72nd Annual Tony Awards Predictions: Part 1

The Tony nominations are in less than 4 days!!! Here we go, people! Hopefully, this award season won't be as disappointing as the last one because I think that most of us can agree that the 71st Annual Tony Awards were pretty much crap. Although it can't be too bad with Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban co-hosting, although I wish it was just Sara Bareilles! I honestly have no idea how I formed this list. Some of it was based on reviews about the show, other parts my own personal choices as well as previous award nominations. Also for some of the acting categories, as well as a few others, I have a

paragraph below explaining why I think these specific people should be/would be nominated over others. Anyway, let's begin!
I HAVE UPDATED THIS LIST!!!
Final Update*I PROMISE*: March 29, 2018 at 1:24pm

• Best Play
• Farinelli and the King
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Junk: The Golden Age of Debt
• 1984
• Best Musical
• The Band's Visit
• Mean Girls
• Prince of Broadway
• Spongebob Squarepants

Now, before everyone freaks out saying "WHAT?!?!?! THERE ARE ONLY 4 SHOWS" The most recent Tony Awards Determination says "... in the 26 competitive categories for which there are at least nine candidates, there shall be five nominees in that category" there are only 7 "original musicals" and considering that most of those "original musicals" (The only one not based off a movie or someone's life being Escape to Margaritaville) were not that great this year my guess is it will only contain three musicals and they are the four that I just listed.

• Best Revival of a Play
• Angels in America
• Children of a Lesser God
• The Iceman Cometh
• M. Butterfly
• Travesties
• Best Revival of a Musical
• My Fair Lady
• Once On This Island

In the Best Revival of a musical category, they never nominate all of the revivals in the season even when there is only three or four of them. They always leave at least one of the shows out and in my opinion, that show will be Carousel because it has not really gotten rave reviews. I am also personally not a fan of what I've seen in this production. We all know that Once On This Island has this award in the bag and because My Fair Lady is one of the almost yearly revivals with a creative team consisting of Bartlett Sher (Director), Michael Yeargan (Set Designer), Catherine Zuber (Costume Designer) and Tom Watson (Hair and Wig Designer) that always gets nominated for Best Revival of a Musical, all design categories, Best Director and at least one acting award.

• Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
• Andrew Garfield- Angels in America as Prior Walter
• Denzel Washington- The Iceman Cometh as Theodore "Hickey" Hickman
• Jamie Parker- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as Harry Potter
• Joshua Jackson- Children of a Lesser God as James Leads
• Tom Hollander- Travesties as Henry Carr

This was a very tricky category to decide because there were a lot of fantastic leading man in plays this year. However, something tells me that if either Joshua Jackson or Tom Hollander aren't nominated then Mark Rylance will be nominated for his earlier performance in Farinelli and the King or Steven Pasquale will be nominated for his performance in Junk: The Golden Age of Debt.

• Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
• Amy Schumer- Meteor Shower as Corky
• Condola Rashād- Saint Joan as Joan
• Elizabeth McGovern- Time and the Conways as Mrs. Conway
• Glenda Jackson- Three Tall Women as A
• Lauren Ridloff- Children of a Lesser God as Sarah Norman
• Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
• Ethan Slater- Spongebob Squarepants as Spongebob Squarepants
• Harry Hadden-Paton- My Fair Lady as Henry Higgins
• Joshua Henry- Carousel as Billy Bigelow
• Paul Alexander Nolan- Escape to Margaritaville as Tully
• Tony Shalhoub- The Band's Visit as Tewfiq

I have so many conflicting thoughts on this category. I personally am not a fan of Joshua Henry's Billy Bigelow, nor are most critics, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did get nominated simply because he's an amazing performer none the less. I also put Nolan down because the Tony Awards wouldn't leave only one person off or maybe they would. I honestly can not describe my feelings on this category so I just put all 5 down because this is making brain hurt. I'm just gonna say that my dream category would be Slater, Hadden-Paton and Shalhoub.

• Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
• Hailey Kilgore- Once On This Island as Ti Moune
• Jessie Mueller- Carousel as Julie Jordan
• Katrina Lenk- The Band's Visit as Dina
• Lauren Ambrose- My Fair Lady as Eliza Doolittle
• Taylor Louderman- Mean Girls as Regina George

Now, I know some of you Frozen fans might be upset, but frankly both Patti & Caissie are not that great as Anna & Elsa...

• Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
• Anthony Boyle- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as Scorpius Malfoy
• James McArdle- Angels in America as Louis Ironson
• Nathan Lane- Angels in America as Roy Cohn
• Nathan Stewart-Jarrett- Angels in America as Belize
• Paul Thornley- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as Ron Weasley
• Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
• Denise Gough- Angels in America as Harper Pitt
• Kecia Lewis- Children of a Lesser God as Mrs. Norman
• Laurie Metcalf- Three Tall Women as B
• Noma Dumezweni- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as Hermione Granger
• Poppy Miller- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as Ginny Potter
• Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
• Alex Newell- Once On This Island as Asaka
• Alexander Gemignani- Carousel as Enoch Snow
• Ari’el Stachel- The Band's Visit as Haled
• Gavin Lee- Spongebob Squarepants as Squidward
• Grey Henson- Mean Girls as Damian Hubbard
• Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
• Ashley Park- Mean Girls as Gretchen Weiners
• Diana Rigg (Linda Mugleston)- My Fair Lady as Mrs. Higgins (Mrs. Pierce)
• Kate Rockwell- Mean Girls as Karen Smith
• Lindsay Mendez- Carousel as Carrie Pipperidge
• Merle Dandridge (Kenita R. Miller)- Once On This Island as Papa Ge (Mama Euralie)

This was a very difficult category for me to decide because by my count there are at least 17 women who could be nominated in this category. I love so many of these (at least) 17 women and all of these women are very talented and deserving of a nomination, however, there are only 5 slots in the category. I know that both Lindsay Mendez for Carousel and Ashley Park for Mean Girls have nominations in the bag. Now that only leaves 3 spots and something tells me that Mean Girls will get another nomination, but it could be any of the following three women: Barrett Wilbert Weed, Kate Rockwell or Kerry Buttler, but my guess would be on Kate Rockwell. This brings us down to 2 spots and I'm hoping that Once On This Island gets a nomination. While I would love for Merle Dandridge to be nominated for her insatiable performance as Papa Ge she is, unfortunately, no longer in the show and I think that will affect her nomination status. Now, most people seem to think Lea Salonga is going to be nominated, but she has been in 2 previous tony eligible roles and had not received a nomination for either and while she has gotten great reviews her performance is nothing special compared to the other actresses in her show and that is why I believe Kenita R. Miller will be nominated in her place, although I do think that it could be Merle or Kenita. Now that only leaves one spot left and this one is a wild card. This slot could be filled by a third Mean Girls nomination with either Barrett or Kerry or possibly Renée Fleming in Carousel or it could be a new show completely and it wouldn't surprise me if for some strange reason there was a surprise nomination for one of the women in Prince of Broadway because nominations have been popping up out of nowhere for this show. However, most of the times the Tony's like to nominate an older woman in the mix such as Mary Beth Peil last year or Victoria Clark in 2011, 2013, 2015 and other women. That is why I think either Diana Rigg or Linda Mugleston for My Fair Lady will be added in the mix.

• Best Book of a Musical
• Colman Domingo and Robert Cary- Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
• Itamar Moses- The Band's Visit
• Kyle Jarrow- Spongebob Squarepants
• Tina Fey- Mean Girls
• Best Original Score
• David Yazbek- The Band's Visit
• Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin- Mean Girls
• Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez- Frozen
• Various Artists- Spongebob Squarepants
• Best Scenic Design of a Play
• Chloe Lamford- 1984
• Christine Jones- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Derek McLane- The Parisian Woman
• Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce- Angels in America
• Miriam Buether- Three Tall Women
• Best Scenic Design of a Musical
• Beowulf Boritt- Prince of Broadway
• Dane Laffrey- Once On This Island
• Michael Yeargan- My Fair Lady
• Scott Pask- The Band's Visit
• Scott Pask, Finn Ross, Adam Young- Mean Girls
• Best Costume Design of a Play
• Ann Roth- Three Tall Women
• Jonathan Fensom- Farinelli and the King
• Katrina Lindsay- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Nicky Gillibrand- Angels in America
• Paloma Young- Time and the Conways
• Best Costume Design of a Musical
• Catherine Zuber- My Fair Lady
• Clint Ramos- Once On This Island
• David Zinn- SpongeBob SquarePants
• Gregg Barnes- Mean Girls
• Sarah Laux- The Band's Visit
• Best Lighting Design of a Play
• Donald Holder- M. Butterfly
• Mike Baldassari- Children of a Lesser God
• Natasha Chivers- 1984
• Neil Austin- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Paule Constable- Angels in America
• Best Lighting Design of a Musical
• Donald Holder- My Fair Lady
• Howell Binkley- Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
• Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer- Once On This Island
• Kenneth Posner- Mean Girls
• Natasha Katz- Frozen
• Best Sound Design of a Play
• Gareth Fry- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Ian Dickinson- Angels in America
• Jonathan Fensom- Lobby Hero
• Tom Gibbons- 1984
• Will Pickens- M. Butterfly
• Best Sound Design of a Musical
• Brian Ronan- Mean Girls
• Kai Harada- The Band's Visit
• Peter Hylenski- Once On This Island
• Scott Lehrer- Carousel
• Walter Trarbach- Spongebob Squarepants
• Best Direction of a Play
• Joe Mantello- Three Tall Women
• John Tiffany- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Kenny Leon- Children of a Lesser God
• Marianne Elliot- Angels in America
• Patrick Marber- Travesties
• Best Direction of a Musical
• Bartlett Sher- My Fair Lady
• Casey Nicholaw- Mean Girls
• David Cromer- The Band's Visit
• Michael Arden- Once On This Island
• Tina Landa- Spongebob Squarepants
• Best Choreography
• Camille K. Brown- Once On This Island
• Casey Nicholaw- Mean Girls
• Christopher Gattelli- My Fair Lady
• Justin Peck- Carousel
• Sergio Trujillo- Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
• Best Orchestrations
• Jamshied Sharifi- The Band's Visit
• Jason Robert Brown- Prince of Broadway
• John Clancy- Mean Girls
• Jonathan Tunick- Carousel
• Michael Starobin and AnnMarie Milazzo- Once On This Island

Okay, so here's my question on this category. It has been ruled that Imogen Heap will not be eligible for the Best Original Score category for her music in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but it never said anything about the orchestrations... So I'm going to put down Mean Girls, but I believe that if they do nominate Imogen Heap in this category then she will take the place of Mean Girls.

Nominations per production
14: Mean Girls
11: Angels in America, The Band's Visit, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Once On This Island
9: My Fair Lady
8: Spongebob Squarepants
6: Carousel, Children of a Lesser God
5: Three Tall Women
4: 1984
3: Frozen, M. Butterfly, Prince of Broadway, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Travesties
2: Farinelli and the King, The Iceman Cometh, Time and the Conways

1: Escape to Margaritaville, Junk: The Golden Age of Debt, Lobby Hero, Meteor Shower, The Parisian Woman, Saint Joan