PLAY
“Enchanted April”
“Take Me Out”
“Say Goodnight Gracie”
“Vincent in Brixton”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: “Take Me Out”
Should win: “Take Me Out”
Why: It’s been the worst season in memory for original plays, but the best of the worst was probably Richard Greenberg’s “Take Me Out.”
Lyons predicts:
Will win: “Take Me Out”
Should win: “Take Me Out”
Why: A good play in a weak year.
MUSICAL
“Amour”
“A Year With Frog and Toad”
“Hairspray”
“Movin’ Out”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: “Hairspray”
Should win: “Hairspray”
Why: No hairsbreadth race.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: “Hairspray”
Should win: “Movin’ Out”
Why: The revolutionary tuner will yield to the good-timer.
REVIVAL OF A PLAY
“A Day in the Death of Joe Egg”
“Dinner at Eight”
“Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Should win: “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Why: I cannot see anything beating the long but magisterial staging of O’Neill’s great “Journey.”
Lyons predicts:
Will win: “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Should win: “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Why: The finest piece of theater in a blue moon.
REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
“Gypsy”
“La Bohéme”
“Man of La Mancha”
“Nine”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: “Nine”
Should win: “Gypsy”
Why: All the doubts about “Gypsy” should clear the way for the worthy “Nine” – but “Gypsy” is one of Broadway’s greatest, and I liked its reinvention.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: “Nine”
Should win: “La Bohéme”
Why: Baz scores with Puccini, but at least “Nine” is better than “Gypsy.”
ACTOR IN A PLAY
Brian Bedford, “Tartuffe”
Brian Dennehy, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Eddie Izzard, “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg”
Paul Newman, “Our Town”
Stanley Tucci, “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Paul Newman
Should win: Brian Dennehy
Why: A subtle portrayal will bow to lazy star power.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Brian Dennehy
Should win: Eddie Izzard
Why: It is difficult not to win playing James Tyrone, so Dennehy will triumph over the nervy brilliance of Izzard and even the cool hand of Paul Newman.
ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Jayne Atkinson, “Enchanted April”
Victoria Hamilton, “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg”
Clare Higgins, “Vincent in Brixton”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Fiona Shaw, “Medea”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Vanessa Redgrave
Should win: Vanessa Redgrave
Why: It is also difficult not to win playing Medea (every previous Broadway Medea has won), but unlike the fantastically brilliant Fiona Shaw, they were not facing Vanessa Redgrave in full flight.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Vanessa Redgrave
Should win: Vanessa Redgrave
Why: An astonishing reinterpretation of the role.
Going for the gold
ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Antonio Banderas, “Nine”
Harvey Fierstein, “Hairspray”
Malcolm Gets, “Amour”
Brian Stokes Mitchell, “Man of La Mancha”
John Selya, “Movin’ Out”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Harvey Fierstein
Should win: John Selya
Why: It’s a fight between old Broadway hand Fierstein and Hollywood newbie Antonio Banderas, but perversely my vote goes to dancer Selya, who doesn’t get to sing or talk at all.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Harvey Fierstein
Should win: John Selya
Why: A lovable pro beats out a daring innovator.
ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Melissa Errico, “Amour”
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, “Man of La Mancha”
Elizabeth Parkinson, “Movin’ Out”
Bernadette Peters, “Gypsy”
Marissa Jaret Winokur, “Hairspray”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Marissa Jaret Winokur
Should win: Bernadette Peters
Why: Bernadette “will-she, won’t-she, can-she, can’t-she” Peters has made herself a long shot in a race that will go to the delicious, bright-as-a-button Winokur.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Bernadette Peters
Should win: Marissa Jaret Winokur
Why: A miscast star will squish an exciting newcomer.
FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Thomas Jefferson Byrd, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Robert Sean Leonard, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Denis O’Hare, “Take Me Out”
Daniel Sunjata, “Take Me Out”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Denis O’Hare
Should win: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Why: The nod will go to O’Hare’s engaging portrait of a gay accountant, but my vote goes to the outrageous Hoffman.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Denis O’Hare
Should win: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Why: Two excellent jobs, but Hoffman plumbs depths.
FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Christine Ebersole, “Dinner at Eight”
Linda Emond, “Life (x) 3”
Kathryn Meisle, “Tartuffe”
Michele Pawk, “Hollywood Arms”
Marian Seldes, “Dinner at Eight”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Marian Seldes
Should win: Michele Pawk
Why: The revered and beloved Seldes has a lock on this category, but Pawk gave a stunning performance in the little-remembered Carol Burnett memoir “Hollywood Arms.”
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Christine Ebersole
Should win: Marian Seldes
Why: Seldes’s comic brio should overshadow Ebersole’s.
FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Michael Cavanaugh, “Movin’ Out”
John Dossett, “Gypsy”
Dick Latessa, “Hairspray”
Corey Reynolds, “Hairspray”
Keith Roberts, “Movin’ Out”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Dick Latessa
Should win: Dick Latessa
Why: Wonderful Broadway veteran Latessa faces tough opposition from “Hairspray” co-star Corey Reynolds and John Dossett, but Latessa will pull it off.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Dick Latessa
Should win: Michael Cavanaugh
Why: Again, a lovable pro beats a thrilling innovator.
FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Tammy Blanchard, “Gypsy”
Jane Krakowski, “Nine”
Mary Stuart Masterson, “Nine”
Chita Rivera, “Nine”
Ashley Tuttle, “Movin’ Out”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Chita Rivera
Should win: Jane Krakowski
Why: The sentiment surrounding veteran Seldes also clings like perfume to Rivera, but Krakowski sexily sliding down that silky white sheet just may do it for voters – it certainly did it for me.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Jane Krakowski
Should win: Jane Krakowski
Why: Give it to the sexy acrobat.
DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Laurence Boswell, “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg”
Robert Falls, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Joe Mantello, “Take Me Out”
Deborah Warner, “Medea”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Joe Mantello
Should win: Deborah Warner
Why: Mantello and his nude shower scenes will doubtless trump Warner’s modern, cathartic “Medea” – especially since no nudes is rarely good nudes.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Joe Mantello
Should win: Robert Falls
Why: Mantello’s direction is razor-sharp, but Falls’ take on a familiar classic deftly manages to reimagine four lives.
DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
David Leveaux, “Nine”
Baz Luhrmann, “La Boheme”
Jack O’Brien, “Hairspray”
Twyla Tharp, “Movin’ Out”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Jack O’Brien
Should win: David Leveaux
Why: The Tonys will be a battle between “Hairspray” and “Nine” with “Hairspray” winning on points, so I prefer the chances of the experienced O’Brien over the more inventive Leveaux.
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Jack O’Brien
Should win: Baz Luhrmann
Why: Luhrmann breathes life where there wasn’t any.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Robert Longbottom, “Flower Drum Song”
Jerry Mitchell, “Hairspray”
Melinda Roy, “Urban Cowboy”
Twyla Tharp, “Movin’ Out”
Barnes predicts:
Will win: Twyla Tharp
Should win: Twyla Tharp
Why: Tharp – who else?
Lyons predicts:
Will win: Twyla Tharp
Should win: Twyla Tharp
Why: Tharp reinvents dance as a life force on B’way.
Tony Byte
‘The Producers’ nabbed the most nominations (15) and wins (11) of any show in Tony history.
