The Tony Awards - who will win, and who should win.

        It's finally here, Gay Christmas! Otherwise known as the Tony Awards! It's Broadway's biggest night, hosted once again by the mayor of Broadway, Neil Patrick Harris. There will be more performances than ever this year, as shows that are nominated, and shows from years past will grace the stage at Radio City Music Hall. It's sure to be an exciting night, and now what you've all been waiting for.

Should Win Wi
Will Win
Should and Will


Best Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler, Bring It On: The Musical
Peter Darling, Matilda The Musical
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Chet Walker, Pippin

Chet Walker has truly helped create stage magic in the revival of Pippin. Truthfully, it should be a joint nomination with Gypsy Snyder, but I digress. Making the dance style of Bob Fosse work with the circus creations of Gypsy Snyder is definitely worthy of a Tony win! 

Best Direction of a Play

Pam MacKinnon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nicholas Martin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Bartlett Sher, Golden Boy
George C. Wolfe, Lucky Guy

Pam MacKinnon deserves to win for her superb direction of Virginia Woolf. More than likely to win is Nicholas Martin for the well received, and well reviewed Vanya and Sonia. 

Best Direction of a Musical

Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Diane Paulus, Pippin
Matthew Warchus, Matilda The Musical

This is one of only two categories in which I'm not 100% certain of my choice. I'm sure of my choice of who SHOULD win, and that is most certainly Dianne Paulus for her stunning revival of Pippin. She has taken a piece of theater that has become synonymous with one style of direction and given it new life. 

Her only real competition is Matthew Warchus for Matilda. Matilda is a huge show, and a huge undertaking. It's possible that Tony voters have seen fit to reward Mr. Warchus simply for being the captain of a very large, splashy, and audience satisfying ship. I'm putting the odds slightly in Ms. Paulus' favor.

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Hands on a Hardbody

Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
Lyrics: Amanda Green

Kinky Boots

Music & Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper

Matilda The Musical

Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin 

People are calling this a two horse race between Kinky Boots and Matilda (as they are most of the categories in which they share a nomination). I personally prefer the score to Kinky Boots. Truthfully, if I had to choose, I'd actually give it to Hands on a Hardbody but that shows award is it's nomination. Matilda is likely to best Kinky Boots in this category even though Kinky Boots has a more hummable and memorable score.

Best Book of a Musical

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Joseph Robinette

Kinky Boots

Harvey Fierstein

Matilda The Musical

Dennis Kelly

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Douglas Carter Beane

In my opinion Douglas Carter Beane's new book for Cinderella is the best reworking of a Rodgers and Hammerstein book that has ever been done on Broadway. Usually when they "rework" one of these books they end up adding more problems than the fixed. Matilda is based on beloved source material, and it's unlikely that it will not win this award.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Carrie Coon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful

It's very likely that Judith Light will win back to back Tony awards for her performance in The Assembled Parties. It's a very high profile performance with a lot of buzz around it. I'd rather seen the Tony go to Condola Rashad for her fantastic turn in The Trip to Bountiful.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy

Richard Kind has won other awards for this performance and he's likely to walk away with the Tony as well. He is admittedly wonderful in a roll that is not usually the type he gets to play in The Big Knife. I'd give the award to Tony Shaloub for his understated and heart breaking turn in the other Odetts revival of the season, Golden Boy.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Charl Brown, Motown The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin

Most people are saying that this is a toss up between Gabriel Ebert and Terrance Mann. While I think the Tony will ultimately go home with Gabriel Ebert for Matilda, it should go home with the wonderful Will Chase for his turn in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This was a wonderful and satisfying revival that was beloved by critics, but didn't seem to catch on with audiences, most likely because it didn't contain any stars.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda The Musical

It will be a complete and utter shock if Andrea Martin does not win this award. This woman is giving a life changing performance in what is usually a throw away moment of Pippin. That's not to say that audiences don't always enjoy the scene and song, but this is something altogether different. Her only competition is Annaleigh Ashford for kinky Boots, who in any other year would be deserving of taking home the gold.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

This was one of the hardest categories to choose this year. There were so many fantastic female performances in plays this year. It's the strongest category of the night to be sure. Laurie Metcalf broke my heart into tiny little pieces in The other place. She not only broke it, she obliterated it. Cicely Tyson is returning to Broadway for the first time in 30+ years and she's in her 80's. I'll be shocked if she doesn't win. Though if she DOES lose, it will probably be to Kristine Nielsen for Vanya.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans

That's right I picked two Should wins. That's because I can't choose between the two of them! It doesn't matter though because Tom Hanks is America's favorite actor and there is no way that he is not going to win for Best Actor even though there are at least two others in the category that deserve it more.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

Everyone is talking about Billy Porter in Kinky Boots. This is one of the weakest categories this year, and the weakest performance category for certain. The only real competition is between Billy Porter and Bertie Carvel, dueling drag performances. Billy Porter brings down the house as Lola, and deserves to bring home the Tony.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

I love Laura Osnes. She is wonderful in Cinderella, but Patina Miller sings wile hula hooping for goodness sake! Not only that, but she brings something new to a character that is synonymous with the man who created it, and not just breasts. 

Best Revival of a Play

Golden Boy

Producers:  Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten

Orphans

Producers:  Frederick Zollo, Robert Cole, The Shubert Organization, Orin Wolf, Lucky VIII, Scott M. Delman, James P. MacGilvray, StylesFour Productions

The Trip to Bountiful

Producers:  Nelle Nugent, Kevin Liles, Paula Marie Black, David R. Weinreb, Stephen C. Byrd, Alia M. Jones, Kenneth Teaton, Carole L. Haber/Philip Geier, Wendy Federman/Carl Moellenberg/Ricardo Hornos, Fifty Church Street Productions/Hallie Foote/Tyson and Kimberly Chandler, Joseph Sirola, Howard and Janet Kagan/Charles Salameno, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Raymond Gaspard/Andréa M. Price, Willette Murphy Klausner/Reginald M. Browne

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Producers:  Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Susan Quint Gallin, Mary Lu Roffe, Kit Seidel, Amy Danis & Mark Johannes, Patty Baker, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Richard Gross, Jam Theatricals, Cheryl Lachowicz, Michael Palitz, Dramatic Forces/Angelina Fiordellisi, Luigi & Rose Caiola, Ken Greiner, Kathleen K. Johnson, Kirmser Ponturo Fund, Will Trice, GFour Productions, Steppenwolf Theatre Company 

To be honest, I think both revivals are deserving of the win, and as long as one of them wins I wont be upset. It really was difficult to choose. I only gave the should win to Golden Boy because it's so rare to see a revival of this play, and it'll only be another ten years until we see another George and Martha on Broadway.

Best Revival of a Musical

Annie

Producers:  Arielle Tepper Madover, Roger Horchow, Sally Horchow, Roger Berlind, Roy Furman, Debbie Bisno, Stacey Mindich, James M. Nederlander, Jane Bergère/Daryl Roth, Eva Price/Christina Papagjika

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Producers:  Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

Pippin

Producers:  Barry and Fran Weissler, Howard and Janet Kagan, Lisa Matlin, Kyodo Tokyo, A&A Gordon/Brunish Trinchero, Tom Smedes/Peter Stern, Broadway Across America, Independent Presenters Network, Norton Herrick, Allen Spivak, Rebecca Gold, Joshua Goodman, Stephen E. McManus, David Robbins/Bryan S. Weingarten, Philip Hagemann/Murray Rosenthal, Jim Kierstead/Carlos Arana/Myla Lerner, Hugh Hayes/Jamie Cesa/Jonathan Reinis, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Ben Feldman, Square 1 Theatrics, Wendy Federman/Carl Moellenberg, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Infinity Theatre Company/Michael Rubenstein, Michael A. Alden/Dale Badway/Ken Mahoney, American Repertory Theater

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Producers:  Robyn Goodman, Jill Furman, Stephen Kocis, Edward Walson, Venetian Glass Productions, The Araca Group, Luigi Caiola & Rose Caiola, Roy Furman, Walt Grossman, Peter May/Sanford Robertson, Glass Slipper Productions LLC/Eric Schmidt, Ted Liebowitz/James Spry, Blanket Fort Productions, Center Theatre Group 

I absolutely loved the revival of Drood and I saw it twice. I would have seen it a third time if I'd not been out of town the entire month before it closed. That being said, the current revival of Pippin is something completely extraordinary. It's beyond words. Every aspect of the production is exactly what a revival should be, a re-examining of the original work.

Best Play

The Assembled Parties

Author:  Richard Greenberg

Producers:  Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove

Lucky Guy

Author:  Nora Ephron

Producers:  Colin Callender, Roy Furman, Arielle Tepper Madover, Roger & William Berlind, Stacey Mindich, Robert Cole & Frederick Zollo, David Mirvish, Daryl Roth, James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, Sonia Friedman Productions, The Shubert Organization

The Testament of Mary

Author:  Colm Toíbín

Producers:  Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Jon B. Platt, Roger Berlind, Broadway Across America, Scott M. Delman, Jean Doumanian, Roy Furman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Sonia Friedman Productions/Tulchin Bartner Productions, The Araca Group, Heni Koenigsberg, Daryl Roth, Eli Bush

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Author:  Christopher Durang

Producers:  Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Martin Platt & David Elliott, Pat Flicker Addiss, Catherine Adler, John O’Boyle, Joshua Goodman, Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler, Cricket Hooper Jiranek/Michael Palitz, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Radio Mouse Entertainment, ShadowCatcher Entertainment, Mary Cossette/Barbara Manocherian, Megan Savage/Meredith Lynsey Schade, Hugh Hysell/Richard Jordan, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Ron Simons, S.D. Wagner, John Johnson, McCarter Theatre Center, Lincoln Center Theater 

The show that I really would have liked to pick was not nominated, and that would be Sharr Whites gripping drama The Other Place. However, of the choices available it's almost a lock for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

Best Musical

Bring It On: The Musical

Producers:  Universal Pictures Stage Productions/Glenn Ross, Beacon Communications/Armyan Bernstein & Charlie Lyons, Kristin Caskey & Mike Isaacson

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Producers:  Gerald Goehring, Roy Miller, Michael F. Mitri, Pat Flicker Addiss, Peter Billingsley, Timothy Laczynski, Mariano Tolentino, Jr., Louise H. Beard, Michael Filerman, Scott Hart, Alison Eckert, Bob Bartner, Michael Jenkins, Angela Milonas, Bradford W. Smith

Kinky Boots

Producers:  Daryl Roth, Hal Luftig, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, CJ E&M, Jayne Baron Sherman, Just for Laughs Theatricals/Judith Ann Abrams, Yasuhiro Kawana, Jane Bergère, Allan S. Gordon & Adam S. Gordon, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Lucy & Phil Suarez, Bryan Bantry, Ron Fierstein & Dorsey Regal, Jim Kierstead/Gregory Rae, BB Group/Christina Papagjika, Michael DeSantis/Patrick Baugh, Brian Smith/Tom & Connie Walsh, Warren Trepp, Jujamcyn Theaters

Matilda The Musical

Producers:  The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers 

Matilda  is the big hit musical of the year and it's very unlikely that Kinky Boots will be able to best the prestige that comes along with coming from London and being produced by The Royal Shakespeare Company. That's not to say that Matilda doesn't deserve to win, but - Kinky Boots is a bigger theatrical feat, despite all of Matilda's stage effects.

And there you have it folks! Those are my picks! Tune in to the 2013 Tony Awards at 8pm on your local CBS station to see if I'm correct!