Theatre Lover's Journal for May 10, 2004
Tony Nominations 2004
by John Kenrick

If the Tony nominating committee ever stopped kissing the theatre owner's butts, they wouldn't know what to do with their lips. Their total kow-tow to Wicked puts the "sin" in cynical. Nothing else explains their toadying decision to classify Assassins as a revival, paving the way for Wicked to garner ten nominations as well as (most likely) the Tony for Best Musical. Like any of the other nominees are serious contenders? Puh-lease!

(Of course, the irony is that Wicked, for all its imperfections, would probably still win over Assassins -- which, for all its brilliance, is a hard sell for "Best" anything.)

The other hoot is seeing Taboo up for best score -- are they tripping? That parade of audible garbage? I can see the costumes getting a nomination for their over the top bad taste, but is Bombay Dreams so awful that its score had to be overlooked in favor of Boy George's silliness? 

Those quibbles aside, the nominations could have been worse. However, its sad to note that this is the first this century that I cannot offer any real passion for any of the nominated musicals. All are respectable, professional efforts, but none of them really turned me on. You, gentle reader, may feel otherwise -- the Tony committee obviously did. Of course, that's assuming they voted based on their feelings -- LOL.

Best Play
Anna in the Tropics
Frozen
I Am My Own Wife
The Retreat from Moscow

Best Musical
Avenue Q
Caroline, or Change
The Boy From Oz
Wicked

Best Revival of a Musical
Assassins
Big River
Fiddler on the Roof
Wonderful Town

Best Revival of a Play
A Raisin in the Sun
Henry IV
Jumpers
King Lear

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Kevin Kline, Henry IV
Frank Langella, Match
Jefferson Mays, I Am My Own Wife
Christopher Plummer, King Lear
Simon Russell Beale, Jumpers

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Tom Aldredge, Twentieth Century
Ben Chaplin, The Retreat from Moscow
Aiden Gillen, The Caretaker
Omar Metwally, Sixteen Wounded
Brian F. O'Byrne, Frozen

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Eileen Atkins, The Retreat from Moscow
Tovah Feldshuh, Golda's Balcony
Anne Heche, Twentieth Century
Swoosie Kurtz, Frozen
Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Essie Davis, Jumpers
Sanaa Lathan, A Raisin in the Sun
Margo Martindale, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun
Daphne Rubin-Vega, Anna in the Tropics

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked
Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Avenue Q
Idina Menzel, Wicked
Donna Murphy, Wonderful Town
Tonya Pinkins, Caroline, or Change

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Beth Fowler, The Boy From Oz
Isabel Keating, The Boy From Oz
Anika Noni Rose, Caroline, or Change
Jennifer Westfeldt, Wonderful Town
Karen Ziemba, Never Gonna Dance

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Hunter Foster, Little Shop of Horrors
Hugh Jackman, The Boy From Oz
Alfred Molina, Fiddler on the Roof
Euan Morton, Taboo
John Tartaglia, Avenue Q

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
John Cariani, Fiddler on the Roof
Michael Cerveris, Assassins
Raul Esparza, Taboo
Michael McElroy, Big River
Denis O'Hare, Assassins

Best Director of a Play
Doug Hughes, Frozen
Moises Kaufman, I Am My Own Wife
David Leveaux, Jumpers
Jack O'Brien, Henry IV

Best Director of a Musical
Joe Mantello, Assassins
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
Jason Moore, Avenue Q
George C. Wolfe, Caroline, or Change

Best Choreography
Wayne Cilento, Wicked
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
Jerry Mitchell, Never Gonna Dance
Anthony Van Laast and Farah Khan, Bombay Dreams

Best Book of a Musical
Winnie Holzman, Wicked
Tony Kushner, Caroline, or Change
Martin Sherman; Nick Enright, The Boy From Oz
Jeff Whitty, Avenue Q

Best Original Score
Boy George, Taboo
Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Avenue Q
Stephen Schwartz, Wicked
Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner, Caroline, or Change

Best Orchestrations
Paul Bogaev, Bombay Dreams
William David Brohn, Wicked
Michael Starobin, Assassins
Larry Hochman, Fiddler on the Roof

Best Scenic Design
Robert Brill, Assassins
Ralph Funicello, Henry IV
Eugene Lee, Wicked
Tom Pye, Fiddler on the Roof

Best Costume Design
Jess Goldstein, Henry IV
Susan Hilferty, Wicked
Mike Nicholls and Bobby Pearce, Taboo
Mark Thompson, Bombay Dreams

Best Lighting Design
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, Assassins
Brian MacDevitt, Fiddler on the Roof
Brian MacDevitt, Henry IV
Kenneth Posner, Wicked

Special Tony Award
James M. Nederlander for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Regional Theatre Tony
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

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