Steve On Broadway (SOB)

The SOB Picks for 2006 Tony Awards

The SOB Picks for 2006 Tony Awards

It's the eve of the American Theatre Wing's 60th Tony Award celebration, during which a dizzying array of Broadway's finest talent will be on hand to share in bestowing the coveted medellion, if not to receive an award.

Many prognosticators and critics have already shared whom they believe will win tomorrow night. I've studiously avoided reading any of those stories so can provide my own unvarnished picks. These aren't necessarily who I think should win, but whom I believe will take home the awards.

My choices in each category are below in red:

Best Play
Rabbit Hole
Shining City
The History Boys
The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Best Musical
Jersey Boys
The Color Purple
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Wedding Singer

Best Revival of a Play
Awake and Sing!
Edward Albee's Seascape
Faith Healer
The Constant Wife

Best Revival of a Musical
Sweeney Todd
The Pajama Game
The Threepenny Opera

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Ralph Fiennes, Faith Healer
Richard Griffiths, The History Boys
Zeljko Ivanek, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Oliver Platt, Shining City
David Wilmot, The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Kate Burton, The Constant Wife
Judy Kaye, Souvenir
Lisa Kron, Well
Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole
Lynn Redgrave, The Constant Wife

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd
Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game
Stephen Lynch, The Wedding Singer
Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone
John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone
La Chanze, The Color Purple
Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd
Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game
Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Samuel Barnett, The History Boys
Domhnall Gleeson, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Ian McDiarmid, Faith Healer
Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing!
Pablo Schreiber, Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Tyne Daly, Rabbit Hole
Frances de la Tour, The History Boys
Jayne Houdyshell, Well
Alison Pill, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Zoë Wanamaker, Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Danny Burstein, The Drowsy Chaperone
Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera
Brandon Victor Dixon, The Color Purple
Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd
Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Carolee Carmello, Lestat
Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple
Megan Lawrence, The Pajama Game
Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple

Best Direction of a Play
Nicholas Hytner, The History Boys
Wilson Milam, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Bartlett Sher, Awake and Sing!
Daniel Sullivan, Rabbit Hole

Best Direction of a Musical
John Doyle, Sweeney Todd
Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game
Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys
Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, The Wedding Singer
Donald Byrd, The Color Purple
Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game
Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Orchestrations
Larry Blank, The Drowsy Chaperone
Dick Lieb and Danny Troob, The Pajama Game
Steve Orich, Jersey Boys
Sarah Travis, Sweeney Todd

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Color Purple, Music & Lyrics: Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray
The Drowsy Chaperone, Music & Lyrics: Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
The Wedding Singer, Music: Matthew Sklar; Lyrics: Chad Beguelin
The Woman in White, Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: David Zippel

Best Book of a Musical
Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy, The Wedding Singer
Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, Jersey Boys
Bob Martin and Don McKellar, The Drowsy Chaperone
Marsha Norman, The Color Purple

Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, Rabbit Hole
Bob Crowley, The History Boys
Santo Loquasto, Three Days of Rain
Michael Yeargan, Awake and Sing!

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
John Lee Beatty, The Color Purple
David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone
Derek McLane, The Pajama Game
Klara Zieglerova, Jersey Boys

Best Costume Design of a Play
Michael Krass, The Constant Wife
Santo Loquasto, A Touch of the Poet
Catherine Zuber, Awake and Sing!
Catherine Zuber, Seascape

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, The Drowsy Chaperone
Susan Hilferty, Lestat
Martin Pakledinaz, The Pajama Game
Paul Tazewell, The Color Purple

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Christopher Akerlind, Awake and Sing!
Paul Gallo, Three Days of Rain
Mark Henderson, Faith Healer
Mark Henderson, The History Boys

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington and Brian Monahan, The Drowsy Chaperone
Howell Binkley, Jersey Boys
Natasha Katz, Tarzan
Brian MacDevitt, The Color Purple

All totaled, I believe The Drowsy Chaperone will be the night's biggest winner in the musical categories, while The History Boys and Rabbit Hole will tie for the most awards in the play categories. But Sweeney Todd will also make headlines. I expect the award tallies to come down to this:

The Drowsy Chaperone -- Five awards, including Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Book, Best Scenic Design of a Musical and Best Costume Design of a Musical.
Sweeney Todd -- Four awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Orchestrations.
The History Boys -- Three awards, including Best Play, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and Best Direction of a Play.
Rabbit Hole -- Three awards, including Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and Best Scenic Design of a Play.
Faith Healer -- Two awards, including Best Revival of a Play and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.
The Color Purple -- Two awards, including Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical and Best Original Score (I expect this to be the upset of the evening).
The Pajama Game -- One award for the first Broadway turn by Harry Connick, Jr. in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical category. This is the award Tony will use to illuminate its star power to the broader CBS audience.
The Threepenny Opera -- One award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
Jersey Boys -- One award. Expect a nearly complete shutout of this overrated hit with a token award in the Best Lighting of a Musical category.
Three Days of Rain -- One award for Best Lighting of a Play.
Edward Albee's Seascape -- One award for Best Costume Design of a Play.

The 60th Tony Awards will be telecast at 8 pm EDT, Sunday, June 11 on CBS.

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Play (June 5, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Revival of a Musical (June 4, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote....for Best Play (June 3, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Tony Award Nominations Announced (May 16, 2006)

Labels: Cynthia Nixon, Faith Healer, Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd, The Drowsy Chaperone, The History Boys, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Saturday, June 10, 2006