The Nominees for Best Actress in a Play
Wonderful to see Annette Bening back on Broadway after a break of 30 years, and she is doing splendidly as the beleaguered Kate in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. The competition for Best Actress in a Play is fierce, with six well-deserving nominees. But ties are rare, and I don't think she will win the Tony this go 'round. Read on.
Heidi Schreck has pulled off quite a feat, with her play What the Constitution Means to Me gaining accolades Off Broadway before moving to its Broadway home as a Pulitzer Prize finalist and garnering multiple Best Play nominations. Nevertheless, I do not predict a Tony for what is a thoroughly engaging performance. So do keep on reading.
Laurie Metcalf has become one of Broadway's great reliable and stalwart actresses, showing us repeatedly what a gifted talent she has to offer theatergoers. This time around, she stars as "Hillary" in Hillary and Clinton, a play that uses the relationship between the ultra-famous and ubiquitous power couple as a kicking off point to explore the extraordinary challenges faced by an ambitious woman in national politics. Yet I'm thinking, no Tony. Read further.
Laura Donnelly garnered the Olivier Award for Best Actress when she created the role of Caitlin in The Ferryman in London, and she is now appearing in the film Tolkien, so that American audiences are getting to know her better. But no Tony, I think. Read on.
Janet McTeer was mesmerizing as "the divine" Sarah Bernhardt in Theresa Rebeck's play Bernhardt/Hamlet. I'd happily see her nab the Tony for this performance, but I don't think it will happen. So, let us move on.
And I predict the winner of the 2019 Tony for Best Actress in a Play will be Elaine May, for her stellar and stage-dominating performance as a fiercely independent woman who is being devoured by the monster that is dementia, in The Waverly Gallery.
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The Nominees for Best Featured Actress in a Play
Fionnula Flanagan is a marvel as Aunt Maggie Faraway, the half-in half-out of reality, banshee-seeing mystical storytelling character in The Ferryman. It's a great role for this great Irish actress to perform, but no Tony. Read on.
There is quite a bit of conjecture that the characters of The Fool and of Cordelia in King Lear were always intended to be played by the same actor, or even that the Fool is Cordelia in disguise -- disguises being quite prevalent in the play. In any event, it is Ruth Wilson who has been nominated for playing both roles on Broadway. She is the life of the production as the Fool, to be sure. But I do not believe she will receive the Tony for her grand performance. Continue reading.
How wonderful it is that Kristine Nielsen (above) and Julie White (below) were both nominated for their featured performances in Gary, Taylor Mac's wickedly compelling "sequel" to Shakespeare's blood-fest of a play, Titus Andronicus. I imagine you have heard that Ms. Nielsen moved into the role that was supposed to have been played by Andrea Martin, who suffered an injury and had to withdraw. Then Ms. White came in on short notice to take on what had been Ms. Nielsen's role. The opening was postponed briefly, but Gary opened in time for Tony consideration, and truly both of these actresses are just terrific. Sad to say, I do not predict either will win the Tony for her performance in this thoroughly non-mainstream but utterly captivating play. So read on.
Celia Keenan-Bolger absolutely is Scout in Broadway's runaway hit production of To Kill A Mockingbird. The play boasts many wonderful performances, and it is so much of an ensemble work that it takes a lot for any one actor to stand out above the pack. Ms. Keenan-Bolger does stand out, and I predict she will receive the Tony for her efforts.
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Feel free to share this blog with your friends, and to offer up your own theater stories by posting a comment. I also invite you to check out the website Show-Score.Com, where you will find capsule reviews of current plays from Yours Truly and many other New York critics. I saw all and reviewed almost all of the Broadway plays identified here, so if you want more information, you know where to go.
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