Welcome back to Tony Talk, a column in which Gold Derby contributors Sam Eckmann and David Buchanan offer Tony Awards analysis. After 19 columns dissecting every twist and turn in the 2025-2026 Broadway season, we come together one last time before the ceremony to offer our (nearly) final predictions in the top 14 categories. For our thoughts on all 26 categories, including the eight design categories, see Sam and David’s full predictions.
Best Play
David Buchanan: Sam, at long last, we’re finally on the cusp of the 2026 Tony Awards! Tony voting officially closed on Friday, and with all of the ballots submitted, there are so many suspenseful races that we need to dissect. Considering this season felt like the year of the play revival, let’s start with the play categories, which boast some head-scratching races.
READ: The final Gold Derby odds in all 26 categories
All four of these shows are particularly strong pieces of playwriting and very well-realized productions. Liberation, Giant, and The Balusters all likely have their share of voters’ support, but I’m unwavering in my prediction that Liberation, this year’s Pulitzer Prize winner, easily takes this prize. Smart, uniquely structured, meta-theatrical, timely, and so emotionally impactful, Liberation checks all the boxes of a Best Play frontrunner. I’d wager that you’re predicting it, too?
Sam Eckmann: Indeed! Liberation has maintained momentum despite concluding its limited run months ago and the industry is still in love with this show. I feel quite confident that playwright Bess Wohl will be striding up to the podium at Radio City Music Hall to become just the fourth female playwright in history to win this category. The Balusters and Giant are both admired, and both still running, but neither has emerged as a singular threat to Liberation.
Best Revival of a Play
Eckmann: I suspect we are also aligned with our pick for revival. It’s ironic that a category which was so hotly competitive at the nomination stage (acclaimed productions of Bug, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and Marjorie Prime were all left out) has become so clear cut. Death of a Salesman has taken Broadway by storm and will win here. Director Joe Mantello has united a stellar cast and design team around his arresting vision for the play, which asks the audience to reexamine one of the most well-known American dramas. When this production was announced, I thought, “Another one?” But when the lights came up at the Winter Garden Theatre, it felt like I had just witnessed the definitive production of this classic. If we are searching for second place, the acerbic Becky Shaw has shocked and delighted. I can find you a group voters casting a ballot for it, but it’s nowhere near enough to topple Willy Loman.
Buchanan: Yes, I have no doubt that Death of a Salesman takes Best Play Revival, which I would not have declared so confidently at the beginning of the season given how many extraordinary productions opened. Mantello took a humongous risk stripping all the domesticity from one of America’s greatest family dramas, and he made such smart choices – such as casting a Young Biff and Young Happy – that the production couldn’t help but feel new. It doesn’t hurt its prospects that so many of its individual elements, from performances to its gorgeous design, will likely receive recognition, too. Oedipus performed very well with Tony nominators, and in the winter it looked like the production to beat, and I think it will ultimately walk away with a couple of trophies.
Best Actress in a Play
Buchanan: One of those trophies will likely go to Lesley Manville for Oedipus, who I’m predicting from this overall exciting list. I don’t think her victory is entirely assured. Susannah Flood is a true New York thespian, the kind Tony voters love to acknowledge, and if Liberation picks up an unexpected award or two on its path to Best Play, she could surprise for her moving performance. Carrie Coon’s long-awaited return to Broadway after 2013’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? most certainly didn’t disappoint, either. Talk about a gripping, fully committed, and harrowingly memorable performance with a dynamite monologue at the end. In a way, Coon’s monologue is the mirror image of Manville’s, who stops the galloping pace of Oedipus dead in its tracks for a haunting, quietly delivered story about her past. In a production that will likely win Sound Design for shaking its audience with the roar of the election night crowd, I’m positive every individual who in Studio 54 leaned closer to the stage to hear Manville deliver that delicate, devastating speech. Do you think Flood, Coon, or even one of the two deliciously funny Fallen Angels (Rose Byrne, Kelli O’Hara) will pull off the victory instead?
Eckmann: I’m still predicting Manville takes this. But even though her monologue was one of the best moments of the season, her win has become less of a lock. One aspect working against Manville is that she has spent the last couple months in the U.K. performing in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre, which means she hasn’t been in New York to make appearances at various dinners and events. Plus, she has a host of well-liked women in her category, and I’ve encountered pockets of support for all of them. Byrne and O’Hara likely cancel each other out (even if I’d argue that O’Hara drunkenly flailing around in a curtain was the funniest stage image of the year), but Coon or Flood could definitely pull off an upset. Flood is an Off-Broadway staple who has plenty of support, and I can see the vote swinging towards a New York actress, especially from voters searching for a second place to reward Liberation outside of Best Play. Ultimately though, victories are usually built around iconic moments that stay with voters long after the house lights come up. So smart money is still with Manville and her gripping monologue as Jocasta.
Best Actress (Play)
1.
2.
3.
Susannah Flood
Liberation
4.
5.
Kelli O’Hara
Fallen Angels
Best Actor in a Play
Eckmann: This race comes down to two titans of the industry. Nathan Lane sheds every ounce of his public persona to dip into the deflated shoes of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, perhaps the greatest male role in the American theatrical canon. John Lithgow transforms into Roald Dahl in Giant, an appropriate title since the actor appears to envelope the entire stage as the stubbornly nasty children’s author. Both men have long, storied careers and these characters would easily rank in the top five performances that either actor has ever given. It’s an impossible choice for voters to make. I’d kill to see the final vote tally here because I’d wager that the winner will prevail by just a handful of votes. I’m hesitantly backing Lithgow after previously ranking Lane in first place all season. But whereas Salesman is impressive for every single creative element coming together as one, Giant is impressive because of how Lithgow dominates and elevates the story. Which side of this coin toss have you landed on?
Buchanan: Our first disagreement thus far, as I’m still predicting Nathan Lane! I completely agree with you, though, that this is a margin call with both actors delivering brilliant performances that could have easily prevailed if they weren’t competing against each other. Lithgow is at turns entertainingly sinister, frightening, despicable, and even fleetingly sympathetic, in what is a complex characterization. I don’t think voters will soon forget that closing phone call of Dahl’s opposite a reporter that playwright Mark Rosenblatt recreates verbatim. As you say, too, Lithgow really is the defining element of the production.
But even as impressive a transformation as Lithgow delivers, I don’t think the play or his turn lands the lasting emotional impact of Nathan Lane’s Willy Loman, and that’s what I think will linger longer for voters. That’s certainly a consequence of the plays themselves; few could compete with Salesman in that department. Speaking of unforgettable moments, I absolutely won’t forget how utterly enfeebled Lane could look as Willy and then immediately vacillate to rage with Willy’s hair-trigger temper, or watching the tears fall from his face after that final conversation with Biff, or especially watching Willy seize control of his life in his final moments on stage. I think what also helps Lane, where other recent Willy Loman’s, including Philip Seymour Hoffman and Wendell Pierce, have lost the Tony, is that Mantello’s production allows him room to play the role unencumbered by the past or who we know Willy to be. I know most of Gold Derby’s experts are predicting Lithgow, but I’m sticking with Lane to the end, even if that proves unwise.
Best Actor (Play)
1.
2.
Nathan Lane
Death of a Salesman
3.
Daniel Radcliffe
Every Brilliant Thing
4.
5.
Best Featured Actress in a Play
Buchanan: Even though you’re no longer predicting Lane, I imagine you’re sticking with Laurie Metcalf, right? It’s hard to believe given how many distinctive, wonderful, and award-winning performances she’s delivered in the past decade, but I truly believe Metcalf has never been better than she is as Linda Loman in Salesman. She has found some truly idiosyncratic ways to deliver many of Linda’s best-known lines, including her inability to speak when telling her sons about Willy’s suicide attempts, and that utterly unique way she approaches the Epilogue. I don’t want to shortchange either Betsy Aidem from Liberation or June Squibb from Marjorie Prime, who are both in the conversation. But Marjorie Prime‘s underperformance with the nominators has left me skittish about predicting the legendary actress. If voters are looking for that additional category in which to vote for Liberation, Aidem would be a worthy winner, but I still think the recency and reinvention that Metcalf does wins out.
Eckmann: Metcalf had Tony No. 3 engraved the moment she first delivered her take on the “attention must be paid” scene. She has totally subverted all expectations that theater scholars have for Linda Loman to deliver an utterly unique take on this classic character. The other nominees in this category also turn in phenomenal work. Aidem ripped out my heart when she transformed into the narrator’s mother, Marylouise Burke is the queen of one-liners and the beating heart of The Balusters, Aya Cash closes Act 1 of Giant with a fiery takedown of Roald Dahl, and the feisty complexity of Squibb’s Marjorie is downright magical. But Metcalf conceives a brand new character from the skeleton of one that we all thought we knew. Actresses will be analyzing her interpretation of Linda in productions of Salesman for decades to come. The Tony is hers.
Best Featured Actress (Play)
1.
Laurie Metcalf
Death of a Salesman
2.
June Squibb
Marjorie Prime
3.
4.
Marylouise Burke
The Balusters
5.
Featured Actor in a Play
Buchanan: At one point in early April, I had Salesman out front in all three of its acting categories. But the one concession I’ve made is switching from Christopher Abbott as Biff Loman to Alden Ehrenreich in Becky Shaw. As monumental as this production of Salesman is, it is exceedingly rare for a play to win three acting trophies in one night; it has only happened three times in all 78 years of Tony history, in fact! I don’t want to rule out Abbott entirely though, because as you and I have said in a few columns, I don’t know if that “dime a dozen” scene has ever been better performed than by him and Lane. I’m also still ruminating on the angry growl he gives Willy after Willy repeatedly reprimands Linda for interrupting their animated conversation. I was pretty shocked that Becky Shaw received so few nominations, but there’s no doubt that Ehrenreich steals that entire production as the egotistical, smarmy, but hilariously endearing Max, who, by the final climactic scene of the play, reveals the beating emotional core under his exoskeleton. It is an absolutely magnetic Broadway debut, one that I don’t think Tony voters will be able to resist awarding. The New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Individual Performance over so many titans of the theatre this season speaks volumes to his prospects. Do you agree?
Eckmann: Yes, it’s quite bizarre that for as incredibly as Abbott performs Biff’s emotional final scene, he has yet to pick up any prizes this awards season. Perhaps voters are simply looking to spread the wealth to other play revivals they enjoyed. In addition to the New York Drama Critics, Ehrenreich has won the Dorian and Drama Desk Awards. He split that Drama Desk victory with Ruben Santiago-Hudson, as that group now bestows two winners per acting category. I believe those victories are telling. Ehrenreich has amassed passionate support among Tony voters, and by my estimate, has rocketed ahead of the competition. It’s an impressive showing for someone making his stage debut, and I think his complicated anti-hero performance will take him over the finish line. If anyone is going to stop that momentum it might just be Santiago-Hudson, a respected veteran of the industry. The actor is known for being one of the foremost experts on August Wilson, and his performance in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone makes it clear as to why. Even though he is tasked with some of the most heightened sequences in the story, Santiago-Hudson keeps his character grounded. It’s the type of performance where you forget that you’re watching an actor at work because he makes it look so easy and natural. But Becky Shaw has proved to be a more popular production overall than Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and this category offers the only chance voters have to reward it. So Ehrenreich sits atop this stacked field.
Best Featured Actor (Play)
1.
Christopher Abbott
Death of a Salesman
2.
Alden Ehrenreich
Becky Shaw
3.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
4.
Danny Burstein
Marjorie Prime
5.
Richard Thomas
The Balusters
Best Director of a Play
Eckmann: Let’s close out the play categories with another likely win for Death of a Salesman. Like Metcalf, director Joe Mantello seems bound to pick up his third career Tony Award on Sunday. This production is perhaps the most conceptual work Mantello has delivered on Broadway. Characters flicker in through the columns of the cavernous auto garage set, the actors appear like they are reliving the same haunted memories on a loop, and Willy’s car sits center star like an ever-present bad omen. If you are interested in trying to call a shocking Tony Awards upset, however, then you could predict Whitney White for this category. I’ve encountered a healthy number of voters who are gravitating towards her work in Liberation, which required her to successfully navigate the narrator-driven structure of the play, as well as flashbacks. As I mentioned before, some voters are hungry to give Liberation more hardware than just Best Play, so tossing this category to White — a New York director on a serious hot streak in her career — feels like a no brainer for them. I can’t bring myself to stray from my Mantello prediction though, thanks to how dominant a player his Salesman is this season. Can you?
Buchanan: I can’t stray from predicting Mantello, either, though that’s no reflection on White’s direction. Bess Wohl wrote a very conceptual play in Liberation, especially when Susannah Flood’s present-day character steps into the narrative in a meta-theatrical way to substitute multiple characters in for her absent mother. White handles all of these complexities of the script with aplomb, while crafting a satisfying overall arc. This is an instance, though, where I feel Mantello took a tremendous risk with reconceiving Salesman in a way we truly have never seen before on Broadway; his digging into the Arthur Miller archive for early drafts of the play paid dividends, and he created a truly astounding and, dare I say, definitive production. I’ll also give a shoutout to Robert Icke for his propulsive Oedipus, but I feel confident the Tony is Mantello’s.
Best Featured Actor (Play)
1.
Christopher Abbott
Death of a Salesman
2.
Alden Ehrenreich
Becky Shaw
3.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
4.
Danny Burstein
Marjorie Prime
5.
Richard Thomas
The Balusters
Best Director (Play)
1.
Joe Mantello
Death of a Salesman
2.
3.
4.
5.
Best Musical
Eckmann: As we transition to the musical categories, the races become much harder to call. None of the four nominees has turned into an unstoppable favorite. But if you poll voters around town, you hear that the race has solidified around The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! The latter show has won the lion share of early awards thus far, picking up the Drama Desk, Dorian, and Outer Critics Circle awards. So many pundits have thrown their weight behind Schmigadoon!, which is a love letter to golden age tuners and features musical storytelling executed at the highest level. I’m still hesitant to pick it however, because if Schmigadoon! is an homage to the past, The Lost Boys represents a look towards the future of Broadway. It’s a musical spectacle on the most epic of scales, with big emotions and a propulsive rock score that is connecting with younger theatergoers. In many ways reminds me of the position that The Outsiders held when it saw a last minute surge towards a Best Musical victory. So even though it doesn’t have a win from one of the precursor awards groups, I think The Lost Boys might come out on top, if only by a hair. But I reserve the right to change my mind at the last minute! How are you sizing up this close race?
Buchanan: I have been vacillating between these two shows since nominations were announced and, to be honest, I haven’t definitively made up my mind either. They both lead the field with twelve nominations each and neither missed any significant nominations that give one an edge over the other. The Lost Boys likely wins more Tonys overall, since it boasts huge, impressive design work in every discipline (though I’d like to shout out Schmigadoon!‘s gorgeous scenic and costume designs, too). Even though neither of these musicals will win Best Director, if we put Michael Arden and Christopher Gattelli in a head-to-head race, I would bet Arden would win, and that’s something of a check in The Lost Boys‘ ledger. I think it’s also likelier to win Best Score than Schmigadoon!, given the hesitancy we’ve both heard about awarding a musical with some pre-existing material and so much pastiche. But holistically, I think Tony voters might find Schmigadoon! a more cohesive overall package than The Lost Boys, which has proven a tad more polarizing in terms of its tone, particularly in the second act. It also feels like Paul’s material has found its most appropriate form in making the leap from streaming to the stage, and it evokes those classic musicals so well that Tony voters may feel like they’re awarding something from the Golden Age itself. If it matters, I also found the conclusion of Schmigadoon! more emotionally impactful than The Lost Boys, which veers more into action-adventure-quest in its second half, so my impulse is steering me toward Paul’s comedic confection, for now.
Best Musical
1.
2.
3.
Two Strangers
Carry a Cake Across New York
4.
Best Musical Revival
Buchanan: This category has turned into a true question mark, too, hasn’t it? Both Ragtime and Cats: The Jellicle Ball have numerous factors in their favor. Ragtime received a huge boost in the last few weeks as it began sweeping the smaller industry prizes, and voters started getting re-invited to see the production. I think it is an impeccably acted and sung production, and it will no doubt take home multiple trophies for its performers. But the reason I’m sticking with The Jellicle Ball — again, for now — is how it persuaded me, never a particular fan of Cats outside of Heather Headley’s performance of “Memory” (seriously go watch that now!) into fully appreciating and enjoying the story and especially the score. We have noted time and again that the Best Musical Revival category privileges reinvention, whether completely reimagining the show like Sunset Boulevard or Company, or even perfecting a flawed original staging, like Maria Friedman finally “cracking the code” of Merrily We Roll Along. In some ways, The Jellicle Ball also packs just as much of an emotional punch as Ragtime, albeit in an entirely different manner. While I wouldn’t be surprised if Ragtime took the top honor, I’m betting Cats charmed enough folks who never gave it much of a chance in the past to tip the scales in its favor. What say you on this competitive race?
Eckmann: I’d wager that if Tony voters had to rank all of their favorite productions from this season, both Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Ragtime would rank higher than any of the four new tuners that are up for Best Musical. These two revivals have truly dominated the conversations this season, which is what makes this prediction so difficult. But as you mentioned above, The Jellicle Ball is a complete reinvention of Cats from the ground up. And as we’ve seen with so many recent winners, the eventual victor is usually the production which has been most successfully reimagined for present-day audiences. Plus if the show also snags awards for director and choreography, which Gold Derby’s current odds predict, then it would be downright bizarre for Cats to fumble the top category. I sobbed uncontrollably all through Ragtime’s three hours of soul-shattering performances, but ultimately I think its those performers who will be the center of its Tony narrative. In a close race, the creative ingenious and sheer joy emanating from The Jellicle Ball will give it the edge.
Best Actor in a Musical
Eckmann: But let’s steer the discussion back to something Ragtime has locked up and ready to go. Joshua Henry is giving a career-defining performance as Coalhouse Walker Jr., complete with mid-show standing ovations. A voter sitting behind me during the performance I attended stood up at intermission and gasped, “Wow, just give him the Tony now.” He was right. The other men in this category are delivering stellar work, but what Henry has achieved in Ragtime is so singular that his fellow nominees would all really just be competing for second place. Do you agree that his win here is probably the biggest lock of the night?
Buchanan: I wholeheartedly agree, Joshua Henry delivers the performance of his lifetime thus far in Ragtime. As you said, we could sing the praises of all the nominees in this category, and in a different year, I would have loved to see Luke Evans take home this award for The Rocky Horror Show. But there’s no need to belabor what I agree is the surest win of the night, and it will be a glorious moment to see Henry win his first Tony Award!
Best Actor (Musical)
1.
2.
Luke Evans
The Rocky Horror Show
3.
Nicholas Christopher
Chess
4.
Sam Tutty
Two Strangers [Carry a Cake Across New York]
5.
Brandon Uranowitz
Ragtime
Best Actress in a Musical
Buchanan: Similarly, here are a number of performers in this category that I could envision winning the award; Marla Mindelle and Stephanie Hsu are both tremendously funny, for example. But Caissie Levy is far out front from the competition. She delivers a beautiful, nuanced performance as the mannered Mother, and then seals the deal in her utterly rousing rendition of “Back to Before.” This is another category we can fairly confidently breeze through, correct?
Eckmann: Indeed. Mindelle is probably the only other nominee who could muster a substantial enough number of votes to stage an upset. Her journey taking Titanique from the basement of Gristedes all the way to Broadway is one of the most delightful narratives of the season. But I just don’t see an upset happening here. After Marin Mazzie and Christiane Noll failed to clinch a win in past productions, the third time really will be the charm and Levy will finally turn Mother into a Tony-winning role.
Best Actress (Musical)
1.
2.
3.
Christiani Pitts
Two Strangers [Carry a Cake Across New York]
4.
5.
Stephanie Hsu
The Rocky Horror Show
Featured Actress in a Musical
Eckmann: Many pundits think voters will check off Ragtime across all four acting categories, which would mean first time nominee Nichelle Lewis would take this prize. But a show hasn’t claimed all four acting categories since the original South Pacific. That would be an incredible stat to bust, but I’m not so sure it’s happening. Especially since Shoshana Bean has gifted us with a tremendous central performance in The Lost Boys. I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to call Bean one of the greatest living Broadway vocalists, especially when you listen to her voice soar through “Wild.” Not only is her rendition of this song one of the most technically impressive numbers of the season, it also showcases the kind of emotionally resonant actor she has become. I feel fairly confident that enough voters feel like “it’s time” to finally reward one of Broadway’s biggest homegrown musical theater stars. There’s a slight chance that the beloved Ana Gasteyer could stage a coup. Like Bean, Gasteyer is another former Elphaba who has been in the business for decades and has amassed a mountain of goodwill in the process. Do you think Gasteyer’s impressive patter song “Tribulation” makes her a threat? Or does Bean have this in the bag?
Buchanan: I am feeling fairly confident in Shoshana Bean, which is not something I would have said four weeks ago. Even though The Lost Boys comes across as an ensemble show, Bean indeed feels like the incredibly important emotional anchor for the entire production. While Lewis shares “Wheels of a Dream” with Henry, which is no question a highlight of Ragtime, I, too, am concerned with just how many acting trophies it will take home, and if it’s three, the show may have a better chance elsewhere. I loved Gasteyer’s “Tribulation,” but as I said in our last column, I’m not sure in this instance one memorable number will overcome a performance that feels more central to the proceedings, which belongs to Bean. In the interest of concentrating my prediction worries elsewhere, I’m sticking with her for the win.
Best Featured Actress (Musical)
1.
Shoshana Bean
The Lost Boys
2.
3.
Ana Gasteyer
Schmigadoon!
4.
5.
Rachel Dratch
The Rocky Horror Show
Featured Actor in a Musical
Buchanan: This seems like the harder category about which to fret! I think four of these five nominees have the possibility of winning, and they each have different strengths. After missing out on a nomination for The Who’s Tommy, Ali Louis Bourzgui earned his first bid for his charismatic and slightly off-kilter vampire in The Lost Boys. His performance during David’s formal introduction in the show, “Have to Have You,” is electric. Layton Williams won the Olivier Award and truly brings down the house in Titaníque; even though that production wasn’t quite for me, his “River Deep, Mountain High” is an unquestionable highlight. Ben Levi Ross has such a wonderful, perfectly realized arc in Ragtime as Younger Brother comes into his political consciousness, and I think if the musical picks up a third acting prize, it would be him. But I’m sticking with the category frontrunner André De Shields to win for Cats: The Jellicle Ball. I don’t think he has as quite the show-stopping musical number as Bourzgui or Williams do, but his entrance as Old Deuteronomy is so damn impactful. It is one of those brilliant moments in the theatre where performer and character synthesize so effortlessly, and the ovation had me in tears. Not to mention the audience hangs on his every single word and gesture. In the pantheon of contemporary Broadway performers, it would just seem right that De Shields have more than one Tony, and I think voters will seize the opportunity to crown him again. But this one’s anybody’s guess.
Eckmann: I would argue that De Shields’ performance in “The Moments of Happiness,” which pays tribute to legends of the ballroom scene, is the actor’s single most impactful moment in The Jellicle Ball. In that song, he successfully marries all the themes the show is exploring: ball culture, the respect and dignity of the queer community and its elders, and the playfulness of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score. But it is true that Old Deuteronomy serves as more of emcee who stands out for establishing an overall vibe for the show. In that sense, it feels like this part was almost written specifically for De Shields. I cannot think of another Broadway performer who could so effortlessly command an audience to stand, applaud, and groove at their seats simply by walking center stage. That it factor could very well net him a second Tony.
But this category feels impossibly overstuffed with tremendous performances. And I can find you voters casting ballots for all of them. Bourzgui checks off so many boxes for a winner here: he transforms himself vocally and physically and plays a delicious villain that is a central figure in the story. Yet he strangely has yet to win a prize this season. Perhaps if “Have to Have” you was a solo for him instead of a group number, it would help push him ahead? I’d argue that Ross has the most complicated character arc to navigate, and he brilliantly charts Younger Brother’s evolution during Ragtime. But I worry that the comparative nuance and subtlety of this role might hurt their chances. So I’ve recently pushed the least subtle performance in the bunch into my top position: Layton Williams. In a musical as wacky as Titanique, his role is the wackiest. But Williams seriously sells his iceberg-personified-as-Tina-Tina character and makes “River Deep, Mountain High” one of the highlights of the entire theater season. If a mid-show standing ovation is helping Joshua Henry win a Tony, shouldn’t it also work for Williams? I think this could ultimately be a battle of Williams’ showstopper versus De Shields’ vibes.
Best Featured Actor (Musical)
1.
André De Shields
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
2.
3.
Ali Louis Bourzgui
The Lost Boys
4.
Layton Williams
Titanique
5.
Director of a Musical
Eckmann: If Michael Arden hadn’t just on this category last year for Maybe Happy Ending, would he be more of a threat for the gargantuan spectacle of The Lost Boys? Maybe. But I sense that voters are eager to throw this prize to one of the revivals. Lear de Bessonet has dominated the precursor awards for Ragtime. The pared down style she employs in her production usually has a hard time winning the director Tony, but there are plenty of Tony voters who want to give her their stamp of approval in her inaugural season as Lincoln Center Theater artistic director. De Bessonet is going to help shape the voice of one of the most important and influential cultural institutions in the city, and she’s begun that tenure with a wildly successful musical. Lots of voters want to acknowledge that overall success. Still, I have a hard time imagining Bill Rauch and Zhailon Levingston, the duo behind Cats: The Jellicle Ball, not taking this award. The Jellicle Ball feels revelatory because of the concepts they have employed and their willingness to excavate every inch of the material. And they’ve been so successful in their retooling that it’s honestly hard to imagine seeing Cats be performed in any other way. I mean, I’m completely uninterested in seeing Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat anymore unless she is a fierce MTA subway train conductor! (A train conductor who is completely robbed during the “Old Way vs. New Way” battle, by the way). This type of creative thinking is what the director category feels made for, so Rauch and Levingston feel like an obvious winner to me. How about you?
Buchanan: I’m happy to end on a similar wavelength, as I’m also predicting Levingston and Rauch for Cats. No doubt de Bessonet has shepherded a tremendously successful production of Ragtime and helped shape some absolutely extraordinary performances from her ensemble; the fact that we’re discussing whether the production can win three or even four acting trophies is a testament to her. But I agree that this production of Cats reflects a confident stem-to-stern concept and impeccable execution. From its unassuming opening scene, in which Ken Ard as DJ Griddlebone flips through a milk crate of LPs and pulls out the cast recording of Cats, I was excited for what the duo would bring to the musical. They also made the world of ballroom so easily accessible for folks who are uninitiated or only somewhat familiar, like myself. To reimagine an already high-concept show like Cats so successfully seems like, well, catnip to Tony voters!
Best Director (Musical)
1.
Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
2.
3.
Michael Arden
The Lost Boys
4.
Christopher Gattelli
Schmigadoon!
5.
Tim Jackson
Two Strangers [Carry a Cake Across New York]
