TOLEDO SURPRISE

Well, the Venti unsweetened black iced tea I had at 8 p.m. tonight to wake me up has done its job but unfortunately, I now want to go to sleep. The problem is that I'm just perky enough so that I can't sleep, but not awake enough to go do anything constructive. Since the Tony Awards are airing tonight (8 p.m. on CBS), I might as well make my predictions (mostly because I can't think of anything else to do right now). Keep in mind that while the effects of the caffiene will have surely faded by the time I'm done with this post, I also am not entirely feeling the strength of the overall Broadway season (sorry) so I 'm sure my "predictions" will be way off. Like last year, only "predictions" for musicals are being made:

The 60th Annual Tony Awards Musical Nominees:
Winners listed in red

Best Musical:
* The Color Purple (sorry Oprah, I don't think this is your year)
* The Drowsy Chaperone -- I have a suspicion that this show will fare better than I would like it to.
* Jersey Boys -- its between Jersey Boys or Drowsy.
* The Wedding Singer

Best Book of a Musical
* Marsha Norman, The Color Purple
* Bob Martin and Don McKellar, The Drowsy Chaperone -- as much as I didn't like it, I'm putting my $$$ here.
* Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, Jersey Boys
* Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy, The Wedding Singer

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
* Music & Lyrics: Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray, The Color Purple
* Music & Lyrics: Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, The Drowsy Chaperone -- I didn't love it, but I see it as a strong contender.
* Matthew Sklar (Music), Chad Beguelin (Lyrics), The Wedding Singer
* Andrew Lloyd Webber (Music), David Zippel (Lyrics), The Woman in White

Best Revival of a Musical:
* The Pajama Game (it shocked me just how off I was in this category!)
* Sweeney Todd -- Solid Sondheim = clear winner.
* The Threepenny Opera

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical:
This is actually a strong category this season (even though I don't think it's a strong season for musical theatre). I think its a toss-up between Cerveris & Young.
* Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd
* Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game
* Stephen Lynch, The Wedding Singer
* Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone
* John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical:
LuPone or Rivera...I can't decide (though I love Foster, I didn't think her performance was that strong).
* Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone
* LaChanze, The Color Purple
* Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd
* Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game
* Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical:
Uh...sadly I have no idea...I'm gonna pick Dale, but really I have no idea.
* Danny Burstein, The Drowsy Chaperone
* Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera
* Brandon Victor Dixon, The Color Purple
* Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd
* Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical:
Leavel...great performance!
* Carolee Carmello, Lestat
* Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple
* Megan Lawrence, The Pajama Game
* Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone
* Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple

Best Scenic Design of a Musical:
* John Lee Beatty, The Color Purple
* David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone
* Derek McLane, The Pajama Game
* Klara Zieglerova, Jersey Boys -- its a guess at this point.

Best Costume Design of a Musical:
* Gregg Barnes, The Drowsy Chaperone -- great costumes, but then again, I think Lestat might have too!
* Susan Hilferty, Lestat
* Martin Pakledinaz, The Pajama Game
* Paul Tazewell, The Color Purple

Best Lighting Design of a Musical:
* Ken Billington and Brian Monahan, The Drowsy Chaperone
* Howell Binkley, Jersey Boys
* Natasha Katz, Tarzan
* Brian MacDevitt, The Color Purple -- Oprah's show has to win something or the world might end!

Best Direction of a Musical:
Another tough call. I think each of these shows are strong enough...but I'm voting for Doyle (for Sweeney Todd).
* John Doyle, Sweeney Todd
* Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game
* Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys
* Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Choreography:
Kathleen Marshall's choreography in the style of Bob Fosse...might work!
* Rob Ashford, The Wedding Singer
* Donald Byrd, The Color Purple
* Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game
* Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Orchestrations:
Oy...wtf knows but my money is on Sweeney Todd.
* Larry Blank, The Drowsy Chaperone
* Dick Lieb and Danny Troob, The Pajama Game
* Steve Orich, Jersey Boys
* Sarah Travis, Sweeney Todd