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Think of the prestige. Think of the respect. No, no, no. Think of the Tony. Hello all you theater lovers both out and proud and on the DL. Welcome back to Broadway Breakdown, a podcast discussing the history and legacy of American theater's most exclusive address, Broadway. Normally we would be doing the big move, but we are on a hiatus from the big move and covering the to awards, predictions, nominations, winners, what have you. We are coming back this week to discuss some of your Tony predictions. I asked everyone to anonymously put in some of their predictions via my Instagram yesterday and in the corresponding 24 hours. Corresponding following 24 hours. I don't know. I just saw Prima Facie and my brain is scrambled from the Jodie Comer of it all. We will discuss that shortly. But point is, I have not looked at any of your predictions, so I'll be reading these blind or coming at it blind and honestly reacting to them and discussing them with you on this episode. And I also am setting myself a reminder as I am the only one here today to do this episode, I am going to set a timer for myself. So in 20, 23 minutes, I am going to make sure that we take a break and then I'll make sure we take one more break after that. And we also have a new review, so I will make sure to read that by the end of the episode. All right, here we go. Our first Tony prediction says, I think A Beautiful Noise will do better than people expect. Okay, right out the gate, here we go. So the question here is what does that mean, right? Like, what is it that people actually expect of A Beautiful Noise in terms of Tony nominations? I have gone on Gold Derby a couple of times and I have seen some people expect Will Swenson to get in or Robin Herter to get in, or possibly book and musical, maybe even a choreography nomination. There are some musical categories that are a little light this year and part of that comes from me having seen all the new musicals this year and then all the revivals except for Camelot, which I will be seeing in a week and a half. But the reviews for Camelot have come out and those have not been super kind. So that throws certain things up for grabs. For example, best book before I saw New York, New York and before the reviews came out for Camelot, if you remember, in our last episode with Adam Ellsberry Gunkle of the pod, we talked about the possibility of New York, New York getting in there for best book or even Aaron Sorkin for Camelot getting in there. And having seen New York, New York now I do not think the show is very good and I can see what the things are that some people like about it. I will get into that a little further in a second. But the number one thing that most people can agree on, even those who like the show, is that the book is the roughest part of it. And so I don't think it'll get in for best book. It could again, if Paradise Square can get in, any fucking thing can get in for best book. But that show, I think is very vulnerable in that category, as is Camelot, which leaves a fifth slot open for another musical. Obviously it's not going to go to bad Cinderella. It's definitely not going to go to K Pop. It could go to Almost Famous for the Cameron Crowe of it all. But I do think that that libretto is not bad, just lazy, because the best things about it are when Crow just plagiarizes himself from the movie. So A Beautiful Noise has a shot and the book for A Beautiful Noise tries to do something interesting. I might have mentioned this once before. I was temporarily hired to create a pilot for this older gentleman who had written all these jazz songs in his day and now he's 85 and wants to make something of them and he had no ideas. And so I thought, you know, this was two years ago, right after we were getting out of lockdown, and I said, oh, you know, maybe we do this thing where. Where this older guy is looking through the songs he wrote throughout his life, and each song tells a story of a certain moment of his life in New York. And granted, he liked that, but he wanted me to write a full pilot and I said, not without a contract or a paycheck. So that fell apart. But the point is, A Beautiful Noise did that. It's the Neil diamond version of that, which is a great concept. The problem is that for 90% of the show, it follows the form or at least the pitfalls of most bio jukebox musicals where it just has to praise the subject it's about and simplify major turning points of their career because they're trying to just jam everything in there all at once and no one wins from that. So it's not a very good book. And Will Swenson is not helped because of it, neither is Robin Herder, so they could get in. Featured actress is a very tough category. Lead actor is pretty tough as well. So I don't see it happening for either of them. But, you know, anything can happen. Book is a little more up for grabs and choreography is a bit up for grabs. We'll discuss further. All right, next one. Why do you take so long to respond to messages that has nothing to do with Tony predictions? Baby, this is one of the things we deal with when coming into this blind. How do you feel about COVID What stupid y' all are? You're not doing 20 productions. We go, okay, how do I feel about COVID What the fuck kind of question is that, y', all, please. And Juliet won't win a single award. Touring presenters who are voters know it doesn't need awards to sell and will choose others. The backlash to jukebox shows will begin. You know what? Okay, I like this take. Whether I agree with it or not is one thing, but it I. First of all, I like that it is a take. Yes. The argument that road voters vote for what they think is going to sell on the road is not true. It's just not true. First of all, people who are road presenters who are Tony voters make up a very small percentage of the voting pool. A lot of the people who vote for the Tonys are New York based and are in the community. And so buzz in the community actually really does help. Road voters are there. They are not a large enough percentage to make that much of a difference. They can tip the scale if it's like really close, but otherwise it's not a major indicator. This tinfoil hat theory really began with Avenue Q and that is probably a situation where the road voters did tip the scale in Avenue Q's favor and it was probably very close. Ever since then, though, people like to use this myth that that is what will help with best musical, to which I argue, when has that gone the way people expect it to in the last 15 years? Honestly, more often than not, Tony voters for musical will go for the show that needs the push. Unless it's a Hamilton or a Dear Evan Hansen, which is doing extremely well and has major support and has huge critical praise. And just like that's where the buzz is coming from. And even Dear Evan Hansen didn't go into Tony night a total short thing. A lot of people thought that Come from Away was a major competitor and it was. But, you know, the big, big, big hit of the season doesn't always end up winning. I mean, just look at Band's visit versus Frozen and Mean Girls. You know, Hadestown was very success, was a very successful show. But up against Ain't Too Proud. It didn't seem like, you know, the major commercial hit that that show was or, you know, fun Home versus Something Rotten and an American in Paris or let's think of another one. A Gentleman's Guide versus Beautiful or Aladdin. You know, they. The Tonys definitely are willing to put their votes behind the show that needs it a bit more. Whether it's a backlash to jukebox musicals, I don't know if that's necessarily true because I don't think that there's been a lot of love for jukebox musicals to begin with. We can't really talk about the COVID year, which. Okay, yeah, there's my thought about the gas leak year of 2020, where our only three musicals were Jukebox musicals. So that's all that could be voted for, you know, otherwise it doesn't totally go that way. MJ worked out nicely in a lot of ways, but I think because people have a stigma on jukebox musicals, a lot of voters couldn't bring themselves to vote for MJ for best musical, which is how A Strange Loop won, even though the only other thing it won was best book. But, yeah, fun take. Thank you so much for that one. Let's see. Is this gonna be an Actual Tony1 or is this gonna be something weird again? If Phantom doesn't open the Tonys this year, I am devastated. What does that mean? Like, if. If they don't do a number from Phantom to open the Tony Awards? Why would they do that? That has nothing to do with anything. They'll probably. They'll definitely acknowledge Phantom. There will be maybe a number from it at some point, or at the very least, they'll do a montage or just like a respectful, hey, the longest running Broadway show of all time closed this year. Let's give it props. But, yeah, they're not gonna open the Tonys. Come on, let's. Let's. Let's do this. Toughest categories will be best new musical and best Revival. I really don't think best musical is gonna be tough. I think the fifth slot will be interesting because Kimberly Akimbo and Juliet Shucked and Some Like It Hot are absolute locks. I do think New York, New York will get the fifth slot. I don't think it's very good, but it does have its fans, and there are enough major people on that team that it will get a good amount of support. But New York, New York is not going to win. It's just not good enough. And the talk in the community is that it's not good enough. I don't want anyone to assume that reviews will sway voters or that what people say on social media is the Truth reviews will help with buzz, but something can get annihilated and then get a bunch of nominations. Something can get a lot of critical praise and then fall through the cracks or get a whole bunch of nominations and then win none of them or only one of them again. Like Mean Girls was one of the biggest nominees of 2018 and walked away completely empty handed and everyone assumed it least get book for Tina Fey. So I don't think musical is tough. I think it is going to be Kimberly Akimbo. Its biggest competition is probably Some Like It Hot. The problem is that I don't think there's enough overall love for that show. There's enough people really respect Kimberly Akimbo and Shucked and Juliet and Something It Hot all have their supporters, but it's not enough in any, in any camp to really overthrow Kimberly. I don't think Kimberly is going to be a sweep of a winner. I think it's going to get, you know, maybe four or five wins and get a good chunk of nominations. But yeah, I don't think that's going to be a super tough one. Revival of a musical will be interesting. I do think we have our four nominees. We have Sweeney Todd, Parade, into the woods and then honestly probably Camelot. People have said, oh well, Danson actually got better reviews and it did. But have you seen Danson? Because that's the this is again where like the reviews thing, it's a myth because you can read the reviews and then you talk to anyone on Broadway right now who's gone to see it and they'll say like the talent is great up there. The show is kind of bad. It's. This is why you should be very grateful to have me as your host because I'm not here to diss anybody and it's so hard to put on shows and, and I respect that and understand that. I'm trying to do one myself. But I do have a lot of connections in this industry because I am not a major figure on Broadway, but I have friends, I have connections and I have like, I've got a toe in the pool. I won't, I won't totally diss myself. I am not a total zero in this community, but I, but I'm not huge in any way. But because of that I have a lot of people who will reach out to me either via DM or text or whatever, like when I see them at Starbucks or whatever. And it's sort of that in hushed tones like, can I tell you what I actually thought of this show? Or like what everyone at my show is saying about this show, and Danson is not super respected. So I do think it's going to be Camelot as that fourth slot. Lincoln Center Theater has a lot of clout in this industry, and I do think there will be at least admiration for a respectable failure that Camelot supposedly is. Have not seen it yet. Cannot say who wins. Is tricky. Who would I vote for? Parade. Hands down, I think Parade is the best musical revival this season. Sweeney Todd could absolutely win. It's really between those two. Into the Woods, I don't think is going to win. It's closed. It's not really in conversation as much, and a lot of people who've talked about it have spoken of it still fondly, but a little more of, oh, yeah, no, that was good. But I don't know. Like, Parade is here and that's great. And some people really do like this production of Sweeney Todd. And again, no musical revival that has closed before the Tonys has won. Just remember that. So it is between Parade and Sweeney Todd, and I can't tell you for sure what's going to win. I'm getting similar vibes of the last Michael Arden revival, where everyone was predicting My Fair lady because of the Lincoln center, of it all, even in predicting that garbage carousel. But everyone agreed that once on this island was secretly their personal favorite. And ultimately, that's what you need if you're gonna win. Think back on the Oscars when it was Chadwick Boseman versus Anthony Hopkins, and Boseman was just sort of sweeping all the precursors. And then there were one or two where Hopkins won, and all the pundits were saying it's gonna be Boseman. But every voter I talked to has said that Hopkins gave their favorite performance and that they secretly liked Hopkins more, but they thought that Boseman was going to win. So if enough voters think to themselves, everyone's going to vote for Sweeney Todd. Sondheim. It's big. It's got the star power. It's doing super well. But I don't know, I liked Parade more. I'll vote for. Vote for Parade. That's all Parade really needs to win. So we'll see. But yeah, that is. That is going to be an interesting category for sure. I don't think the nominees are hard to predict, but I do think the winner is a bit of a toss. Up next, one. Biggest Fear. Beautiful noise. Severely over performing. We've got another one. Biggest Hope. Lots of love for Cost of Living Play. Katie and Greg, even direction because of the intimacy. Because the intimacy coordination was stunning. Is there even a close second, third, second, or third for Best musical? Or is Kimberly Akimbo just a lock? Well, we just did talk about Kimberly Akimbo. I'll say it again. There's nothing that's really ever a lock. Right. You know, I remember the Year of Hamilton. People going like, well, but you know, what if shuffle along wins book or shuffle long wins choreography, or. I don't know. People love Danny Burstein. He really could win Best Actor for Fiddler Again. It's one of those things where when something seems so confident, it's so tricky to just put all of your money into it, because the moment you get too cocky, something swoops in. Right. Again, it's the Boseman versus Hopkins situation. And I do think Kimberly Akimbo is absolutely the front runner for musical. I won't say Locke just because who the fuck knows? If I were to put a second and third in command of Most Likely to Usurp It, I would probably say Some Like It Hot and then probably. And Juliet Shucked had a lot of preview buzz and has gotten some good reviews, but the buzz since opening has tempered a bit. It hasn't gotten louder. And that's really where it needs to start getting louder if it's going to make any kind of impact at the Tony Awards. And I think Shucked will get a good number of nominations. But I also want to just point out when nominations come out, don't let that be an indicator of how musical might do. You know, I'm gonna harken it back to one of my personal faves here. In 1994, when Carousel was up against she Loves Me for Best Revival, she Loves Me had twice the amount of nominations that Carousel did. And she Loves Me won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle for Revival instead of Carousel. And then the night of the Tony Awards, and Carousel was considered an underperformer with nominations. It got nominated for five. Obviously, you know, Hayden and Murphy did not get nominated. We're still pissed about that. What the fuck ever. But that night, Carousel went on to win every single one of its categories and was the biggest winner of the night. So even though she Loves Me, I think had nine or ten nominations, it only won one. You know, Beauty and the Beast and Passion had, like, I think between eight and 10 nominations. And Beauty and the Beast won one, Passion won four, Carousel won all five. So I do think Kimberly is still the front runner. I don't think it's going to have as many nominations as Some like it Hot or even, God forbid, New York, New York because of technical stuff. But don't let that deter you. I do think Kimberly is still the front runner and will win more than either of those shows. Biggest hope, lots of love for Cost of Living for best play direction, Katie and Greg. I think Katie in featured actress is a very good possibility. Katie Sullivan, I think is her full name. She is a very good possibility for featured actress. That category is a bit wide open. There are a lot of contenders, but very few frontrunners. Sharon D. Clark is pretty much a lock. I would say Crystal Lucas Perry is almost a lock. And then after that, you know, sky's the limit for anybody. I have my folks. But yeah, Katie could get in there direction I don't think is gonna happen for that show. I just don't think that it's enough of a showy directing show. And I'll be very interested to see what happens with its Tony chances. It had more buzz off Broadway than it did when it opened on Broadway this season. But as I've mentioned before, it has almost never happened that a Pulitzer winner that was eligible for best play did not get nominated. I think maybe one time it happens. One of my listeners pointed it out to me and I think one time it's happened. The other time they tried to point out was Driving Miss Daisy, which that was in revival, not Play. But when a Pulitzer winner is a contender for best play, it tends to get nominated, which is the best thing in Cost of Living's Corner. But play is tricky. We have Leah Polstadt and Fat Ham, which are absolute locks. Again, I just saw Prima with Jodie Comer and I gotta say, that's got a good shot of getting in there. And then Cost of Living between Riverside and Crazy and Life of PI are also up for grabs. I've heard a lot of good things about Goodnight Oscar. You know, it's tricky, but yeah, I don't think Greg will get an. Unfortunately, featured actor is pretty stacked. Biggest Fear, Beautiful Noise. We've already talked about this. It absolutely could overperform. I don't think it's gonna be a major nominating contender. But like when I say over perform, I mean like, oh, yeah, beautiful noise. God, that could get four nominations. I don't think it'll get more than that though. Could get an orchestration nom, though. We'll see. Next up, Alex Newell beats Maudney Milligan for best featured actress. Well, now that we know that Alex Newell is officially being considered for featured actor at Newell's request, that Ain't gonna happen. But Newell does have a shot at winning featured actor. Definitely a lock to get nominated. It's Alex and Justin Cooley for sure. Whether Alex wins, we shall see. Next up, do you think there will be any sort of special recognition for Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron McIntosh or something to mark Phantom's closure? Well, we sort of discussed this, did we not? I don't think anyone's going to acknowledge Cameron McIntosh. I mean, maybe in the sense that he's connected to Phantom, but I think that, yes, I think Phantom will absolutely be recognized during the Tonys. How it gets recognized, who knows? I mean, Sondheim's tribute was Bernie singing. Children will listen with some clips of Sondheim talking, which was cute, but I really do think it should have been larger. So, I mean, God, I mean, if they do like a full out celebration for Phantom's closing and they do what they did for Sondheim, I call shenanigans, folks. Next up, I think overall, most of the acting categories, while they may have two or three locks, have at least two spots that could go in many directions. Absolutely. Oh, don't get me wrong. There is, there are very few categories that I feel safe in predicting all five nominees. In fact, I would say no, no, I take that back. There are no categories in which I feel safe predicting all five nominees. There are categories where I feel confident putting in two or three. The one I feel the most confident in is best leading Actress in a musical, obviously Victoria Clarke, numero uno with Kimberly Akimbo after her Michaela diamond in Parade and then after her, Annaleigh Ashford in Sweeney Todd. Those three full blown locks. After that it gets a little trickier. I do still want to put some chips down on Sara Bareilles in Into the Woods. Again, I've said my hot take is I think she's going to be that production's only acting nomination. I might get proven wrong. Things surprised me in the past. While it's really difficult to win for a closed show if you're in a musical, closed shows do sometimes come back with a lot of nominations. Think back on, you know, falsettos and things like that. But the difference between falsettos and woods is that there are just so many possibilities in shows that are currently running. So, like, I don't know if the love for into the woods is so overwhelming that people will be willing to nominate it for a whole bunch of stuff when there are other wonderful, equally wonderful candidates, you know, out and about right now. Who did I have as my fifth. Oh, Philippa Su and Camelot, which I, you know, I still feel rather strongly about. But having just seen New York, New York, it's possible that Anna could get in there. You know, I don't think her role is much, but she does have two very big belty numbers in Act 2, the last one of which is the title song. And that's the final moment you leave out on the show. So there could be nominators who go, oh, yeah, like I left on such a high because of her voice. Possible. The other one that people talk about is Lorna Courtney and Aunt Juliet. And the two things I will say that are in her corner for that is the actress who played her role in London did win the Olivier, but again, you don't want to use that as a precursor. Different strokes for different folks, different group of nominees, different kind of year, different. Lorna is a different actress than the actress who played Juliet in London. The other thing that's in Lorna's corner is that that role is a monster of a sing and she does annihilate it vocally. She sounds absolutely fantastic. I don't think the role is much, to be perfectly honest. I think the other supporting characters are much more interesting than Juliet and that is, you know, to her detriment. So I don't necessarily see her getting in there. I don't think Adriana Hicks will get in for some Lincoln Hot. Lynetti will not get in for Bad Cinderella Guys. I don't know if you're for her or against her. I don't care. She seems lovely and she's very talented. The role is just not the role. If Carrie Hope Fletcher could not get nominated for the Olivier and Carrie Hope Fletcher has a bigger footprint in the West End than Linady does here, it's just not going to happen for Lynetty. That's not to be rude. That's just the fact of the matter. What are some other ones you have? Oh, leading actor in a musical. I think our locks are Jay Harrison, Gee. Ben Platt and Josh Groban. I would vote for Ben, but what have you. I do still think that Christian Borrell and Andrew Burnap are major contenders and leading actor. The only other ones who could get in there. Colton Ryan for New York, New York, which I could see happening. He's definitely giving a committed performance. It's a little. This is gonna sound bitchy and I don't mean it this way, but it's a little wannabe Brando, like a little wannabe Marlon Brando. Very methody and Messy. And I get it. His character is a messy character. But at times it feels like he's in a different show than everyone else. And I think that's sort of bad. Oh, here we go. I think that's a little bad. You don't want to be in a different show from everyone else. Burnap. I always say never underestimate burn app, but we don't know Boral very well. Liked a co lead in a show that I think a lot of nominators are going to like a lot. And you know, Swenson, people say, well, he's very well liked. Yes, he is. He has not been nominated since Hair, so take that into account. But also, he hasn't been nominated since Hair, so take that into account. And with that, we should take a break. You're the top. Yeah, you're an arrow caller. You're the top. You're a Coolidge dollar. You're the nimble tread. And we back. Let's do a couple more locks in some of these categories. Musicals and plays, featured actress in a musical. Bonnie Milligan is our number one lock. After that, truly anyone's guess. I think Betsy Wolf is pretty close to a lock. I think Ally Mozzie is once again very close to a lock. Neither I, you know, would use the big L word on totally, but what have you after that, it's a little tricky. I think Melanie laberi is a good contender for and Juliet Natasha Yvette Williams, I thought made a strong impression in Some Like It Hot. She's also well liked. It would be nice to get her nominated for something finally. I wish Emily Skinner had more to do in New York, New York, but that show so underuses her, it's insulting. People have talked about Carolee Carmelo and Grace McLean in Bad Cinderella, and I've used this line before. I might have even used it on the podcast. I can't remember. I love both of those women. And the truth is that they are giving so hard in that show. They are trying really hard, but the material is just not funny enough. And their tone isn't quite the right degree of camp either. It's giving very. We are so giving you Pink Flamingos. Right? And if you're gay, you watch and you go, you've heard of Pink Flamingos. You've never actually seen Pink Flamingos, so you don't know if you're giving me Pink Flamingos. But they're. They're going for broke. They're throwing that spaghetti. Ruthie Ann Miles, possibility. I was a little underwhelmed with her Becker woman. I didn't think she made much of an impression, to be perfectly honest. But she's Ruthie. We love her. We, Stan. That's really kind of it. I mean, people have talked about Pippa for Into the woods or even Julia Lester. I would give it to Julia Lester over Philippa in that show. But Julia doesn't sing. No one is alone. Philippa does. So who knows what's gonna happen. Featured actor, as I said, Alex Newell, Justin Cooley, both total locks after that. I would put in Kevin for something like It Hot. I would. And that's like both. I thought he was great in the show and also is a strong contender for a nomination. I think Gaten has a very good chances with Sweeney. I think. I think it's Alex Grayson, who plays Jim Conley in Parade, has a very good shot in Parade and maybe one of the actors in Juliet, but I doubt it. Jordan Donagha has a good shot with Camelot. Again, it depends on how nominators feel about that show and feel about the company. I do think Stephen Boyer could get in there as well. Kevin Cahoon could get in there. But I think if any musical this year is going to get double nominations for featured actor, it's Kimberly Akimbo with Justin and Steven. I don't think see it happening so much with Shucked with Alex and Kevin. Stranger things have happened. Leading actor I think are Lockes are Sean Hayes for Goodnight Oscar and Marcel Speaks or Sorry Marcel Spears for Fathom. After that, truly anyone's guess because a lot of performers that were considered frontrunners or Lockes at the beginning of the season might get lost in the shuffle with a lot of the newer stuff. You know, Wendell Pierce was considered a lock and the front runner for a while, but now we've got Oscar Isaac coming in at the last second with Sign in Sidney Brustein's window. And you know, Steven McKinley Henderson is still in everyone's thoughts from between Oversight and Crazy. And that isn't even counting Jefferson Mays in A Christmas Carol or Corey Hawkins for Top Dog Underdog. This could be a year where we get seven nominees again like last year. There's no committee that decides this. The votes have to be close enough. So who the fuck knows. But I mean, it could happen. But there are some heads are gonna roll. Leading actress in a play is a little easier. Jodie Comer, having just seen her today in Prima Locke, frontrunner gonna win. After her, it's Chastain that's so easy to Just determine after that. I mean, I guess Laura linney in summer 1976, probably Rachel Brosnahan for signing Sydney Brustein's window. People have mentioned Zoe Wanamaker in Pictures from Home. The people who are saying that haven't seen pictures from Home. She doesn't have much of a role. It's just not going to happen, y'. All. So just let's move on from that. What else do we have? Featured actress in a play, Sharon D. Clark. As I said, pretty much a lock. Crystal Lucas Perry, pretty much a lock again. After that, anyone's guess. I could see Darcy Carden getting in for Thanksgiving Play. I could see Katie Sullivan getting in for Cost of Living. I could even see it's Nancy. Something for Peter Pan goes wrong. She could totally get in. One of the actresses from Leopolstadt, featured actor again, no. Who knows? Brandon Urenowitz for Leopoldstadt, I think is pretty much a lock. There's an actor who plays Pap and the uncle in Fat Ham who I think could get in. I think another supporting actor from Fathom could get in. I think David Krumholtz could get in for Leopold Shad, even though he's gone. What's the name of the actor from this Is Us who's in Thanksgiving Play? Because I could see him getting in as well. I also could see Oak or the actor who's playing Torvald in Doll's House getting in. I. I have like a feeling Doll's House might do better with nominations than we expect, like revival and actress for sure. But one or two for featured actor, lighting design and sound, because the sound design in that show is pretty impeccable. Possibly even director. I don't know. We'll see. Moving on. Kimberly Kimball will get five acting nominations, so that means Victoria Clarke, Justin Cooley, Stephen Boyer, Bonnie Milligan, Ally Mozzie. You're totally right. It absolutely could. Moving on. Who is due for worthy of a special Tony Award this season? Well, I mean, it gets talked about a lot because, you know, anyone who has seen her in the show, you cannot deny how absolutely incredible, objectively incredible, Lea Michele is in Funny Girl. And people have asked, oh, could they make an exception for her to get nominated? No, they could not. That's just not going to happen. Get that out of your brain. And anyone who tries to convince you otherwise, give them a sure Jan look and move on. You know, they could give her a special Tony for it. It's happened before. It could be under the guise of not just giving an incredible performance, but also Turning the prospects around of a revival that was DOA when she joined and toxic beyond belief. I cannot stress enough how much of a punching bag that production was. All throughout previews and post opening and throughout the summer with the Beanie drama and then the Leah drama, it was. She had to step herself up and deliver something truly incred. And I am so sorry to tell this to people who hate her. Lord knows I did not like her before I saw the production. And I don't know how I feel about her since, but I can tell you how I feel about the performance. She really is objectively incredible. And I feel okay saying that because there is so much out there that is not incredible that some of y' all have tried to convince me it was. And it feels like gaslighting. To answer this question, though, I don't necessarily know if I believe she'll get a special Tony for it. But I don't know. Special Tonys are weird. They don't always go to artists. They don't, you know, always go to creatives. They usually go to more like administrative stuff. And I don't know what to tell you about that. You know, the last time I can remember, and I'm sure I'm wrong about this, but the last time I can remember a creative getting a special Tony Award was John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig, which was sort of acknowledging, you know, you couldn't win a Tony for your writing for Hedwig because it was revival and you couldn't win for your acting because you replaced. But your contribution to the theater community with this show is so huge. We want to acknowledge it. So we respect that. I'm sorry, this is a cop out answer. I just don't know. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Next up, Colton Ryan will get a nomination. He sure could. I think that there is a fifth slot in best leading actor in a musical that is super vulnerable. Honestly, the fourth and fifth slots are both super vulnerable. And he could totally get in there. I would not personally nominate him. I would not. I just would not. But I would give him encouragement for the future. I don't think he's fantastic in the show again, because I don't think he gels well into the show. His nomination will just come from how much nominators will like that show. We hate to bring up, you know, other shows that we have dissed in the past, but again, there are musicals that have gotten a shit ton of acting nominations that you could have knocked me over with a feather when that announcement came out. So, yes, he absolutely Could. And he is giving a better performance in New York, New York than some other nominated performances have in the past. Some winning performances have in the past. So, yeah, I don't think you're off on that. He absolutely could. I wouldn't. Again, I'm not confident, but it's definitely a possibility Almost Famous will be remembered. If it gets remembered. It will get remembered for books. And that is purely where I see it happening again, because that category has one very, very vulnerable spot that none of us expected. I think we all just took for granted and took at face value that New York, New York was going to be a much stronger musical than it is. It could be a stronger nomination, competitor contender than I currently think it is. But yeah, that is definitely a vulnerable spot. That is honestly where I think Almost Famous could sneak in. I don't see it getting in for score. I don't see any acting nominations for it or design, maybe orchestrations. But yeah, it could get remembered. But I do think if. If Almost Famous gets remembered, it will be maximum two Tony nominations. Minimum zero. Maximum two. Moving on. What did you eat for breakfast, girl? What does that have to do with the Tony Awards? You know what I had for breakfast? I had a handful of dry cereal. Moving the fuck on y'. All. When I tell you that I want predictions, I want your go for broke predictions. It has nothing to do with breakfast. Jeez, you're okay. Next one, Shucked as a last minute favorite. What does that mean? Like, you think it's gonna be a last minute favorite in terms of nominations? Like it'll get a slew of nominations or it could win a bunch of. Because I don't think it's going to win a bunch. I think Alex is that show's best bet for a win, especially now with featured actor. But nominations, Yeah, I think what I see definitely happening for Shucked with nominations are musical score and book and Alex, absolutely. After that, probably an orchestration nomination, maybe a sound design nomination. And then the only other three that I would sort of put into the mix of things to just sort of keep your antenna up for are Kevin Cahoon for featured actor. Just because again, there's so many possibilities and sometimes it comes down to like three votes. I would also have your antenna up for direction because much as I love Stroh, her direction in New York, New York is not super solid. That show is unwieldy and that is partly her influence. So I think Jack o' Brien could absolutely get in there for Shucked. It's not his best Work. It's not his worst work, and he keeps that. That show moving, so we respect that. And it could get a nomination for choreography again because there are just, like, two spots in there that. That really desperately need it. So, yeah, Shucked could do. I think Shucked will do fine. I don't see Shucked. Musical score book, feature actor, orchestrations. I see Shucked getting a maximum of nine nominations and a minimum of five. I think that's fair. Next up, Alex Newell for Shucked. Yeah, no, absolutely. Getting nominated could definitely win, especially now that we know about featured actor. Oh, God, I love that y' all are on the same page with so much stuff. It's fun. Okay. Philip A. Sue for Camelot. Yeah, no, I mentioned that before. I. Philippa has a very big role in a very big revival that has its fans, you know, and she's doing supposedly a lot of work in this show. She's doing a lot of heavy lifting, doing all that sorcanisms, singing a bunch of beautiful stuff. I think. I do think she has a better shot with Camelot than she does with into the Woods. That's just. This is my hot take again. We don't know how nominators are feeling about Camelot, but we don't know how nominators are feeling about New York, New York. There are, I say, like, four musicals this season where it really depends how nominators feel about them. New York, New York, dancing Camelot, and then, honestly, Beautiful Noise. Because I don't see Beautiful Noise having a lot of love. But I could see it, you know, being liked enough to get a couple of shots in there. I could see nominators fully hating Danson or, you know, liking it more than Camelot to get it in there for revival. I could see nominators totally turning against Camelot and the supposed pretentiousness of it. Or I could see them going, you know what? There's a lot of things here I like, and I prefer this creative team over other creative teams. And then New York, New York is just a fucking gamble because I know people who've loved it and the people who thought it was a disaster. I didn't think it was a disaster. I just think it was very good. Philippa Soo. Totally possible next year. Up. Given that on your Feet is the only recent bio jukebox musical where the lead performer didn't get nominated, I think Will Swenson has a chance at a nom. Not a win, but a nom. Yes. So, okay, I'm trying to get your reasoning here. I Think what you're trying to say is nominators tend to nominate performers in musicals where they're playing a real person, specifically in a bio jukebox musical, at the very least, because there is a litmus test of their success. How much do they sound like the person? Do they look like the person? Are they carrying the show on their backs in any kind of way? That helps a lot. It's the same thing with the Oscars. You know, whenever someone's playing a real person, you know, it's the Jessica Chastain in Eyes of Tammy Faye. It's Meryl Streep in Iron Lady. It's that bio thing. You know, the Tonys are no different in that respect. I think Beautiful Noise is a little similar to on your Feet because, again, you can't just look at it as the, you know, odds based off of, you know, writing everything down on paper and going well by this year and this year. I know I just did that with the Pulitzers, but whatever. You have to kind of look at the competition of every year and then how the shows that we're talking about were perceived. Again, you know, with Tina and Ain't Too Proud, Tina was not very well embraced by the critics, but everyone was in agreement that Adrienne Warren was phenomenal. And Adrienne Warren was sort of kind of stepping up to the plate as a major force on Broadway. You know, she did bring it on, and that was all well and good. And then she does shuffle along where she gets her nomination and then goes on to do Tina first in the West End and then here. And that was a show where it really was all riding on her. And she had all the reviews, she had all the buzz, and she was really, before COVID happened, she was considered the main competitor for Sharon D. Clark, who, you know, had beaten her at the Oliviers. But, you know, things change, obviously, over the pond. Ain't Too Proud had much better critical success than A Beautiful Noise did. And so that was in that show's favor, in Derek Baskin's favor, to be more clear. And then Summer, you know, I think Summer is really the best comparison with Beautiful Noise in the sense that wasn't super well liked. It's not really thought of fondly by the community. But it did have Lachanze in the starring role, who is well liked and had not been nominated in a while. And she did get nominated for Summer, as did Ariana debose. My hot take, if you had seen Summer, was that Ariana DeBose would have had my Vote for featured actress in a musical. Because while I did not like Summer at all, I thought she really carried her part with aplomb. But again, that comes from seeing the thing and seeing all the other things and being able to compare and contrast. I have seen Will Swenson in a Beautiful Noise. He's not even my favorite performer in the show. The actress who plays Ellie Greenwich is actually giving my favorite performance. And then Robin Herder's trying real hard, but she's got nothing to do in that thing. They try to give her forever in blue jeans and, you know, don't send me flowers or whatever the fuck that song is called. And she tries real hard, but, like, who the fuck cares? They're both act two. So, yeah, Will Swenson could get in, you know, again, again, it all comes down to the New York, New York, and Camelot of it all. Because I think before Camelot opened and before I saw New York, New York, I truly felt that Christian Borle was the lone vulnerable spot in that category. And I think Burnap is vulnerable because it depends on how many people like the show. But I've heard many good things about his performance. Not surprising. He's a wonderful actor. And if Colton Ryan does get in for New York, New York, as some of you are predicting, I don't know where that leaves Swenson. He could get in. I think Swenson is that production's best bet at the moment. Watch me say that. And then they get nominated for, like, sound design and choreography, and he doesn't get nominated. But that's the gamble that we take. Moving on this year feels easy. Kimberly Akimbo will sweep almost everything, and deservedly so. Into the woods will get way more love than you think, too. Oh, I love you challenging me. Maybe into the woods will get more love than I'm expecting. I just don't. I don't know. I don't. I just don't think so. If it does, you know, I'm sure y' all will be very happy. I didn't hate this production of into the Woods. I'm just a little surprised that the extraordinary praise that it got. But, yeah, no, it's. I mean, they'll get nominated for revival. I do still think I stand by Sarah getting nominated. I think Lear has a shot at a nomination now, but, you know, it's. I just sort of see into the woods being, like, number three or four on a lot of ballots. So it could get a couple of nominations and then just not win anything. I don't know. If Kimberly will sweep, I don't see Kimberly winning direction. While I think Jessica Stone does a lovely job with the show, her work with the actors is really like, what holds the glue of that thing together, you know, I don't see them winning any design stuff. They're much bigger, more impressive designs than Kimberly Akimbo. I would love Kimberly to get musical score, book actress, featured actress, and then, like, orchestrations. I would love that. And maybe even sound, because the sound design for Kimberly is pretty solid. Although the sound design for Parade is also pretty extraordinary. I think of the new musicals, Kimberly will absolutely win the most. I think whether it wins the most of any musical this season will depend on the Sweeney Todd v. Parade of it all. Because I could also see a world where Parade wins six Tonys or just wins two. Same words. I can see a world where Sweeney Todd wins five Tonys or zero. To be continued. I love that. Thank you for challenging me. Challenging me. Did I say that correctly? Thank you for challenging me. Yes, I said that correctly. Sorry, guys. It's been a day. Next one. Honestly, I think Ally Mozzie should win the Tony over Bonnie. I found her performance so much more layered and moving. Plus, she's well overdue. Thank you for the Ally Mozzie love. I don't love to say who I think is more deserving over others. Right. It's all based on our own personal, subjective tastes. I gotta say, I'm a big Ally Mozzie. Stan. I thought she was the only good thing in Crybaby. I've seen her in a few other things, and I just. I adore her. I think she's such a talented and smart and special comedic actress, and she's giving a really great performance in Kimberly. And I've seen the show a couple of times, and she just gets better in the production. And I think her role is harder than Bonnie's. I don't want to say it's better. It's just more difficult because Bonnie comes in as a big breath of comedic fresh air. The show's already funny before Bonnie comes on, but Bonnie comes on just like a, you know, like a bulldozer and has, you know, one of the first real big showstoppers of the night, and she's one of the first characters who's really just, like, objectively nice to Kimberly, and we want to see that. So the audience very much sides with Bonnie, but Ali is giving a really beautiful performance, and I think if she gets nominated, that would be fantastic. And I do see it happening. I really do. I feel like, you know, the show is now starting to push Ally a bit more for recognition because Bonnie kind of came out of the gate with a lot of love and they know that she's a lock for a nomination and a possible win. So they're really trying to push Ally in there as well. So I think Ally will get nominated. Whether she wins, we shall see. And yeah, she's overdue. She should have been nominated for Crybaby. That show was garbage, but she was great in it. Moving on. New York, New York gets a pity best musical nomination. And then choreography and scenic design. And that's it. Because it's an abomination. Colton Ryan could surprise. He can stay, but the musical should close. Oh, y'. All with these anonymous posts. This is what I love about making this anonymous because I want you guys to just be brave with your opinions. I want you to to just be free and open again. I did not find New York, New York an abomination. I just thought it was dull, dull beyond belief. But let's be, let's be even handed here for a second. Okay, Let us talk about the New York, New York of it all. Strap in folks. It's going to be a minute. So I will write a review for this. It's gonna take me a second because, I mean, it requires a lot of brain cells to write these reviews. And the depressive side of my brain that's only been exacerbated by the, you know, humiliation I had of 2022 just makes me put pen to paper and then go, oh, who fucking cares? These reviews mean nothing. No one cares what I have to say about anything. And yet I still have a podcast. But New York, New York, on the surface of it all, is a big musical and it really wants to be a musical escape entertainment for us. And it could be. It is overall very well designed. I do think that the scenic design, in addition to being large, is actually quite lovely for the most part. There are a couple of scenes where I'm like, oh, we just slid piece on. And it's kind of basic but they, they use the scenery in a very creative way. It's a good use of projections. It feels both old fashioned but still of. Of the moment. The lighting design I actually think is quite gorgeous. Costumes are good, period appropriate. They don't, you know, mess anything up. The costumes are better than the costumes in Sweeney Todd, which while period appropriate, have no character base nor do they give any distinction of class or personality. I got. Sorry, I know we're talking about New York New York. But I got a hot T who has a connection to Sweeney Todd. Supposedly, one of the actresses in the ensemble was told by Thomas Kail and Emilio Sosa that she was playing the town prostitute. That was her role that she needed to sort of go with. And this actress was a little miffed because her costume didn't give any indication of that. That is one thing. Like, okay, if she's playing that, if she's playing the town prostitute, sure. Like, we got to give her something that can give her something to play with. That said, it also kind of baffled me to hear that because I was told, the town prostitute, this character's living in London. The town has a million prostitutes. This is not Beauty and the Beast or Fiddler where it's, you know, a hundred people and there's one person who, you know, fulfills the role that needs to be fulfilled, like the town baker, the town, you know, squire. This is London. There is no town prostitute. There are just the prostitutes. Moving on. Yes. I think if Colton gets in for acting in the show, again, I said it's because, you know, he's doing sort of the messy Brando thing and people might enjoy that. He's also, if. If he's actually playing all the instruments that he's doing on stage in the show, that is also a mighty feat. And he's trying to find something a little darker, a little deeper than is probably there. But again, that's a double edged sword because he's doing something that the show can't really handle, and it's not what Ana is doing. And so they don't really have chemistry, in my opinion, because they're just playing very different shows. And also their roles are not written well. Their romantic arc is written terribly. You know, she kind of falls in love with him because she has to. And they stay together in the end because they have to. The book of the show is a mess. It's like five or six different storylines. What it wants to be is sort of like Nashville, the movie Nashville. Or a better example, maybe even come from away of all these storylines and all these characters sort of flowing in and out of each other. But it just spends too much time on the Colton Anna romantic plot. And instead of touching on all of these plot lines in pieces and doing montage moments and having songs where one character comes in, then we get another bit of another character. We just like live with a storyline for 10 minutes and then leave it for 40. So when we come back to it, you know, like a whole episode of Grey's Anatomy has passed in between Emily Skinner's two scenes in Act 1. And I consider that an abomination. The score, you know, the stuff that's added by Lynn and John Kander is fine. It's not unpleasant to the ears. It's just sort of. It goes in one ear and out the other. The orchestrations are actually quite nice. I would give them an orchestration nomination and a sound design nomination. I think I said that already. Strowman's choreography will get nominated. She'll probably win. She hasn't won since the Producers, so that's something to think about. And it is a lot of choreography. And usually at the Tonys, they vote for most. Which was going to be against Some Like It Hot because Casey Nicholaw just keeps on trying to win Most Choreo and not winning. Strowman is also doing most choreography, but she's not sort of throwing everything at the wall all the time. It's just like there are moments where there's dancing that don't necessarily need to be there, and it's not hitting you over the head dancing. It's just like, we don't need a 20th dancing scene change. You know, we can get to the next scene. But she has one number in particular that's on this construction site, Construction beams with tap dancing. And it's really, really impressive and fantastic. And for a moment, you get very I Got Rhythm Strowman, and we feel blessed. But, yeah, I have a weird sinking suspicion that this show is going to get a lot of nominations just due to the technical elements of it all. But I don't think it's going to win much. I think it'll probably win set and probably win choreography, and that'll be it. But thank you for that hot take. Moving on, Some Like It Hot is the nomination leader. Pippa gets two noms. Ain't no Moe gets shut out. Okay, I kind of agree with you with the Some Like It Hot being the leader of the nominations, but again, I also think Some Like It Hot is going to not win almost any of their awards. Almost any. Pippa, she could get nominated twice. It would be weird if she did. Honestly, it's like, I don't know the last time I can think of that happening. I know it's happened before, but I think about Jan Maxwell and things like that. I'm like, Pippa's not really giving two extraordinary performances this season that just both have to get recognized, especially with featured actress being such a minefield. Again, could happen. I just don't See it happening. But you know what? If it does happen, I fully encourage you to DM me and say, hahaha, told you so. Ain't no Mo gets shut out. Ah. I don't see it getting in for play or direction. I think it has a shot at set just because scenic design of a play is kind of. It's both cramped and an open category. I do, I do. I maintain. I think Crystal will get nominated for featured actress. I do think that'll happen. If it doesn't, you know, mea culpa. But I don't think you're off here. I think there's absolutely a world in which Ain't no Mo gets shut out of, like the nine multiverses where these Tony nominations can go. I see seven of the nine being a universe where Ain't no Mo gets absolutely zero nominations. That could absolutely happen. You know, I don't think that the Tony nominators, nor do I think the community at large is like, as in love with that show as the small group of millennials would have you believe. I enjoyed ain't no moa for the most part. I thought it was about 15 minutes too long. I thought every scene should have been about 2 minutes, 3 minutes shorter. But hey, I don't mean to kick it while it's down. You know what? It could also get a costume nomination for the peaches of it all. Moving on. Best supporting actor in a play. Fish number three in Life of PI. Close contender Butterfly12 also found singular Giraffe head's performance quite affecting. You fucking bitch. You're fun. You're so much fun. Listen, Life of PI. So like, I do know I said this on the last episode, there have been a lot of comparisons with that and Warhorse. Warhorse I found to be an okay script given an excellent production. Life of PI is a bad script given an okay production. The puppets are fun, the projections on the floor are fun, and the leading actor is quite good. He could get in, he could get in. But because the play is just not good, it also could not. On that note, let's take one more break. Billy, I beg to differ with you. How do you mean? You're the top. Yeah, you're an arrow caller. You're the top. You're a Coolidge dollar. You're the nimble tread of the feet of red. And we back. So your next one is conflicted about Parade because it's good, but it's also political superiority, comfort food, and also the plaid of it all. Wonder what that'll translate into awards wise. Wait, let me read that again. Conflicted. Because Parade is good, but it's also political superiority, comfort food, and also the plot of it all. When you say the plot of it all, do you mean like his fame and therefore his influence on ticket sales? Because that's true. But he is also very good in the show. Listen, I don't think Parade is a great musical. I think Parade is an extraordinarily flawed musical. To hear further about this, you can listen to my Parade episode with Jonathan Chisholm from I guess a year ago at this point, and I will write a review of this revival. I think Parade is a very flawed musical given a extremely strong revival. And I have no problem honoring the artists who make this revival so strong. Michael Arden, the design team, even Ben. But you know, you know, it's part of the flaws of Parade is that it is so politically superior. You know, they're going like, hey, girl, anti Semitism, she bad Leo Frank. She was innocent. And it's like, yes, no, we know, we know. And there's not a lot of dramatic tension to the show. But Arden does a really good job of infusing some in there. I don't necessarily think it's comfort food because if we go into that, then we have to go into the comfort food of Ain't no Mo or the, or honestly, the comfort food, the superiority comfort food of Slave Play, which is just, you know, us, us more progressive people sitting in a theater going, yes, I am like minded to the themes of this play and I am doing the work by sitting here and applauding with you. And to your credit, we watched Slave Play completely shit the bed at the COVID gas leak year Tony Awards and Ainomo could absolutely get shut out. As one of our other listeners, I don't think Parade's gonna get totally shut out. I think it'll get a good number of nominations. How many wins is up for debate? This is why revival is so fun. Because between that and Sweeney, it could really go either way. Again, I would vote for Parade and I think a lot of people actually would as well. Just because objectively it's the better revival, whereas Sweeney is the better musical. But hey, Catherine Zeta Jones beat Sheri Renee Scott for Best Actress in a Musical at the Tony Awards. And I know y' all will come for me and be like, her performance was better than the Tony Award performance she did. Yes, it was. But I saw Catherine Zeta Jones in A Little Night Music and I did not find her good. So here we are. Alright, we Got. Oh, yeah, sorry. We got. We got eight more. Okay, let's see how many more we're gonna ask about. My breakfast. Platt versus Groban going up against each other in best actor in a musical. Again, 2016 flashbacks. But also not sure if Groban Sweeney is as good as his peer, whereas Platt's Leo might be as good or better than Broadway Evan, first of all, I really appreciate you putting in parentheses Broadway, because you want to make the very clear distinction. You're not talking about Platt's movie Evan. You're talking about his Broadway Evan. Good for you guys. I really love my listeners. Y' all are so much fun. This is the stuff that actually, like, lightens my depressed heart. So thank you very much. You've lifted me out of a very dark time. You're right. Total flashbacks to 20. Actually, it was 2017. They both Natasha Pierre and dear Evan Hansen opened at the end of 2016, but it was the 2017 Tony Awards. That's just my Rain man brain for you. But no, you're absolutely right. Flashbacks to that. Groban's Sweeney is not as good as his peer. That's just the truth. And Sweeney gets nominated. That's a role that just always gets nominated. No one has won playing Sweeney Todd since Lancariu, so that's something to remember. The Tony voter I went with was surprised how much he enjoyed Groban, even though he acknowledged that he didn't find Groban scary or menacing in any way. Twitch was like, he's literally supposed to be playing a demon barber. What the fuck are we doing here? And I was really surprised at how much I found Ben Platt compelling in Parade. So, yeah, I don't know. I feel like it's, again, that Hopkins Boseman situation where people are just gonna go, well, Groban's gonna win, but I secretly liked Plaid more, so I'll just. I'll vote for Platt. And then Platt ends up winning his second Tony Award before the age of 35. I. I don't know. I think it's really among Groban, Platt, and Jay Harrison. Gee, but I feel like a lot of Jay's buzz on Something Hot has died down, especially because that show is not doing nearly as well at the box office as they want it to. And to be fair, neither is Kimberly. But Kimberly is not doing as well at the box office because they are just. The producers are not being hoity toity about discounts and TDF and Rush and Lotto. Their mentality is just get butts in seats Fill up the theater. We want people to be seeing the show and wanting to see this show. So on average, Kimberly Akimbo is playing to much fuller houses than Some Like It Hot. Some like it Hot is grossing more because it's in a theater that's twice the size of Kimberly Akimbo. But they're not doing nearly as much discounting. They're on tdf, but they're only selling the balcony and then go. And they'll put you in the mezzanine because the mezzanine just remains empty. But the cast of Something Like It Hot is consistently performing to like 60 to 70% full houses, whereas Kimberly is consistently performing to like 85 to 95% full. So with that in mind, I do think it is Platt versus Groban. I would vote for Platt. On paper, I want to say Groban, but we don't know how that goes. But thank you for bringing this up. Yeah, no, I agree. I think that Groban Sweeney is not nearly as good as his peer. He was actually quite good as Pierre, and I was not expecting that. The show leaned more in his favor for me on Broadway because I found Danae kind of underwhelming. And I think if Philippa had gone in and done it with Josh, that show would have succeeded a lot more at the Tony Awards than it did. Carolee makes the cut and gets nominated. Well, we've talked about her a bit already, but I want to acknowledge the thing. Listen, Caroly Carmelo could absolutely get nominated. Featured actress, Minefield. We must say it again. And the woman has a history of getting nominated for shows that people didn't like. Scandalous, Anybody, Lestat, anybody. And she is very well liked, as well as she should. That woman's a constant professional and just is always working and she's fucking giving it her all in Bad Cinderella. I just don't think she's very good in Bad Cinderella because she's not given any good material. But, hey, things happen. Moving on. Ben Platt, leading actor, Vicky Clark, leading actress, Sweeney for revival, begrudgingly, as I think it should be Parade. We be repeating ourselves up in this joint, y'. All. I just want to keep on saying, the more you think that one thing should win but you think something else is going to win, the more likely it is that other people think the same way. You know, once again, we look at the once on this island year, we look at the year that bands visit just went ahead and won 10 Tony Awards. You know, when people think, well, Tina Fey is going to win Book because she's Tina Fey and she wrote a pretty good book for Mean Girls. Not great, but okay, I'm going to vote for the book that I think is better just because she doesn't need any more of my votes. Especially if I didn't love her work all that much. And the same thing goes for Sweeney in Parade. Same thing could go for Ben versus Josh versus Sweeney Todd and Vicky. I mean, I know a small handful of people that did not like Victoria. Victoria Clarke in Kimberly Akimbo. A small handful. Pretty much everyone else is in agreement that she's extraordinary. And I cannot stress this enough. Victoria Clarke has been around forever. She is super beloved, has not won in 18 years. It's her time again. It all just adds up. The only person who I think could beat Vicky is Mikaela in Parade. And that would have to come from just like so much love for Parade. But you know, crazy things happen. But I just, I don't see Parade getting so much love that it sweeps in a bunch of categories. But I do see a world in which Parade wins quite a few. Next up, are you seeing anyone right now or are you single? Bitch, what the fuck does that have to do with the Tony Awards? We're not answering personal questions, but to answer this one, just fucking cuz I am single. I am not seeing anyone right now because I had my heart broken in 2022. To learn more about that, watch out for my play coming out at the end of this year or 2024, who knows? It's already had four readings and has some interest. So the thing is being fast tracked a lot quicker than I expected. Next up, Kimberly Akimbo will take best Book actress and best Musical. Some Like It Hot will take score and leading actor. I really disagree with that. I don't see some sunlight hot winning score at all, really, at all. But you could be right. I don't know. I don't know. I just don't know. Especially with the cast recording of Kimberly Akimbo coming out when it did. There's just, it's. You listen to it and you understand how good that score is. And it works so well in context of the show and Sun Like It Hot. The number one thing a lot of people have said is like, I like the score. I mean, sure, every song sounds the same, but I like it. And that is not exactly what you need in order to win best score. But alas, here we go. And it could win leading actor. Of all the things I would like it to win leading actor. I also wouldn't be mad about it. Winning costume designs. I thought those costumes, with the exception of sugar were pretty stunning. Next up, I'm really hoping for Crystal, Lucas Perry and Justin Cooley. Noms, I think you can cooley your heels on Justin Cooley. He's absolutely getting in. Do not doubt it. You know, that's. That's just happening, baby. If it doesn't, I call foul. Crystal, Lucas Perry, I'm right there with you. I hope so as well. I did not love ain't no mo. I liked it perfectly fine, but I thought she was really great and she deserves it after, you know, suffering through 1776. Last two. What do you love about yourself, guys? What about Tony nomination predictions don't you understand? What do I love about myself? TBD Biggest red flags for a girl, y'. All, we're done with Tony nominations because now we're just asking the personal questions. Biggest red flags for a girl. Like, you mean if you're wanting to date a girl, what are the biggest red flags about her? Or if you're a girl, what are the biggest red flags about another girl or another man or person that you're trying to date? Biggest red flags if they genuinely loved bad Cinderella or if they found k pop memorable. That's all I can tell you. All right, that's been our Tony predictions. That's been your Tony predictions. That's really exciting, guys. I'm really excited to see how this goes. I think we're gonna do one more episode before the nominations come out and sort of final, final, final, final predictions. So stay tuned for that. We have a new review and I would like to give it its do. Please cue the light in the piazza. Overture Music 5 stars, Broadway. A guilty pleasure. From the moment you start this show, it's exactly what you expect. Very much an inside baseball. Sorry, Broadway look at the great white way. Matt embodies every stereotype of a Broadway lover and self appointed critic. The poignant and ever so catty tone is an absolute delight. I find myself laughing and grinning like a madman under the headphones and you will too. I mention headphones because you probably won't admit to others you're listening to this guilty pleasure. They just wouldn't understand. I want to be friends, see shows together and frankly argue about them after. Give this a try. You won't be let down. Thank you so much. That was wonderful. I love being called a guilty pleasure. I. I've been called a lot worse and I've been made to feel guilty about many other things. So I, I don't feel guilty about being your guilty pleasure. Guys, I really love your reviews. I think you're so good at them and they bring me such joy. You don't have to write a review if you don't want to, but if you could give five stars, that'd be great. We always like to boost our algorithm, and we've been number one when searching Broadway on Apple podcasts for like two weeks straight now. So clearly we're doing something right and that's really fun. And the more five stars we get, the better we are in the algorithm and the more people discover this podcast and we're just so grateful. So, yeah, thank you so much. And that's been it. Thank you for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this one. It's a shorter one, but I think it's because I don't have any person to talk to and I've talked so much on my own already and you're probably tired of my stupid, stupid gay tone at this point, so I will let you be. Have a great rest of your week. Let's close out with to be fun. Actually, we haven't closed out with her before yet, so we'll close out with Philippa sue, because a few of you think she's gonna get in twice and I don't. I don't be mad at that. I don't see it. I'm not mad. And I'm not sure if we closed out with her yet. So here we are. We're going to close out with Philippa sue and we will catch you guys next week. Thank you so much for all of your predictions and some of your personal questions, some of which I answered, some of which I didn't, because that's not what this was about. Love you all. Have a good one. Bye. I. You and I. You and I and no one else.