海角大神

The Tony Awards, created 71 years ago, are considered the highest award in American theater. They have a stated aim of 鈥渞ecognizing excellence in live Broadway theater.鈥�

So one would imagine that most of the shows nominated for 2018 Tony Awards would be dazzling demonstrations of the craft of theater, whether musicals or plays. And many of them are, from the stellar revivals of musicals 鈥淢y Fair Lady鈥� and 鈥淐arousel鈥� to the critically-acclaimed new musical 鈥淭he Band鈥檚 Visit鈥� to London transplant 鈥淗arry Potter and the Cursed Child.鈥�

But some others, like the good-natured 鈥淪pongeBob SquarePants,鈥� a clamorous and madcap song-and-dance show based on the Nickelodeon TV series, and Tina Fey鈥檚 鈥淢ean Girls,鈥� both of which tied for the most Tony nominations (12 each)聽are commercial聽hits without, at least in my view, similar artistic merit.

I've been a professional theater columnist and sometime critic for nearly 40 years and while I wrote for the New York Post I was also a Tony voter. So each year I greet the list of nominees with some strong opinions of my own.聽

Here are some of my thoughts for 2018:

鈥� I am disappointed that one of my favorite shows this year, John Lithgow鈥檚 sentimental, semi-autographical play 鈥淪tories by Heart,鈥� was sadly overlooked by the Tony nominators. It is now closed.

鈥� Film and stage star Denzel Washington was rightfully nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Play in the revival of Eugene O鈥橬eill鈥檚 鈥淭he Iceman Cometh.鈥� But his performance failed to live up to that of others who have played that role in the past, including Jason Robards. 鈥淵ou can never learn enough from O鈥橬eill鈥檚 plays,鈥� Mr. Robards once said. 鈥淵ou can do them forever ...鈥� and still learn something.

But one thing I personally loved about Mr. Washington鈥檚 performance was his projection: one could clearly hear every word compared to some of his fellow cast members whose words were at times muffled. This was especially true when Hickey, the character Mr. Washington plays, speaks directly to the audience in his chilling last act speech.聽 Yet I wanted to see more dramatic nuances from Hickey in this and other parts of the classic Eugene O鈥橬eill play.

鈥� Like many, I was enthralled with Lauren Ambrose鈥檚 performance as Eliza Doolittle in the stellar revival of 鈥淢y Fair Lady鈥� at Lincoln Center. She has a glorious singing voice and embodies a strength that was a welcome foil to the verbal bullying by Professor Higgins, who helps transform her into a refined lady to the amazement even of himself. But relative newcomer Hailey Kilgore in 鈥淥nce on this Island鈥� may get the Tony for Leading Actress in a Musical for her extremely moving performance of a native island girl who nurses a rich man back to heath only to be rebuffed by him.

鈥� Norbert Leo Butz, who plays Eliza鈥檚 scalawag father Alfred P. Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" is nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and that is well deserved. Just when you thought the musical revival couldn鈥檛 get better the rendition of聽鈥淕et Me to the Church on Time鈥澛燤r. Butz pushes the show into the stratosphere. Harry Hadden-Paton鈥檚 Broadway debut as Henry Higgins also gets my nod for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his charismatic and consistently strong performance.

鈥� In the Tony category of Best Scenic Design of a Musical two leading contenders are Dane Laffrey for 鈥淥nce on this Island鈥� and Michael Yeargan for 鈥淢y Fair Lady.鈥� I applaud both nominations.聽 But my figurative money is on Mr. Laffrey who uses much of the聽in-the-round Circle in the Square stage to portray the Island setting, complete with a lagoon filled with water.

鈥� Only Mr. Washington and David Morse were nominated for Tonys for their performances in "The Iceman Cometh." Yet the entire cast of this show is so splendid that I join the chorus of theater pundits who say there should be a new Tony Award category called 鈥淓nsemble Performance.鈥� 聽In my view, both 鈥淎ngels in America鈥� and 鈥淥nce on this Island鈥� would have been strong contenders for this category. This聽is also true of the play 鈥淗arry Potter and the Cursed Child鈥� and the critically-heralded 鈥淭he Band鈥檚 Visit鈥� with Tony Shaloub, who is perhaps best know these days by TV audiences for his recurring role in 鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.鈥�