“Comet” & “Dolly” Lead Tony Noms
The nominations for the Tony awards were announced this morning. As expected, “Hello, Dolly!“, the favorite to win Best Revival/Musical, scored 10. “Dear Evan Hansen,” considered the frontrunner for Best Musical, received 9. But “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” bested everyone with 12. Does this mean that “Comet” can upset “Evan”? It’s possible, though “Evan” has been a bigger hit at the box office and has a best-selling cast album, so I’d still put odds on it. Of Best Revival/Play, “Jitney is expected to win and it grabbed 6 noms. Its main competition, “The Little Foxes,” also had 6. In Best Play, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” received 8 and “Oslo,” my personal favorite, got 7.
It was thought that “Oslo”‘s primary competition for Best Play was “Sweat,” but the failure of “Sweat” to get a Best Director nom says to me that it is fading. I was surprised that the revival of Arthur Miller’s “The Price” was noticed with only one nom, Danny DeVito, who is expected to win the Best Featured Actor/Play category. I was thrilled to see 5 noms for the revival of “Falsettos”; two of its cast, Stephanie J. Block and Andrew Rannells, have strong chances to win. As for the actors in musicals, they should just hurl one right now at Bette Midler. I expect Young Mr. Platt from “Evan” to win Best Actor/Musical, though Andy Karl, who has great sympathy for trouping through an injury, could upset him, especially since his show, “Groundhog Day,” received a respectable 7 noms. “Come From Away,” the feel-good hit of the season, also received 7 noms but it’s possible it could go home on Tony night — June 11 — with nothing.
