Hello, Blogger!

Those of you who are long-time blog readers will know that last August, I had an anonymous guest blogger. This blogger made a request to return to Full Force once the Tony nominations had been announced. And, of course, I'll take any excuse to be lazy. So, without further ado:

Like an Ethel Merman understudy – hi Stritchie! – I haven't been used much this season to fill in for our intrepid leader, but I've asked to come before you again to sit behind you and whisper something I know something about, namely the Tony nominations, and namely, how I fared against my pre-season predictions in this blog on August 28 and 31 of 2006. Wow, that sentence was long AND gay! For those of you who don't remember, back in August of aught six I sat down and tried to predict upon whom Tony would smile, based on how the season was already shaping up. And here's how I did:

BEST PLAY

It wasn't hard to guess that The Coast of Utopia would be a snob hit extraordinaire/Tony nominee. It raised important questions about history, philosophy and why Brian F. O'Byrne continues to get jobs even though he both sucks and blows. I for one was happy that Lincoln Center did this play – which, face it, may never be done again in our lifetimes in a major way – and I am mostly pleased that it continues to be a frontrunner for the Best Play Tony.

I was right about my second prediction as well, Radio Golf, which though it wasn't officially announced in August seemed likely to pull into an out of the way Broadway theatre and set the town ABLAZE! 46% capacity, here we come!

I truly felt that The Year of Magical Thinking was, as I put it, "in like Flynn." It had pedigree, pedigree, pedigree, and a crazy tall Redgrave to boot. But I also always had a sneaking suspicion that something would go wrong along the way and, alas it has. That crazy tall Redgrave, though a genius, was not a match for the teeny tiny Joan Didion, but more importantly, Ms. Didion was not a match for the title of playwright. And don't get me started on that Hare-ible director.

The fourth slot was hard to nail down. I didn't think The Vertical Hour would be good, I was right about that. I didn't think The Little Dog Laughed would be a contender though, but then again, it's not!

Record: 2 for 4, and "that ain't 'alf bad." (Ten bucks to the person who can name the Tony acceptance speech I pulled that from.)

BEST MUSICAL

I did better here, correctly predicting Curtains, Grey Gardens and Spring Awakening. Not exactly hard to do, though many pundits didn't seem to realize that Curtains was a lock, based on its pedigree and its musical comedy chops. And a note in my defense: I didn't see Spring Awakening at the Atlantic, so I didn't know how good it was last August. But here's a question: why did it take 39,000 novice producers to move it to Broadway? Why weren't all the transfer queens fighting for what was to my eyes and ears one of the best pieces of theater, musical or otherwise, that I've seen in many a season. Sex sells, but I guess it scares safe-playing producers away too.

That fourth slot turned out indeed to be a toss up between Mary Poppins and a lot of bad shows. Actually, Martin Short: Fames Becomes Me was not bad, but then, sadly, it wasn't really a contender, even though I would have nominated it across the board: Musical, Book, Score, Actor and Big Black Lady Who Stopped the Show.

Record: 3 for 4.

BEST ACTOR – Play
I lead off my ruminations on this category with an ode to Nathan Lane in Butley, which I thought would be his ticket to Radio City. WRONG!

I followed this with a prediction of two Best Actor nominations for The Coast of Utopia – wrong – with one of them being Brian F. O'Byrne. RIGHT! Alas.

The fourth nod I tossed to Liev Schreiber. RIGHT!

The fifth slot was a mystery to me, with several performances bandied about that either came to be or didn't - remember Matthew Broderick in Kenneth Lonergan's The Starry Messenger? Inherit the Wind and Frost/Nixon clearly were not on the horizon yet, or I would have mentioned all their leading men. I never would have mentioned Boyd Gaines in Journey's End, not only because Journey's End also wasn't set yet, but also because Boyd Gaines is not the gift to acting so many of these theater frumps think he is. And he was bad in Journey's End. I go on record here saying he was bad.

Record: 2 for 5.

BEST ACTRESS – Play
Again, a hard one to predict, because Deuce, A Moon for the Misbegotten, and Prelude to a Kiss were not yet announced. I did correctly call out Vanessa Redgrave and Julie White, though I called Vanessa Redgrave the clear front-runner. She's not. The award sits now somewhere between Eve Best and White. White might just best Best. That was VERY Variety of me!

Record: 2 for 5

BEST ACTOR – Musical
Well, I'm sure if you again ask Raul Esparza who will win this award, he will still say "ME! DON'T' YOU LOVE ME?! I DO!" Raul did indeed get nominated as I thought he would, and so did David Hyde Pierce, whom I still think is going to get the shiny spinning round silvery thing. The rest of my predictions are a little foggy. I mentioned Gavin Lee and both Spring Awakening boys, not knowing which would be eligible here. Michael Cerveris was not on the menu, because LoveMusik was not on the docket, and because I must have already had a big slab of boring soporific that morning. Speak low, Michael, and when you, speak, bore.

Record: 2 for 5

BEST ACTRESS - Musical
Audra Ann versus the meanest lady in show business has indeed come to pass. And though I was considered a heretic, a loon, a 'tard for thinking back in August that Ebersole had reason to worry about AholdtheAMcD, Rosie's good friend Christine goes to Radio City not the shoo-in her co-star Mary Louise Wilson is. There could be an upset. Again, I don't think it will happen. But it could. It could, people! It could.The other nominees? I was right about Charlotte d'Amboise most likely being nominated for her Cassie, I just got the category wrong. "Someone from Curtains will probably end up in this category, I'm assuming Debra Monk, and I'm assuming she'll be nominated." Right about that! The rest I didn't really offer any sure picks, and, again, LoveMusik hadn't sauntered Germanically our way yet. Donna, can you hear me? Donna, can you see me? Donna, are you showing up for work still? Hey, when is Yentl coming to Broadway? Idina, can you hear me?

Record: 3 for 5

'Til next August, America. Er, New York. Er, full force Cara Joy fans. We are small, but we are mighty! Just like our leader!