Here is my final set of predictions for the 2018 Tony Awards.
Previously, I wrote about the categories representing the musicals (Link Here) and the plays (Here). Now let's take a look at the all-important design elements that absolutely affect your experience in the theater: Set design, costumes, lighting, and sound.
Nominees for Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Dane Laffrey, Once On This Island
Scott Pask, The Band's Visit
Scott Pask, Finn Ross and Adam Young, Mean Girls
Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants
My favorite.
David Zinn for SpongeBob SquarPants. This is such a fun show, and the wacky design elements contribute immensely to the pleasure.
Who I think will win.
Too close to call definitively, but I think that Scott Pask, Finn Ross and Adam Young are likely to get it because Pask's set design and Ross and Young's projection design for Mean Girls have been combined with this nomination. Really, though, there should be a separate category for projection design; it has become enough of a significant presence on Broadway to warrant its own category.
Possibility of Sneaking In.
Dane Laffrey's design for Once On This Island quite imaginative and very effective as part of the overall story telling.
Nuh-uh.
I don't think Michael Yeargan's traditional, if well designed set for My Fair Lady, or Scott Pask's simple but effective design for The Band's Visit will do it this time.
Nominees for Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Three Tall Women
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and the King
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Santo Loquasto, The Iceman Cometh
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America
My favorite.
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce's design for Angels in America is quite clever in its use of the expanse of stage space at the theater. It serves not only the story's content, but the overall surrealistic mood that threads throughout.
Who I think will win.
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce.
(Good) Possibility of Sneaking In.
Christine Jones. If the projection design team of Finn Ross and Ash Woodward had been combined with Christine Jones for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for this category, they would be a shoo-in. Nevertheless, voters may not distinguish between the set and the projection design and give the Tony to Jones anyway.
Nuh-uh.
Santo Loquasto is a terrific scenic designer, but the design for The Iceman Cometh is more serviceable than particularly creative or evocative. Jonathan Fensom's work on Farinelli and the King is quite similar to the design we saw during the company's last visit to Broadway a couple of years back. Voters will remember and are unlikely to honor the repetition.
Nominees for Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Carousel
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
My favorite.
David Zinn. His hand is everywhere in this production, and everything is so very creative and imaginative.
Who I think will win.
David Zinn.
Possibility of Sneaking In.
Catherine Zuber's period costumes for My Fair Lady beautiful and appropriately evocative for the show and may very well garner a Tony.
Nuh-uh.
Clint Ramos' work on Once On This Island is on a par with Catherine Zuber's designs for My Fair Lady, but design elements for the smaller-scale production are less likely to win the Tony. Ann Roth's work on Carousel is fits in well with the dark tone of the piece, but these costumes are not going to be competitive with the more eye-popping ones from SpongeBob SquarePants or My Fair Lady.
Nominees for Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Ann Roth, Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, The Iceman Cometh
My favorite.
Katrina Lindsay. The costumes for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are imaginatively reflective of the world of witches and wizards, with appropriate "muggle" influences. The smartly-designed black outfits suggestive of fascism that appear in Part II are effectively disturbing.
Who I think will win.
Possibility of Sneaking In.
Don't think so.
Nominees for Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island
Donald Holder, My Fair Lady
Brian MacDevitt, Carousel
Tyler Micoleau, The Band's Visit
My favorite.
Brian MacDevitt. Nice job of using in Carousel to subtly provide a sense of the passage of time from night to day and back again, as well as to highlight or enshadow actions.
Who I think will win.
Possibility of Sneaking In.
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer's lighting for Once On This Island is most effective in suggesting changes in the weather on an island that is subjected to hurricanes.
Nuh-uh.
Fine work by all of the other nominees, but not particularly "showy" the way the Tonys like 'em.
Nominees for Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Paule Constable, Angels in America
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, The Iceman Cometh
Paul Russell, Farinelli and The King
Ben Stanton, Junk
My favorite.
Neil Austin's lighting design for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is an integral part of the stage magic that is vital to the show's success.
Who I think will win.
Neil Austin.
Possibility of Sneaking In.
Not really. No one matches the magic of Harry Potter.
Nominees for Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, The Band's Visit
Peter Hylenski, Carousel
Brian Ronan, Mean Girls
Walter Trarbach + Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants
My favorite.
I thought the best sound design was the work done by Mark Salzberg for My Fair Lady, in which, for once, I could actually hear the performer's voices coming directly from them instead of being pumped through a soulless amplification system.
Who I think will win.
Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, for handling the craziness of SpongeBob SquarePants sounding crisp and clear.
Possibility of Sneaking In.
Nominees for Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, Travesties
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Angels in America
Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Dan Moses Schreier, The Iceman Cometh
My favorite.
Gareth Fry for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. As with the lighting, the sound design is part of the all-important stage magic.
Who I think will win.
Gareth Fry.
Possibility of Sneaking In.
Ian Dickinson. Unlikely to win, but Angels in America is such a sprawling work, you need someone in charge of sound to keep things crisp and clear, which has been impressively done here.
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