day claimed the Drama League, Drama Desk, and Dorian Awards when both plays went head-to-head. It's likely due to the timeliness of its vaccine-mandate storyline as measles cases pop up across the country. I'm still going with Yellow Face, but I think this will be one of the closest races of the night. Buchanan: I am similarly sticking with Yellow Face, though the awards run for Eureka Day has been impressive. Manhattan Theatre Club very astutely released video of the 16-minute Zoom scene from the latter production for voters to consider, and that is truly a standout moment of the Broadway season which could help the show pull off a victory. This is the one of the four production categories that I will be rethinking and updating until Tony night. But there is no greater contest or closer race this year than Best Actress in a Musical. You and I have been firmly predicting Gypsy's Audra McDonald for the entire season, and the six-time Tony winner has been on an upswing with other theater awards, winning the Drama Desk and the Dorian Award. But for the first time since the Tony nominations, Sunset Boulevard's Nicole Scherzinger has taken the lead in Gold Derby's combined odds and has that coveted Drama League Award win. Plus, there's Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk victor Jasmine Amy Rogers from Boop! The Musical ready to surprise like some other newcomers in recent years. As I've expressed in earlier columns, McDonald's performance is far and away my favorite of the Broadway season and has emotionally walloped me all three times I've seen her, so I am not wavering in my prediction that she wins a historic seventh trophy. What is your final proclamation on this contest? Eckmann: Scherzinger had a slight edge in this battle after she won the Drama League, but the winds have shifted. The recent controversy stirred up by Patti LuPone, in which she spoke disparagingly about Kecia Lewis and McDonald, has earned the Gypsy star palpable good will in the theater community. That doesn't mean this is a done deal for McDonald, however, as there is a massive surge for Rogers as Betty Boop. There are definitely voters hesitant to give McDonald a seventh trophy and are instead being won over by the 'star is born' narrative for Rogers. McDonald won the Dorian Award, Rogers won the Outer Critics Circle Award, and they both shared a win at the Drama Desks. All three actresses enter this final week with serious hardware in tow. I personally think our odds are off and Rogers has surpassed Scherzinger for second place behind McDonald. I'm still betting on this six-time winner to break her own Tony record, but it remains a nail-biter. Shall we move to Best Actor in a Musical, where I think the race has settled to a more manageable two-person heat? Buchanan: I am predicting Darren Criss, as he is the face of Maybe Happy Ending and the musical should likely perform exceptionally well on Tony night. But I don't think this is a slam-dunk victory just yet. The contest could likely come down to his equal-parts technically precise and heartwarming performance versus the charismatic burst of energy from Jonathan Groff in Just in Time. I know historically there has never been a lead actor to win two consecutive trophies in this category, but I don't think Tony voters really know or care about those statistics like we do, and there's almost nobody as beloved or endearing as Groff in the industry right now. Just In Time also did well with nominations overall, and this could be the opportunity to reward it. Are those the two men you had in mind? I'd also flag Tom Francis of Sunset Boulevard, who is campaigning just as vociferously as the others, has the standout performance of the title song in Shubert Alley, and could possibly upset if his show exceeds our expectations. Eckmann: Francis and Jeremy Jordan (Floyd Collins) both have ardent supporters, but I think the focus has narrowed to Criss and Groff. Regarding the stat about back-to-back victories, there has hardly been any meaningful opportunities in Tony history for consecutive winners in this category. So it's a non-factor, really. Groff has the showier role and could absolutely win. But, I'm betting Criss takes it (by only a hair) because of the overall popularity of Maybe Happy Ending, and because his performance tugs at the heart more than any of his fellow In contrast to these lead musical races, the contests for Best Actress in a Play and Best Actor in a Play appear pretty sewn up for Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray) and Cole Escola (Oh, Mary!), don't they? There are other performers in these two categories who would make extremely deserving winners, but I'm not sensing any major changes in sentiment that would lead me to actually predict an upset. Eckmann: Agreed on Escola and Snook. Though I will fangirl over Laura Donnelly in The Hills of California until the day I die. At least she got a Drama Desk win! Upsets are more likely elsewhere. Featured Actor in a Play has become a true coin toss between Conrad Ricamora of Oh, Mary! and Francis Jue of Yellow Face. I was previously thinking Jue, but have switched to Ricamora since he is in the more favored show, but I don't feel confident in it. Featured Actress in a Play remains a wild ride. The fact that presumed frontrunner Jessica Hecht wasn't even nominated at the Drama Desk, Drama League, or Outer Critics Circle for her amazing role in Eureka Day gives me pause. So I still have a crazy hunch that Dorian-winner Fina Strazza is going to pull off the biggest upset of the night as a way to reward John Proctor is the Villain. We all need one gutsy prediction right? Buchanan: My thinking in the featured races may evolve depending on where I land in Best Play Revival. Yellow Face doesn't need an acting win to pull off a victory, but if it does prevail, then I think Jue likely goes along for the ride for what I consider the best performance in that production. I'm tempted to go along with you and predict Strazza, but at this point in the Tony countdown, I'm going to stick with my instinct and predict Kara Young from Purpose to repeat. My belief in her was buoyed by her win at the Drama Desk Awards, not because these voting bodies have a lot of overlap, but because it is clear she continues to be cherished throughout the industry, and that sentiment sometimes propels you to consecutive prizes at the Tonys just as Judith Light and Laurie Metcalf experienced not so long ago. Fortunately, the Featured Actor in a Musical and Featured Actress in a Musical contests seem much steadier, as we're both still hanging onto Jak Malone from Operation Mincemeat and Natalie Venetia Belcon for Buena Vista Social Club. Let's pivot to some other confounding categories that we haven't discussed before! You and I both made a pretty big switch this week in Best Director of a Musical when we bumped Jamie Lloyd out of our first spot in favor of Michael Arden for Maybe Happy Ending. Are you getting a sense like I am that even if Sunset wins Best Revival, the production might be too different and too divisive to carry visionary Lloyd across the finish line, whereas few will quibble with Arden's work on the Best Musical frontrunner? SEE Tony Talk: Predicting the tricky musical acting categories including Audra McDonald vs. Nicole Scherzinger Eckmann: As recently as one week ago I would have told you that Lloyd had director in the bag for Sunset Blvd. But Arden has completely overtaken the conversation this past week. Voters have been enamored with his pitch-perfect work in Maybe Happy Ending all season, but were hesitant to reward him so soon after his Parade victory two years ago. If you talk to any voters now though, they clearly overcame their hesitation. Arden has been a constant presence on the awards circuit and successfully snatched the momentum. He's won the Drama League, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. I'd actually be shocked if anyone else took the Tony at this point. I also feel fairly confident that Sam Pinkleton will take Best Director of a Play for Oh, Mary! Danya Taymor will put up one hell of a fight for John Proctor Is the Villain, and would be the rare person to win consecutive trophies after her victory for The Outsiders last year. But voters have gotten the message that Pinkleton's work is just as essential to Oh, Mary! as Escola's script. Buchanan: Since we now both predict Maybe Happy Ending to nab Directing, will it sweep and pick up wins for Best Original Score and Best Musical Book? Our current odds have it running the table and a lot of experts agree, but in such an exceptionally strong year for original musicals, I'm keenly looking out for a surprise. I surmise we're diverging on these categories significantly because I'm going against the grain on score and predicting Dead Outlaw. David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna have written the ear-worm of the season with "Dead" and delivered a true genre-spanning, Americana, rollicking collection of songs that infuse a lot of grit and heart into the true story of Elmer McCurdy. I also think folks underestimate how well-respected Yazbek is in the industry, and this is far and away his strongest offering since The Band's Visit, if not one of the best of his career. Our odds once had Pulitzer finalist Itamar Moses winning for Dead Outlaw's book but have recently switched to Maybe Happy Ending, and I made the move with them. Are we 0-for-2 matching each other's predictions here? Eckmann: I understand your point about Yazbek, but I don't think everyone is unanimously in love with Dead Outlaw. I feel overly confident that Will Aronson and Hue Park have Score in the bag for their tuneful music in Maybe Happy Ending, which will pair well with its Best Musical win. Best Book of a Musical feels more rife for an upset. Moses brought the most unique concept to life, so he is certainly in the hunt. Comedic books can also land here, as was the case for Tootsie and Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. So this could be a place where voters throw a bone to Death Becomes Her and Marco Pennette's hysterical reinvigoration of the classic movie. I'm waffling between the funny bone of Death Becomes Her and the bleeding heart of Maybe Happy Ending, likely choosing the latter. Speaking of waffling, can we dish on the design categories? Sunset Boulevard appears to be the likely winner for both Musical Lighting Design and Musical Sound Design, and Dane Laffrey will surely win Musical Scenic Design. But I can't seem to choose between Death Becomes Her or Boop! The Musical for costumes. Boop! has the potential to spoil the race in all three of its nominations! Where are you leaning? SEE Tony Talk: Sarah Snook and Cole Escola remain strong in lead, but upsets loom in the featured play races Buchanan: That is an extraordinarily tough contest for Musical Costume Design between Gregg Barnes for Boop! and Paul Tazewell for Death Becomes Her! Both would make for deserving winners and Tazewell has had an extraordinary year with his historic Academy Award win for Wicked, but I have landed on Boop! for the upset win. My decision is mostly derived from the utterly brilliant work he did on the Act Two opener, "Where Is Betty?," in which the entire ensemble wears half black-and-white and half technicolor costumes and alternatively turn 180 degrees to instantaneously transport the audience between Betty's cartoon world and New York City. It is the kind of old-school theatrical design sleight of hand that screams to be recognized. Despite the cleverness of that number and of the Boop! opening, "A Little Versatility," where we see Betty perform in different short films, I'm going with Buena Vista Social Club for Best Choreography. Justin Peck has been irresistible to Tony voters thus far and the work he and his wife Patricia Delgado did bringing these iconic Cuban songs to life on stage is pulse-pounding. Speaking of that indelible music, we're both aligned on it taking the prize for Best Orchestrations, too. For the four play design categories, it looks like the technical marvel Stranger Things: The First Shadow will very likely gobble up three for Play Scenic Design, Play Lighting Design, and Play Sound Design, but how about that tricky Play Costume Design category? Will Mary Todd Lincoln's hoop skirts or Sarah Snook's two dozen different looks prevail? Eckmann: Stranger Things should indeed prevail in three of its four categories thanks to its monstrously impressive stagecraft. But the costume design race is a different story. Our odds favor Oh, Mary! and it certainly helps that the show is a wildly popular Best Play nominee. But I believe The Picture of Dorian Gray costumer Marg Horwell will handily buck our odds and place a Tony on her shelf next to the Olivier she won for the same show. Her outfits, and their ability to rapidly transform in front of the audience, are an essential piece of Sarah Snook's 26-character magic trick. Now let's see how smart, or foolish, we look when the winners are unveiled this Sunday. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby 'Maybe Happy Ending' star Darren Criss on his Tony nomination for playing a robot: 'Getting to do this is the true win' Who Needs a Tony to Reach EGOT? Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' Click here to read the full article.
Elle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
Here's Who Will Probably Win at the 2025 Tony Awards
As another Broadway season comes to a close, I once again find myself stressing out over one of the hardest tasks I face year after year: Predicting the winners for the Tony Awards. In yet another highly competitive season, the divas were out, the revivals were dazzling, and the new shows brought a refreshing charm. With 14 new musicals, 14 new plays, seven musical revivals, and seven play revivals, this season, in sheer numbers, blew last year out of the water. Standing at the top of the pack for the musicals with 10 nominations each are Buena Vista Social Club , Death Becomes Her , and Maybe Happy Ending ; and leading the plays are The Hills of California and John Proctor Is the Villain . However. But it seems to be anyone's game, as other shows like Dead Outlaw , Sunset Boulevard , and Oh, Mary! have been fan favorites. Below, find my selects for the season. These are based upon my personal opinion (who should win), and who likely will win based on the odds and Broadway chatter. As always, if those choices differ, it's due to my personal taste, and the 'will win' is still wildly deserving. All of these shows have earned their rightful flowers. Jump to Best Musical Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman Helen J. Shen and Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending. Nominees : Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw Death Becomes Her Maybe Happy Ending Operation Mincemeat Will Win: Maybe Happy Ending Should Win: Maybe Happy Ending As one of the world's biggest softies, it's unsurprising is my pick for Best Musical. With direction by Michael Arden, the bite-sized one act is a visual feast. There are drones, projections that are actually effective and not gratuitous, strong costumes, and so much more. Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen are also compelling as the two leads, vocalizing in perfect harmony and telling the story of two retired 'helperbots' who are nearing the end of their respective lives. The concept originally seems zany, however the show is everything a new Broadway musical should be. If all is right in the world, Maybe Happy Ending should take home the grand prize. Possible Upset: Dead Outlaw has been well received, has a fascinating plot, and is inventive in its storytelling. It is truly an excellent production, and it could take home this prize as well. Best Play Julieta Cervantes Sadie Sink and Amalia Yoo in John Proctor Is the Villain. Nominees : English The Hills of California John Proctor Is the Villain Oh, Mary! Purpose Will Win: Oh, Mary! Expect Oh, Mary! to say 'Oh, Tony!' on awards night. Should Win: John Proctor is the Villain Personally, John Proctor is the Villain is my favorite show of the Broadway season. From the first Lorde track that plays ('Team' for wondering minds), I was completely enamored. Set in a small, Georgia town during the #MeToo era in 2018, the play examines The Crucible from a new lens, one that does not place John Proctor as the hero he is often portrayed to be. Sadie Sink gives a career-high performance, and the show's message feels relevant, even seven years later. Possible Upset: This is a highly competitive category. The Hills of California stands as one of my early season favorites, and both Purpose and English have strong followings. Best Revival of a Musical Marc Brenner Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis in Sunset Boulevard. Nominees : Floyd Collins Gypsy Pirates! The Penzance Musical Sunset Boulevard Will Win: Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard has been a smash this Broadway season, and the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical will likely take home this prize. With direction by Jamie Lloyd and a career-defining performance by Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard has been pleasing crowds since the fall (even earlier if you count its West End run). That said, it wasn't my personal favorite; while the show has been the talk of the town, I left the theater feeling a little disappointed. Yes, this one will win, but perhaps it just wasn't quite for me. Should Win: Gypsy On the other hand, Gypsy was for me. With incredible performances, it's a Broadway revival at its best. Though it runs long at 2 hours and 40 minutes, Gypsy filled a big musical hole in my heart and had me in the palm of its hand from beginning to end. It's also impossible to mention the show without mentioning Audra McDonald, who is transcendent in the role of Rose. Possible Upset: This race has two horses, an upset seems unlikely. Best Revival of a Play Jeremy Daniel The company of Eureka Day. Nominees : Eureka Day Thornton Wilder's Our Town Romeo + Juliet Yellow Face Will Win: Eureka Day Should Win: Eureka Day Eureka Day has emerged as the deserving frontrunner in this quiet category. With a message about vaccinations at college universities that is unfortunately relevant right now, it has the Tony on lock. Not even Kit Connor's biceps and pull-ups in Romeo + Juliet could challenge this one. Possible Upset: Eureka Day seems to have this category stitched up. Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman Jonathan Groff in Just in Time . Nominees : Darren Criss ( Maybe Happy Ending , Oliver) Andrew Durand ( Dead Outlaw , Elmer McCurdy) Tom Francis ( Sunset Boulevard , Joe Gillis) Jonathan Groff ( Just in Time , Bobby Darin) James Monroe Iglehart ( A Wonderful World , Louis Armstrong) Jeremy Jordan ( Floyd Collins , Floyd Collins) Will Win: Darren Criss Criss will likely finally get his flowers on Tony night for his compelling performance as a retired helperbot named Oliver in Maybe Happy Ending . Tony voters will likely award one of the show's stars, especially after his co-lead Helen J. Shen was somehow snubbed from a nomination. It's looking like Blaine Anderson will get that Tony Award. Should Win: Jonathan Groff Look, was Groff (or the producers) pandering to me when he picked me, out of everyone in the audience, to dance and twirl with at the top of the show? Perhaps. Did it work? Absolutely. Groff stars as Bobby Darin in Just in Time , an excellent musical that didn't receive as many nominations as it should have. Because Groff just won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical last year for his performance in Merrily We Roll Along , it seems unlikely he'll win a consecutive award. He is charming, looks amazing in a blue Speedo, and sings his damn heart out. If I were a Tony voter, last year aside, he would get my vote. Possible Upset: Tom Francis demands your attention in Sunset Boulevard as Joe Gillis, and if the tides start turning in that direction on Tony night, Francis could go home with the award. Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Julieta Cervantes Audra McDonald as Rose in Gypsy . Nominees : Megan Hilty ( Death Becomes Her , Madeline Ashton) Audra McDonald ( Gypsy , Rose) Jasmine Amy Rogers ( Boop! The Musical , Betty Boop) Nicole Scherzinger ( Sunset Boulevard , Norma Desmond) Jennifer Simard ( Death Becomes Her , Helen Sharp) Will Win: Audra McDonald Should Win: Audra McDonald About a week ago, I would have said Scherzinger would be taking home his award for her performance as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. It seemed as if she had the momentum, however I always believed McDonald gave the more compelling performance in Gypsy . While the race is still close, it seems as if the pendulum has swung for McDonald, especially after she has been a pinnacle of grace following Possible Upset: If Scherzinger and McDonald split the votes, recent Drama Desk winner Jasmine Amy Rogers could rise to the top. Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play Emilio Madrid Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! Nominees : George Clooney ( Good Night, and Good Luck , Edward R. Murrow) Cole Escola ( Oh, Mary! , Mary Todd Lincoln) Jon Michael Hill ( Purpose , Nazareth Jasper) Daniel Dae Kim ( Yellow Face , DHH) Harry Lennix ( Purpose , Solomon Jasper) Louis McCartney ( Stranger Things: The First Shadow , Henry Creel) Will Win: Cole Escola Should Win: Cole Escola Escola is hilarious in Oh, Mary! , and if all is right in the world, they should come home with this their whole body into their portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln , the actor delivered a kind of performance Broadway has never seen before. We should all thank Escola for making us belly-laugh for the last year. Possible Upset: I won't even entertain an upset here. My stomach couldn't handle it. Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play Marc Brenner Nominees : Laura Donnelly ( The Hills of California , Veronica/Joan) Mia Farrow ( The Roommate , Sharon) LaTanya Richardson Jackson ( Purpose , Claudine Jasper) Sadie Sink ( John Proctor Is the Villain , Shelby Holcomb) Sarah Snook ( The Picture of Dorian Gray , Dorian Gray, et al.) Will Win: Sarah Snook Should Win: Sarah Snook Snook, who comes to the Broadway stage after captivating audiences in Succession , acts with giant, pre-recorded versions of herself in this one-woman-show rendition of The Picture of Dorian Gray . It's an impressive feat, and if she is off by one beat, the whole show could fall apart. (Spoiler: She never is.) Expect Snook to come home with her first Tony Award. Possible Upset: This category seems like a lock for Snook, but I would personally be just as fine with Laura Donnelly or Sadie Sink winning. Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Julieta Cervantes Jak Malone and Zoë Roberts in Operation Mincemeat . Nominees : Brooks Ashmanskas ( Smash , Nigel Davies) Jeb Brown ( Dead Outlaw , Bandleader/Walter Jarrett) Danny Burstein ( Gypsy , Herbie) Jak Malone ( Operation Mincemeat , Hester Leggatt and Others) Taylor Trensch ( Floyd Collins , Skeets Miller) Will Win: Jak Malone Should Win: Jak Malone Malone has a standout moment as Hester Leggatt in Operation Mincemeat with the song 'Dear Bill.' It stops the show in its tracks, bringing heart to the otherwise humorous story. I never thought I would cry in a British comedy musical about World War II, so Malone, I politely curse you for causing the waterworks. Possible Upset: Danny Burstein is great in Gypsy , and Taylor Trensch is one of the best parts of Floyd Collins . Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Matthew Murphy Natalie Venetia Belcon in Buena Vista Social Club. Nominees : Natalie Venetia Belcon ( Buena Vista Social Club , Omara Portuondo) Julia Knitel ( Dead Outlaw , Helen McCurdy, Maggie Johnson, Millicent Esper) Gracie Lawrence ( Just in Time , Connie Francis) Justina Machado ( Real Women Have Curves , Carmen Garcia) Joy Woods ( Gypsy , Louise) Will Win: Natalie Venetia Belcon In Buena Vista Social Club , Belcon offers an excellent depiction of singer Omara Portuondo. She drives the story forward in this jukebox musical and she sings her heart out through the show. Known for originating the role of Gary Coleman in Avenue Q , Belcon is back, stronger than ever, and it seems as if she may finally get her first Tony Award. Should Win: Joy Woods At just 25 years old, Woods has already built an impressive resumé. After making her Broadway debut as Catherine Parr in Six , she went viral on TikTok last year with her rendition of ' My Days' from The Notebook , in which she played Middle Allie. She is a powerhouse, and her ability to hold her own and excel next to Broadway's most awarded actor, McDonald, makes her my personal pick for this year. Possible Upset: Julia Knitel covers a lot of ground in Dead Outlaw , and she could be awarded for being a pitch-perfect master of disguise. Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play Julieta Cervantes Gabriel Ebert and the cast of John Proctor Is the Villain. Nominees : Glenn Davis ( Purpose , Solomon 'Junior' Jasper) Gabriel Ebert ( John Proctor Is the Villain , Mr. Carter Smith) Francis Jue ( Yellow Face , HYH, et al.) Bob Odenkirk ( Glengarry Glen Ross , Shelly Levene) Conrad Ricamora ( Oh, Mary! , Mary's Husband) Will Win: Gabriel Ebert Should Win: Gabriel Ebert Fans of Ebert will remember him as originating the role of Mr. Wormwood in Matilda the Musical on Broadway, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Now, in John Proctor Is the Villain , Ebert shows his range as Mr. Smith, who is warm and kind, yet terrifying with a dark past. Ebert's performance is compelling, meaningful, and spot on. He is beyond deserving of this award. Possible Upset: Francis Jue could win for his role in Yellow Face , and Conrad Ricamora could snatch up an award for Oh, Mary! . Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play Jeremy Daniel Jessica Hecht stars in Eureka Day. Nominees : Tala Ashe ( English , Elham) Jessica Hecht ( Eureka Day , Suzanne) Marjan Neshat ( English , Marjan) Fina Strazza ( John Proctor Is the Villain , Beth Powell) Kara Young ( Purpose , Aziza Houston) Will Win: Jessica Hecht With Eureka Day , Hecht racks up her third Tony nomination for her turn as Suzanne, and it's looking like this time, she'll win. A much beloved actress, she will be welcomed in to the winner's circle with open arms. Should Win: Fina Strazza At just 19, Fina Strazza shines in John Proctor Is the Villain as the earnest Beth. She's utterly convincing and often brings levity to the heavy production, and with this Tony nomination, she has a bright future ahead. Possible Upset: Purpose , she could win for a second consecutive year. Best Director of a Musical Matthew Murphy Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending. Nominees : Saheem Ali ( Buena Vista Social Club ) Michael Arden ( Maybe Happy Ending ) David Cromer ( Dead Outlaw ) Christopher Gattelli ( Death Becomes Her ) Jamie Lloyd ( Sunset Boulevard ) Will Win: Michael Arden Should Win: Michael Arden Arden's direction in Maybe Happy Ending is beautiful. With a jaw-dropping set, excellent use of space, and incredible character development, Maybe Happy Ending 's success should be much attributed to Arden. This would be Arden's second Tony Award, after winning in 2023 for Parade . Possible Upset: Jamie Lloyd gave new life to Sunset Boulevard , and his highly inventive angle could capture the Tony voters' eyes. Best Director of a Play Emilio Madrid Cole Escola and Conrad Ricamora in Oh, Mary!. Nominees : Knud Adams ( English ) Sam Mendes ( The Hills of California ) Sam Pinkleton ( Oh, Mary! ) Danya Taymor ( John Proctor Is the Villain ) Kip Williams ( The Picture of Dorian Gray ) Will Win: Sam Pinkleton Pinkleton is the perfect director for Oh, Mary! . While he's mostly known for his work as a choreographer, the play is so unbelievably physical that the pairing just makes sense. Escola is bent almost every which way as Mary, meaning the show needed a master of movement. Pinkleton's simple staging is effective and well done, more than enough to win him a Tony Award. Should Win: Sam Mendes While I think Pinkleton's direction is excellent in Oh, Mary! , I found Mendes's work in The Hills of California to be strong. Mendes, known for directing The Lehman Trilogy , The Ferryman , and Cabaret , is a veteran to the Broadway stage, and his use of age, turntables, and staircases in The Hills of California makes a resounding case for a third Tony Award. Possible Upset: Danya Taymor won Best Director of a Musical last year, and this year, she could come home with Best Director of a play. Best Choreography Matthew Murphy The cast of Buena Vista Social Club. Nominees : Joshua Bergasse ( Smash ) Camille A. Brown ( Gypsy ) Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck ( Buena Vista Social Club ) Christopher Gattelli ( Death Becomes Her ) Jerry Mitchell ( Boop! The Musical ) Will Win: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck's choreography in Buena Vista Social Club soars so high that at my show, the company received a standing ovation following the second act's opener. Their choreography fits the music, is smart, and could win Peck his second consecutive Tony Award in this category. Should Win: Jerry Mitchell At the top of the second act of Boop! The Musical , a perfect match of choreography and costumes makes for one of the best moments in the theater I saw this year, as half the cast is dressed in black and white, and the other half is in full technicolor. Using simple movements to create meaningful visuals is the sign of a strong choreographer, and Mitchell is just that. Possible Upset: We're either Boop in' or at the Buena Vista Social Club come Tony Awards night. Best Book of a Musical Evan Zimmerman Helen J. Shen in Maybe Happy Ending. Nominees : Will Aronson and Hue Park ( Maybe Happy Ending ) David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts ( Operation Mincemeat ) Itamar Moses ( Dead Outlaw ) Marco Pennette ( Death Becomes Her ) Marco Ramirez ( Buena Vista Social Club ) Will Win: Will Aronson and Hue Park Should Win: Will Aronson and Hue Park With one of the most heartwarming stories Broadway has even seen, it should come as no surprise that Aronson and Park are the frontrunners for this honor. They deserve it too, as the entire audience was sobbing by the end of the tight show. Possible Upset: Itamar Moses wrote an excellent book for Dead Outlaw , telling a jaw-dropping story the outlaw Elmer McCurdy with incredible finesse. Best Original Score Written for the Theatre Matthew Murphy Andrew Durand and the company of Dead Outlaw. Nominees : Erik Della Penna and David Yazbek ( Dead Outlaw ) Noel Carey and Julia Mattison ( Death Becomes Her ) Will Aronson and Hue Park ( Maybe Happy Ending ) David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts ( Operation Mincemeat ) Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez ( Real Women Have Curves ) Will Win: Will Aronson and Hue Park Expect Aronson and Park to clean up this year at the Tony Awards, and their lush score for Maybe Happy Ending will likely earn them this award as well. So rarely in the theater do I come out wishing there was a cast album, but I immediately rushed over to Spotify to check. This score immediately enters a list of musical theater staples. Should Win: Erik Della Penna and David Yazbek The music of Dead Outlaw serves as the beating heart of the show, with the band playing live onstage (and interacting with the characters). Della Penna and Yazbek wrote a score not frequently seen on Broadway with its folk and rock leanings, and for that, I believe the two should be awarded with a glittering trophy. Possible Upset: None, give one of these two the crown. The 78th Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo, will air on CBS and Paramount+ on June 8. Related Stories
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Cole Escola's ‘Oh Mary!' is a hoot, but the Tony should go to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' ‘Purpose'
'Oh, Mary!' is poised to have a big night at the Tony Awards on Sunday. A campy melodrama by alt comic Cole Escola, the play conjures to the stage a vision of Mary Todd Lincoln as a harridan and drunk, who's sick of the restraints being placed on her at the White House and desperate to return to her first love, cabaret. As played by Escola, the First Lady is a tramp with a showbiz dream and an unslakable thirst for whiskey. Poor Mary has reason to be in a state of spiraling turmoil. Husband Abraham Lincoln (Conrad Ricamora), wary of Mary's scandalous behavior, has placed her booze under lock and key. The Civil War, which is jeopardizing his presidency, has turned him into an utter killjoy. Overcome with stress, he's finding it harder than ever to resist his homosexual urges. He prays for willpower, but his assistant (Tony Macht) is all too willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. The production, directed by Sam Pinkleton, plays this delirious situation to the comic hilt. Melodramatic tropes, from the striking of over-the-top poses to thunderous piano underscoring during moments of rising tension, situate 'Oh, Mary!' in a bygone theatrical universe. Escola's Mary, dressed like a 19th century version of Wednesday Addams from 'The Addams Family,' can't contain herself. Don't let the rouged cheeks and Shirley Temple curls fool you. That demonic glint in her eye isn't a ruse. Escola is part of a wave of comics, along with Megan Stalter, who built their fan bases by posting comic vignettes on social media during the pandemic. Both were crucial mental health resources during that dark time, and both found a wider embrace online for their niche comic sensibilities. 'Oh, Mary!,' which had its premiere off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre last year, has become the mascot production of the Broadway season. It's the unexpected hit that proves that, while there are no sure bets anymore on Broadway, success is more likely when artists are allowed the courage of their crackpot convictions. I'm elated for 'Oh, Mary!,' but I think it would be a mistake to reward the show's giddy Broadway triumph with the Tony for best play. The category is too rich to be treated as a popularity contest this year. Artistic discernment is called for when deciding among works as good as these. The race includes two plays that received the Pulitzer Prize, the 2023 winner, Sanaz Toossi's 'English' and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' newly awarded 'Purpose.' Jez Butterworth, who won the 2019 Tony for his play 'The Ferryman,' has outdone himself with 'The Hills of California,' the fall season's best (and most intricately woven) drama, magisterially directed by Sam Mendes. And 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' Kimberly Belflower's reconsideration of Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible,' thrillingly staged by Danya Taymor, is perhaps the feat of playwriting that surprised me most in this group. 'Oh, Mary!' ought to receive a special citation. Not only is it in a category of its own, but it doesn't bear comparison with the other nominees. And this point of view has nothing to do with any bias against camp. In fact, it's my deep affection for the genre that has compelled me to raise what I assume will be an unpopular opinion. In her landmark 1964 essay 'Notes on 'Camp',' Susan Sontag observed that the 'whole point of Camp is to dethrone the serious. Camp is playful, anti-serious. More precisely, Camp involves a new, more complex relation to 'the serious.' One can be serious about the frivolous, frivolous about the serious.' The silliness of 'Oh, Mary!' shouldn't be held against it. Artistic worthiness isn't measured by gravity of subject matter. But there's something mainstream about Escola's outrageous flamboyance — it's camp for 'The Carol Burnett Show' crowd. Sontag noted that camp functions as 'a private code, a badge of identity even.' I wasn't sure who 'Oh, Mary!' was pitched to, but it didn't seem intended for someone whose camp sensibility was forged watching the plays of Charles Ludlam at the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in Greenwich Village or the drag headliners of East Village bars and clubs that made such an impression on me in the 1980s and 1990s. That was a bleak period to be coming of age in New York. The AIDS crisis left the gay community in a state of mournful siege. Camp offered sanctuary, a mode of performance that didn't suffer hypocritical fools gladly. There was something transgressive and liberating about an aesthetic that inverted not only good and bad taste but also conventional and unconventional morality. 'Oh, Mary!' is fearlessly raunchy but never is it truly dangerous. The show is both a novelty on Broadway and completely at home there. The audience members laughing the hardest on a recent visit to the Lyceum Theatre were the older married couples who found it risqué enough to enjoy but not so risqué that it might upend their thinking of right and wrong. As a spoof of melodrama, it is sprightly, crisply executed and untaxingly entertaining. Part of the appeal of 'Oh, Mary!' is that it just wants to give audiences a concentrated dose of hilarity. Escola recognizes the importance of not being earnest. But the mainstream success the show is enjoying is a sign of something more subversive being watered down. The Tony nominating committee has demonstrated remarkable judgment this year. Let's hope Tony voters follow suit and give one of the other four best play nominees the award. If forced to pick a winner, I would opt for 'Purpose,' Jacobs-Jenkins' engrossing family drama set in the household of a civil rights icon, whose personal and public morality haven't always been aligned. Any concise description of 'Purpose' is bound to fail because the play is so multifarious and complex. Jacobs-Jenkins has written a domestic drama in the epic tradition of 'Death of a Salesman,' 'Long Day's Journey Into Night,' 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and 'August: Osage County.' The playwright has pursued this line before in 'Appropriate,' which won the Tony for best revival last year. But here the focus is on a Black family grappling both with the burdens and privileges of a father's unique legacy and the difficulty of adapting to changing times and new frontiers of political struggle. Whenever you think you know which way 'Purpose' is heading, it veers off in an unexpected direction. The play leaves the mundane world to engage in spiritual questions between an old-school father (Harry Lennix) and his independent-minded youngest son, Nazareth (Jon Michael Hill), who left divinity school to become a nature photographer. 'Naz,' as he's known, serves as the play's narrator. And as someone who identifies as asexual and is possibly on the spectrum, he brings a bracingly original perspective to the classic homecoming play, updating the genre for the 21st century. 'Purpose' deserves an extensive life after Broadway, and a Tony would help its producing prospects. The Steppenwolf Theatre production at the Helen Hayes Theater, directed by Phylicia Rashad and featuring one of the best ensemble casts of the season, is intimidatingly good. (LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Lennix, Hill, Glenn Davis and Kara Young were all nominated for their work, but the company really deserves a collective award.) It's a long play (nearly three hours), and one you might not care to see performed with second-tier performers. A Tony would create more incentive for regional theaters to rise to the challenge, though with a Pulitzer, New York Drama Critics' Award and Drama Desk Award, 'Purpose' is hardly lacking in accolades. There was a time not so long ago when the future of the Broadway play was in serious doubt. The threat hasn't gone away, and Tony voters shouldn't pass up an opportunity to honor true playwriting excellence.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
We can learn a lot from our presidents — even the ones you don't like
Commanding personalities As summer approaches, don't forget your history. Here's a presidential lesson or two. John Quincy Adams — despite his great last name — was fierce, haughty, unforgiving. Also cold, austere. Swam naked every morning in the Potomac. Nice. Would make Putin look like a Hallmark valentine. Cuddly Andrew Jackson. 'Old Hickory' resolved differences with fists and a sword. Think Nancy Pelosi in long drawers. Advertisement Martin Van Buren. Smooth talker, perfumed dandy, loved making speeches. 1837 William Henry Harrison about whom even Mrs. Harrison couldn't remember. James Polk. Democrat. In his early days, palled around with Francis Scott Key, 'The Star-Spangled Banner' author. Wherever they are now they're toasting Taylor Swift. Advertisement 1841, VP John Tyler suddenly becomes president. Mild-mannered. Constituents fretted he's incapable of running the country. During his tenure 618 banks closed. One term only. He has since reappeared in the persona of Hunter Biden's daddy. Zachary Taylor. Helped establish the Panama Canal which now we're trying to schlep back from Panama. Millard Fillmore. Nothing about him that worked except that he finally got out of office. I mean where are you going with the name Millard? Advertisement James Buchanan. His book was titled 'Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of Rebellion.' Only dogs pored over it. Abraham Lincoln. Nine thousand movies made about him. Now the subject of the about-to-win-a-Tony 'Oh, Mary!' Everybody's played him but Dolly Parton. Andrew Johnson had a tailor shop. So did my grandfather. Johnson became president. My grampa not. Ulysses S. Grant's political knowledge — small. Booze intake — LARGE. Had he exhaled the Rockies would've been pebbles. Advertisement James Garfield. Republican. July '81 shot by a crazed disappointed office-seeker. Chester Arthur. Told, 'drop the nomination as you would a red-hot shoe from the forge.' His run for the nomination halfhearted. Grover Cleveland. Ran amok. Fathered an illegitimate child. Opposition slogan was: 'Ma, ma, where's my pa?' William McKinley. Shot in the abdomen by an anarchist in Buffalo. Theodore Roosevelt. Republican. Larger-than-life leader who faced obstacles head-on. Said was: 'He's not an American. He is America.' 1909-1913 the 27th president was William Howard Taft. Republican. He called the White House 'the loneliest place in the world.' Advertisement Be it known that Abraham Lincoln once said: 'A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me.' Yeah? Well, somewhere he should see B'way's 'Oh, Mary!' get its Tony. Only in America, kids, only in America.
Time Out
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Oh, Mary! director Sam Pinkleton on comedy, truth and the right kind of wrong
"I'm obsessed with rollercoasters," says Sam Pinkleton, the director of the Broadway smash Oh, Mary!"Much more than theater, unfortunately." He's semi-joking about that last part, but it does give a sense of the sensibility he has brought to Cole Escola's zany pseudo-historical farce about Mary Todd Lincoln—who, in Escola's fevered comic vision, is a raging boozehound clinging to delusional hopes of stardom as a cabaret chanteuse. It has been Pinkleton's job to keep the play on track as, not unlike a rollercoaster, it races through Mary's wild highs and lows, evoking screams of laughter. The assignment is harder than the result makes it look: not only to keep the comedy rolling, nearly without stopping for breath, but also to sustain the right tonal balance of irreverence and celebration, and even to tease out latent strands of feeling. Pinkleton has worked on nine Broadway shows, but mostly as a movement director or choreographer; he earned his first Tony nomination for his excellent works Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Oh, Mary!, his Broadway debut as a director, has earned him a second nomination this year. We talked with him about about actresses, camp and what makes Oh, Mary! such a wild ride. In advance of the Tony Awards on June 8, Time Out has conducted in-depth interviews with select nominees. We'll be rolling out those interviews every day this week; the full collection to date is here. You've had projects on Broadway before, but they've been as a choreographer. This is your Broadway debut as a director. And it seems to have gone very well! It has, definitely. It has objectively gone well. Because it's a farce, the movement is very tightly orchestrated. Would it be fair to call it choreographed? It's definitely rigorous and calculated. We're going after a very specific thing with it. But it felt—not to be reductive about it—it just felt like directing a play. It felt like directing a play that had a lot of extreme physical assignments and requirements that we wanted to approach with honesty and stupidity. Thinking about it as meticulously choreographed came after the fact. At no point at the beginning of it, when Cole and I were talking about it, was I thinking, "Well, I'm a highly experienced choreographer and that is gonna really come in handy." It was just, Oh, Let's roll our sleeves up and throw our bodies around. And Cole is only capable of performing at 125%, so with Cole at the center of it, it could only be a Super Bowl physical event. I had the pleasure of seeing Betty Gilpin as Mary during her stint as a replacement, and she gave an immensely physical performance as well. I mean, that shouldn't be a surprise—because she was in GLOW for goodness' sake, which couldn't be more physical—but it was interesting to see her in the part because she was a very different Mary. Betty Gilpin is an Olympian in every way. She is the most exacting and fierce—I mean, she learned how to wrestle professionally for a TV show, and that's the energy she came in with. She and Cole—and Tituss, in a way—are very similar in that they're athletes. They approached the play like athletes. And it's not pleasant psychological work. It's like working in a butcher shop. When Cole is playing Mary, it has a protective coloration of camp in a way that's just inherent to Cole's sensibility and presence on stage. Whereas with Betty, it felt really raw and emotional. She was still very funny, but she was really invested. Because Mary seems bipolar or something, if you take her literally. I keep saying I've had to direct the play four times now—which has been great. I hope to direct the play 30 times—but Betty, because she was the first, taught me how good the play is, if that makes sense. Because all of a sudden there's a great actress who shows up to work with a script and is taking it at face value, and it's like, Oh yeah, right! This is about a woman in crisis who has this incredible need, who will do anything she can to get what she wants. And that sounds like every play I've ever heard of before; it's the bones of good drama. And I totally agree with you: She played it straight. She just did it. And that made me really excited about seeing actresses do it. Because you know Cole; Cole loves an actress. And I don't even mean on Broadway—I mean seeing that lady in Cleveland who was amazing in Ibsen do this. Yes! I wanna see the regional theater ladies get their fingers on this because it's such a juicy part. I mean, Cole wrote it for themself and is glorious and perfect as Mary. But it turns out it can work well even without them. Completely. I think we've talked about this so much that people are tired of hearing about it, but it's true: In rehearsal, the thing we did was take it dead seriously. We tried to make it as honest and as deep as possible. The means of doing that were often completely idiotic, but we weren't trying to make gags. We were trying to really approach this woman with love. And I do think Betty really anchored it in gravity. But yeah, I wanna see all those regional theater ladies do it. I also wanna hear them say cunt. [Laughs.] They don't get to say cunt in Ibsen. Not as often as one would like! Someone should do it in Hedda Gabler, maybe. But Oh, Mary! is very much a comedy, which is one of the things that makes the Tony race for Best Place so interesting this year. I liked all five of the nominees a lot, but they are very, very different. It's always a crapshoot, but comedies are historically at a big disadvantage. Yasmina Reza won for Art and God of Carnage, but it's hard to think of others. Neil Simon never won until his late-career dramedies. Tom Stoppard won for Travesties and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which are sort of comedies I guess, but they have such a literary bent. Yes. We're like that, Adam! What's the difference? [ Laughs. ] I just mean that if Oh, Mary! were to win Best Play, that would really be kind of unprecedented for the kind of hard comedy it is. And yet it feels like the show is really in the running. As you say, it's a crapshoot. It's been an extraordinary season, and I love all of the plays that were nominated, which is strange and rare. Plays that are not regurgitated! So I don't know what's gonna happen, and I certainly can't try to predict that. But I have watched the play get taken really seriously by audiences over the life cycles of it. When we decided to come to Broadway, we were like, Okay, we're gonna do it for a very short amount of time just so that more dumb gay people can see it. But over the last year, I have watched tourist families enjoy our show and I've watched people who read The New Yorker and go to every play enjoy our show. And I'm sure there are people who don't enjoy our show, but it has been a really pleasant surprise—and frankly, quite moving—to see the show get embraced by an audience that is quite a bit broader than what Cole and I were thinking about when we started making it. Because the play is oddly sincere and uncynical, and it's made with a lot of love. It's made by people who—I am so tired of hearing myself say this, but it's unfortunately true—it's made by theater nerds. It's not like, "Fuck you! We're doing this play!" I think part of why it works is that Cole loves the form so much, and our designers love the form so much. The production strikes such a tricky balance, because to some extent it's gonna be tongue-in-cheek; it's designed and performed in a kind of low-tech style that knowingly verges on amateurism, which is part of its camp sensibility. You don't want it to be perfect, because then it just is the thing itself; it has to be something that aspires to be the thing but in some way isn't quite the thing. Camp is so complicated and we don't need to go down a long rabbit hole about it—I mean, I literally spent an hour at Julius' last week trying to explain to a straight Marine. Wow, that is a community service. Yeah. Well, first I said that something was kitsch, and he didn't know what that meant, so I said, Well, it's a little like camp for straight people, but not quite, and then he didn't understand that at all. So I had to step back and find some kind of beginning… But also you explaining all this to a stray Marine at Julius is camp. So the snake is just biting its tail. [ Laughs.] Right? But it's actual camp—it's not campy, if you know what I mean. And there really isn't an exact defining line for any of these things. The production deliberately seems a certain way. You have set designers who very much know what they're doing and would be capable of designing a more realistic set if they chose to. Same with the costumes: They should look like they're out of a trunk, and the beards shouldn't look like perfect fake beards. So where does that line approximately sit for you? I have to be honest, It's a real tightrope walk. It came from a ton of trial and error, and it has been refined a lot along the way. When I look back at the pictures from tech when we did it downtown, I'm like, This is embarrassing! This wasn't a good show! 'Cause it was the wrong kind of wrong, you know? And we've been trying to find the right kind of wrong. And one thing that's really important to me is that it doesn't feel like we're mocking something. It doesn't feel like we're rolling our eyes or taking the wind out of something. We're actually embracing it and loving it. In our first conversations, Cole and I talked about doing theater in high school, when you're like, This set is completely amazing! And you look back at it in pictures and actually that set was really shitty. But it was made with love. And we talked about going to community theater where people are putting effort into something. That was the biggest thing. When community-theater designers and directors and actors make a show, they're not making fun of it. They love it. They're doing the absolute best they can with the tools they have. So yes, the bookshelf is flat and painted, but it's cared for. I think that has really been the line. And we had the privilege of refining it Off Broadway; a lot of details really changed on Broadway, actually, even though I hope it still seems like the same show. But as a group of collaborators, we got very good at feeling like, Oh, that is the show, but that's a step too far or that feels cynical or that feels like we're just trying to make people laugh or that's too good, as you say. But I think that's every show: You find that weird sweet spot and it can be kind of chemical. There's a bit of a Mickey and Judy quality. The joy of it is that they're putting up a show in the barn, and if you go to that barn show and sniff that it's not up to Ziegfeld Follies standards, you're getting it wrong. The limitations of the Lortel informed a lot for us, and also the kind of big-eyed wonder—when you're making a show in a barn or your high school or whatever—of, 'We're gonna have a set change.' But you can really only have one, so that means you just spin the set around. And that worked at the Lortel. But when we moved to Broadway, one of the first things I said to the designers was, We can't apologize for being on Broadway. The Lyceum is so beautiful, and it looks like it was designed for the play. The theater itself is funny; it looks like The Muppet Show. So I want to embrace that we're on Broadway. I want to embrace that there are people on that top balcony as opposed to, 'Yeah, we're doing this crazy downtown thing uptown, 'cause it's a prank!' It's not a prank. It looks beautiful in that theater. And the big surprise at the end of the show—you know what it is—was completely redesigned on Broadway, because we wanted to embrace the scale of the room. And if we had done what we did downtown, it would've felt like, 'Ha ha, isn't this shitty? Ha ha ha.' And that's not the story. The story is that her dreams come true. Right? And if Cole were not themself like Mary in some sense—if Cole had not actually spent 15 years performing in cabarets around the city—then it would feel quite different, I think. It would feel false. It would feel like a lie. Cole has always been so magical. I was trying to think back to the last time I saw a lead performer in a Broadway comedy who commanded the stage and the audience so completely. I'm probably forgetting someone, but the one that came to mind for me was Linda Lavin in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife. I was just about to—! As you were saying this, I was like, It's really Linda Lavin. Yes, and then I remembered that you worked with Linda! The other major production I've seen that you've directed was You Will Get Sick with her in 2022. And you were also involved with The Lyons when it was on Broadway in 2011. What was your experience of working with her? I actually told this story very recently. I met her on The Lyons, which was at its heart a comedy but went to dark places. She's the hardest worker in show business. But she was so exacting about timing and physical comedy: If I turn my head here, they'll laugh, but if I do this, they won't. Like a mad scientist, obsessive with details. And it was the coolest thing in the world to watch—to sit between her and [the playwright] Nicky Silver, who is also super exacting about comedy, and old-school: bah-pah-da-pa-dah and boom, everybody laughs. That was grad school for me, especially because we got to do that play twice. So I spent a year watching Linda make comedy, and when I asked her to do You Will Get Sick, which was ultimately her last play, she said yes very quickly, which was cool, because she wanted to do weird, unexpected things with new writers. She was 85 and had three-page monologues and showed up on the first day off book. At the beginning of every rehearsal, I make everybody do an idiotic physical warmup to pop music—no opting out. And Linda Lavin at 85 was very happily jiggling around to Rihanna. I talked to Cole about her all the time because they sadly didn't know each other. After Cole, she's the funniest person I've ever met. She would do the show and then go to the bar and continue to make you laugh. She was a very major loss for me. She became a very good friend in the last few years of her life. Did you know her at all? No. I got to meet her a couple of times, but no. Well, all the rumors are true. We just finished the Linda Lavin memorial tour: four different events, each gayer than the last. And all anyone could say was just what a hard worker she was and how rigorous and not-accidental it was. I think that's a thing she really shares with Cole. It's easy to come see Oh, Mary! and say it's hilarious. Adam—it's so much work. And there is no detail too small. It's a very old-school thing. And there definitely is an old-school quality to Cole's sensibility. That's evident in every aspect of their personality. And that's part of the secret in this show, I think. Oh, Mary! seems like a weird new thing on Broadway, but it works because it has deep Broadway roots—like Hamilton does, or Company. These shows that change the game can't be completely off the map, because then they wouldn't work. Totally. This is made by theater people. Cole and I are theater people. When we were designing it and teching it, the things we were talking about were, like, Jerry Herman musicals and boulevard comedies and—plays! Plays. I probably shouldn't say this, but for something that has been lauded for being so unconventional, it's really conventional. It sort of sneaks in. By the end you realize, Oh wait! This is a play! It's a play with a couch! And I appreciate you asking about it being serious as a play, because that is a thing I really care about. I care about it because I think it's such an exacting piece of writing. It's certainly serious about being entertaining. But there isn't an obvious message. I mean, a lot of plays have a feeling of importance because they're about something important. Everything is an issue play now, or else people don't think it's important enough to be on Broadway. But I don't know what the issue is in Oh, Mary! I don't think there's an issue that's like, 'We're upset about healthcare policy so we gotta fight it out in the streets of Detroit.' But we talked a lot in rehearsal about how the story was gonna end for her. And there were a lot of different versions of it. And it became very important to me and Cole that she won. That she got it. And I have grown to be very moved—watching, like, my dad from Southern Virginia watch Oh, Mary! —by the very simple thing of, like: It's about a woman who wants something and everybody thinks she's crazy. Everybody thinks she's crazy and she's fucking not. And that is meaningful to me. Well, she's not un -crazy. She's not—well— I think I would say that it's not, for me, that she's not crazy. It's that crazy people deserve things too. Totally—yes. Yes. And I do feel very moved by that. There's a little speech in a scene in the middle of the play with Mary's teacher, where she talks about the highs being too high and the lows being too low, and how being with Abe is this steadying thing because she can't have a great day. I do think that if you peel back all the layers of total fucking buffoonery, she's a character that any weirdo or anyone who has felt like a weirdo can relate to. I think Cole has gone on the record about the oddly autobiographical nature of the character and of the show. So the bones of it are rooted in truth. That's cliché, but it's absolutely true. If they weren't, we would have a 10-minute sketch. It would be a delightful 10-minute sketch, but it would be a sketch and you would get tired of it pretty quickly. Right. And this somehow keeps a comic momentum for 85 minutes, which is almost impossible these days. The pacing is relentless. But I imagine there's no good way to answer the question of how you keep that up, because it's just moment by moment, I guess. Moment by moment. And not treating the audience like idiots. Cole and I are obsessed—capital-o Obsessed —with the game of staying ahead of the audience. Part of the development of the play—because we carve away at it through previews downtown and even through previews on Broadway—is that the minute it feels like the audience is ahead of it, move on, move on, move on. And that is a science. It can be hard because there might be things that you love doing, but the fun of the ride is staying ahead of the audience. I reread every Agatha Christie book during the pandemic, and I sometimes feel like many plays are secretly mysteries. Who did what, and when? Where is it going, and why? And like in a mystery, the show plants the clues as it goes along so you can look back at the end and it all makes sense. Totally. It's the theater. It shouldn't be a passive experience. Give people something to do. It's fun when it's a ride. But you don't want the clues to stick out too obviously, or it's boring. Yes. But the ride—I actually just ran into somebody on the street who was like, 'I've seen the play eight times.' And I was like, Well, first of all, you have a sickness. But I hear that a play has a ton of secrets, and part of the fun is discovering those secrets. But it's like riding a rollercoaster. And if you love a rollercoaster, you love to ride it over and over again, even if you know where it's gonna go.
