The Tonys 2016

Every once in a while, a cultural phenomenon takes Broadway by storm. Hamilton follows in the footsteps of The Book of Mormon and The Producers and Rent, though I'm not sure if those are even proper comparisons for the groundbreaking musical. Already with a Pulitzer, the hip hop history play is the hottest ticket in town. Just how many awards will it win? The record of 12 was set by the Producers. Out of 16 nominations, Hamilton is up for 13 unique awards, all of the awards for which it was eligible. Many are predicting that Hamilton is a lock in 7 categories. Personally, I think Hamilton will tie the record, losing just the Lead Actress in a Musical Tony. James Corden, a Tony winner himself for One Man, Two Guvnors, is hosting. He did a Carpool Karaoke segment with Lin Manuel Miranda, Audra MacDonald, Jane Krakowski and Jesse Tyler Ferguson already for his own show. I think he will do a Crosswalk the Musical segment for the Tonys (I'm hoping for In the Heights on an actual street in Washington Heights). Full disclosure, the only eligible show I have seen is On Your Feet, which is up for 1 Tony for choreography.

Best Play
Will win: The Humans
Watch out for: Eclipsed

Best Musical
Will win: Hamilton

Best Book of a Musical
Will win: Lin Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)

Best Musical Score
Will win: Lin Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)

Best Revival of a Play
Will win: A View From the Bridge
Watch out for: Long Day's Journey into Night

Best Revival of a Musical
Will win: She Loves Me
Watch out for: The Color Purple

Best Actor in a Play
Will win: Frank Langella (The Father)
Watch out for: Mark Strong (A View from the Bridge)

Best Actress in a Play
Will win: Jessica Lange (Long Day's Journey into Night)
Watch out for: Michelle Williams (Blackbird)

Best Actor in a Musical
Will win: Leslie Odom Jr (Hamilton)
Watch out for: Lin Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)
Unless they split: Danny Burstein (Fiddler on the Roof)

Best Actress in a Musical-- Hamilton's Loss
Will win: Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple)
Watch out for: Phillipa Soo (Hamilton)

Best Featured Actor in a Play
Will win: Michael Shannon (Long Day's Journey into Night)
Watch out for: Reed Birney (The Humans)

Best Featured Actress in a Play
Will win: Jayne Houdyshell (The Humans)
Watch out for: Andrea Martin (Noises Off)

Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Will win: Daveed Diggs (Hamilton)
Watch out for: Jonathan Groff (Hamilton)

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Will win: Renee Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton)
Watch out for: Jane Krakowski (She Loves Me)

Best Director of a Play
Will win: Ivo van Hove (A View from the Bridge)
Watch out for: Joe Mantello (The Humans)

Best Director of a Musical
Will win: Thomas Kail (Hamilton)

Best Choreography
Will win: Hamilton
Watch out for: Shuffle Along

Best Orchestrations
Will win: Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton)

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Will win: The Humans
Watch out for: Therese Raquin

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Will win: Hamilton
Watch out for: She Loves Me

Best Costume Design of a Play
Will win: King Charles III
Watch out for: Eclipsed

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Will win: Hamilton
Watch out for: Shuffle Along

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Will win: The Humans
Watch out for: The Crucible

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Will win: Hamilton
Watch out for: American Psycho

Update: 19/24 categories. Hamilton came away with eleven awards, falling just short of the record 12 set by the Producers. But to be fair, the Producers won a sound award that no longer exists. Hamilton lost just two races, one to The Color Purple and one to She Loves Me. 

Into the Woods (2014)

I thoroughly enjoyed Disney's adaptation of this Sondheim classic. The music and lyrics are so complex, and hauntingly beautiful.  My favorite is when the characters sing different lyrics and melodies simultaneously, the counterpoint that Sondheim is so good at.  His characters think out loud in natural rhythmic speech.  The opening sequence (Prologue) introducing all of the characters is masterful with each character passing on the infectious theme to the next.  An extravagant production design realistically recreates a dark and creepy wood.  Along with Colleen Atwood's Oscar-nominated costume design, the audience is transported to a fantasy world.

Meryl Streep finally broke her own rule of never playing a witch to join Into the Woods.  She has a much better platform to show off her singing chops than with ABBA's Mamma Mia.  Streep actually has a very good voice; case in point "Children Will Listen." Emily Blunt also has an excellent singing voice as the Baker's Wife.  They are emotional, comedic, and most of all musical.

The story has depth, an existentialist message that might go over the head of a Disney-aged audience, but the original musical is not intended for children.  There are themes of morality and parental relationships.  The story is cleverly told through a clever combination of classic fairy tales reimagined.  This is what makes a good musical: a clever idea, good music, good acting and a thought-provoking story.

Begin Again (2013)

Begin Again is filled with good music.  Keira Knightley's singing voice is surprisingly pleasant.   Her singing is notably better than Adam Levine's acting.  Mark Ruffalo, as always is phenomenal.  The two leads have excellent chemistry.

However, the star of the film is definitely the music.  Gregg Alexander, John Carney and Glen Hansard have composed a solid soundtrack.  The song Lost Stars is sure to be a front runner for Best Song at the Oscars.  Carney is known for making movies about music, and he succeeds at integrating the songs into the plot.  The film must be compared to Once, and the fact of the matter is that Once is a better movie.  Begin Again seems to lack the emotional depth and the authenticity that Once has.

One Chance (2013)

The Paul Potts biopic features Tony-winner James Corden, who plays the nerve-wracked opera singer.  He is the best thing about this mediocre movie (It is rumored that he will succeed Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show) .  The comedy is TV movie-type cheesy, though I admit some of the jokes are quite funny.  The Welsh accents are spot on.  Maybe that's what was so entertaining.  As an ardent Britain's Got Talent fan, I was disappointed to find that the majority of Potts's time on talent show was omitted from his story.  We get to watch a glimpse of his audition, with clips edited in from the actual audition of the judges (that means no one plays Simon, Piers, Amanda, or Ant and Dec)--Amanda gets teary eyed.  Potts struggled to follow his dream, then when he finally finds success on Britain's Got Talent, the movie ends.  Wish we could have basked in that success a little longer.