Hey Tony Awards nominators! Don’t forget these 10 deserving contenders [WATCH]
The 2023-2024 Broadway season has been positively packed with an abundance of talent as dozens of new productions danced across New York City stages. The nominating committee for the Tony Awards usually does a great job in selecting the best of the best, thanks to a fair system that requires committee members to see all eligible productions. But given the sheer volume of shows this season, David Buchanan and I thought it best to remind these voters of contenders most in need of recognition.
David and I sat down to stump for 10 Tony Awards hopefuls who find themselves on uncertain ground heading into nominations (plus a few shoutouts to some stellar designers). Watch the full video slugfest above to hear our passionate pleas to the voters on the nominating committee. Hey Tony voter nominators, please don’t forget these incredible artists!
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Nikki M. James, “Suffs” – Featured Actress in a Musical
David calls out the stellar work of this past Tony winner (“The Book of Mormon”) who finds herself just outside of the top five in Gold Derby’s combined odds for Featured Actress in a Musical. He points to James’ showstopper song “Wait My Turn,” which illustrates the lack of progress for Black women in the Suffragist movement, as reason enough for a nomination. “There’s all this forward momentum going on in the narrative, and she has to come up and say, we are not treating all women equally in this march in this movement. It’s a stunning song,” explains David. “I think that performance is so integral to the success and the message of the show.”
Zenzi Williams, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” – Featured Actress in a Play
I had long ago “resigned myself” to the fact that none of the glorious performers from “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” would be nominated due to the ensemble nature of the play. But the Drama League Awards included Williams in their Distinguished Performance lineup, so here I am with renewed hope. The final moments of this play are an “emotional knockout” which have stayed with me for months, and are owned by Williams’ quiet determination as Bea. The way she springs into action to rally the group and comfort the youngest member of the salon as they face an impossible scenario, is the purest depiction imaginable of the power of family.
Tom Pecinka, “Stereophonic” – Featured Actor in a Play
Many predictions featured the “Stereophonic” actors Will Brill or Eli Gelb, but David throws his hat into the ring for Pecinka. He admits that his character Peter “is awful in many ways to many people,” but elaborates, “I think what Tom does so well, number one is navigates that really tricky dynamic…and number two, there are moments in the play where he does kind of pull the audience back into Peter’s orbit.” The moment of “still and calm” when Peter is left visibly trembling at the soundboard is one which has stayed with David.
Betsy Aidem, “Prayer for the French Republic” – Lead Actress in a Play
This category is stacked with very famous stars of film and TV, but I think Tony nominators need to remember this contender who has built her life in the theater. As Marcelle Benhamou, Aidem hauntingly asks a question that has no answer: Where can I go to feel safe? She “sits in that really uncomfortable place” for the entirety of the play, providing a parallel to the real-life thought process of many audience members as antisemitic violence becomes more prevalent in the world. Aidem brilliantly depicts Marcelle’s inner conflict as her well-curated world unravels around her. After giving decades of her life to the theater, often in supporting roles, it’s time Aidem is rewarded with a nomination for a Broadway outing in which she serves as the story’s beating heart.
Joshua Boone, “The Outsiders” – Featured Actor in a Musical
“The Outsiders” is a treasure trove of stellar performances, but David singles out Boone for his complex portrayal of Dallas, a surrogate brother figure to Pony Boy. “The character has to be both the most charismatic and the most seemingly dangerous of the greasers,” notes David. He was particularly struck by the power Boone summons in the song “Little Brother” near the end of the musical. “He’s not really moving very much, but the physicality, the intensity of that performance,” says David, “his final moments on stage are so haunting. They linger with you.”
Chip Zien, “Harmony” – Lead Actor in a Musical
Like most theater enthusiasts, I fell in love with the cast album of ‘Into the Woods” at a young age. Had you told me then that not only did the man who played The Baker not win a Tony Award, but that he wasn’t even nominated, I would have called you crazy. With Rabbi in “Harmony,” it’s time to fix this egregious oversight and throw Zien a long overdue nomination. It’s a character performed so expertly that it feels as if only Zien could play it, allowing him to mine his natural sense of charm and a well of despair.
Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, “The Outsiders” – Choreography
David dives back into “The Outsiders” to praise the Kuperman brothers on “The Rumble.” “It’s one of the more extraordinarily staged things I’ve seen in a very long time,” admits David of the epic fight scene. “It just gives a great artistic expression of the meaninglessness of violence, the visceral experience of violence, what it is like to see it. I thought it was extraordinary.”
Ingrid Michaelson, “The Notebook” – Original Score
I loved the ways Michaelson wove her signature folk-tinged sound into musical theater storytelling. The song that stands out to me the most is “My Days,” in which Allie (Joy Woods) is facing the most important decision of her life. Under a soaring melody, she sings: “I wanna live a life/Where I’m allowed to say/That I’m proud of the way that I spent/My days.” A simple and direct way to convey a message we all know but often struggle to voice: life is finite and we must live it doing what brings us fulfillment. It is one of the most exquisite songs of the season.
“Days of Wine and Roses” and “Here Lies Love” – Best Musical
David and I are both nervous that two of our favorites will be overlooked in the Best Musical race simply because they’ve closed up shop. But as far as we are concerned, if the award is truly about what is “best,” then voters simply cannot afford to leave these two stunning achievements off their lists. David calls “Days of Wine and Roses” an “extraordinary meditation” on alcoholism with a sophisticated score. “I didn’t feel like there were any extraneous minutes or scenes or moments in that piece,” he describes, “I thought it was exceptionally well paced and structured.”
Meanwhile, I still ache to revisit the intoxicating disco dream that was “Here Lies Love.” Beyond the fun musical hooks from David Byrne, I thought the creative team ingeniously used the immersive nature of the show to cast the audience as Imelda Marcos’ constituents. We felt the joy and the betrayal that those citizens must have felt. If Broadway wants to claim to be home to the best theater in the world, it has to have a space for all genre of theater to be recognized.
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