Latest news with #TheRoommate
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Mia Farrow supported by 'very proud' son Ronan as she lands first Tony Awards nod at 80
First-time nominee Mia Farrow brought along her lucky charm - son Ronan Farrow - to the 78th Annual Tony Awards, which were held at Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan on Sunday. The 80-year-old actress beamed while glammed up in a cream-colored, three-piece white pantsuit with matching platform boots and a golden clutch purse. The 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner contrasted his famous mother by donning an all-black silk suit with buckled dress shoes. Mia (born Maria) welcomed Ronan (born Satchel) during her 11-year relationship with estranged ex-partner Woody Allen, but he's long been rumored to be the biological son of Frank Sinatra. Joining the Farrow mother-son duo was his partner Hamer Morgenstern dressed in a classic tuxedo. 'Hey, I'm here at the Tony Awards with my mom, Mia Farrow, who is nominated. Very proud of her!' The New Yorker investigative journalist gushed via Instagram while crossing his fingers. Indeed, the Beverly Hills-born nepo baby scored her first-ever Tony nomination for best performance by a leading actress in a play for her role as Iowa homeowner Sharon in The Roommate, which marked her fourth Broadway play. Ironically, Mia's Roommate castmate Patti LuPone from Jen Silverman's two-person play was snubbed for a nomination following the scandal over her saying Broadway rival Audra McDonald was 'not a friend.' But Farrow did reveal in Interview last week that her character does most of the heavy lifting: 'Mostly it was me, because if you read the script, I initiate just about every conversation.' In the end, the Rosemary's Baby alum lost the Tony Award to Succession alum Sarah Snook, who made her Broadway debut as the titular role in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ronan helped fuel the #MeToo movement by creating Catch and Kill (book, podcast, and HBO series) on disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Farrow published similar sexual harassment/assault take-downs on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Supreme Court associate justice Brett Kavanaugh, Matt Lauer, Les Moonves, and more. It all likely stemmed from the Surveilled star's real-life estrangement from his 89-year-old famous father after Mia accused the disgraced filmmaker of molesting their adopted daughter Dylan at age seven in 1992. But Farrow did reveal in Interview last week that her character does most of the heavy lifting: 'Mostly it was me, because if you read the script, I initiate just about every conversation' In the end, the Rosemary's Baby alum lost the Tony Award to Succession alum Sarah Snook, who made her Broadway debut as the titular role in The Picture of Dorian Gray One week later, Allen - who was never charged or prosecuted - sued Mia for full custody of Ronan and her adopted children Dylan and Moses. In his 33-page decision in 1993, Justice Elliott Wilk rejected Woody's (born Allan Konigsberg) bid for custody of all three children and called his behavior toward Dylan 'grossly inappropriate' while also rejecting the sexual abuse allegations. And while 39-year-old Dylan still stands by the allegations, her 47-year-old brother Moses publicly denied she was ever abused and alleged Farrow had abused him in a 2018 WordPress post. In 1997, the four-time Oscar winner married the Golden Globe winner's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn - with whom he had a secret affair in 1992 - and they later adopted 25-year-old daughter Bechet Allen and 24-year-old daughter Manzie Tio Allen. Tony Awards 2025 nominees Best Musical Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw Death Becomes Her Maybe Happy Ending Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical Best Revival of a Play Eureka Day — Author: Jonathan Spector Romeo + Juliet Thornton Wilder's Our Town Yellow Face — Author: David Henry Hwang Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play George Clooney — Good Night, And Good Luck Cole Escola — Oh, Mary! Jon Michael Hill — Purpose Daniel Dae Kim — Yellow Face Harry Lennix — Purpose Louis McCartney — Stranger Things: The First Shadow Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical Darren Criss — Maybe Happy Ending Andrew Durand — Dead Outlaw Tom Francis — Sunset Blvd. Jonathan Groff — Just In Time James Monroe Iglehart — A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical Jeremy Jordan — Floyd Collins Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play Glenn Davis — Purpose Gabriel Ebert — John Proctor Is The Villain Francis Jue — Yellow Face - WINNER Bob Odenkirk — Glengarry Glen Ross Conrad Ricamora — Oh, Mary! Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Brooks Ashmanskas —SMASH Jeb Brown — Dead Outlaw Danny Burstein — Gypsy Jak Malone — Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical - WINNER Taylor Trensch — Floyd Collins Best Direction of a Play Knud Adams — English Sam Mendes — The Hills Of California Sam Pinkleton — Oh, Mary! Danya Taymor — John Proctor Is The Villain Kip Williams — The Picture Of Dorian Gray Best Book of a Musical Buena Vista Social Club — Marco Ramirez Dead Outlaw — Itamar Moses Death Becomes Her — Marco Pennette Maybe Happy Ending — Will Aronson and Hue Park Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical — David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts Best Scenic Design of a Play Marsha Ginsberg — English Rob Howell — The Hills of California Marg Horwell and David Bergman — The Picture of Dorian Gray Miriam Buether and 59 — Stranger Things: The First Shadow Scott Pask — Good Night, and Good Luck Best Costume Design of a Play Brenda Abbandandolo — Good Night, And Good Luck Marg Horwell — The Picture of Dorian Gray Rob Howell — The Hills Of California Holly Pierson — Oh, Mary! Brigitte Reiffenstuel — Stranger Things: The First Shadow Best Lighting Design of a Play Natasha Chivers — The Hills Of California Jon Clark — Stranger Things: The First Shadow Heather Gilbert and David Bengali — Good Night, And Good Luck Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski — John Proctor Is The Villain Nick Schlieper — The Picture Of Dorian Gray Best Sound Design of a Play Paul Arditti — Stranger Things: The First Shadow Palmer Hefferan — John Proctor Is The Villain Daniel Kluger — Good Night, And Good Luck Nick Powell — The Hills Of California Clemence Williams — The Picture of Dorian Gray Best Choreography Joshua Bergasse — SMASH Camille A. Brown — Gypsy Christopher Gattelli — Death Becomes Her Jerry Mitchell — BOOP! The Musical Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck — Buena Vista Social Club Best Play English — Author: Sanaz Toossi The Hills of California — Author: Jez Butterworth John Proctor Is The Villain — Author: Kimberly Belflower Oh, Mary! — Author: Cole Escola Purpose — Author: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Best Revival of a Musical Floyd Collins — Book/Additional Lyrics: Tina Landau; Music & Lyrics: Adam Guettel Gypsy Pirates! The Penzance Musical Sunset Blvd. Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Laura Donnelly — The Hills Of California Mia Farrow — The Roommate LaTanya Richardson Jackson — Purpose Sadie Sink — John Proctor Is The Villain Sarah Snook — The Picture Of Dorian Gray - WINNER Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Megan Hilty — Death Becomes Her Audra McDonald — Gypsy Jasmine Amy Rogers — BOOP! The Musical Nicole Scherzinger — Sunset Blvd. Jennifer Simard — Death Becomes Her Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Tala Ashe — English Jessica Hecht — Eureka Day Marjan Neshat — English Fina Strazza — John Proctor Is The Villain Kara Young — Purpose Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical Natalie Venetia Belcon — Buena Vista Social Club Julia Knitel — Dead Outlaw Gracie Lawrence — Just In Time Justina Machado — Real Women Have Curves: The Musical Joy Woods — Gypsy Best Direction of a Musical Saheem Ali — Buena Vista Social Club Michael Arden — Maybe Happy Ending David Cromer — Dead Outlaw Christopher Gattelli — Death Becomes Her Jamie Lloyd — Sunset Blvd. Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre Dead Outlaw — Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna Death Becomes Her — Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey Maybe Happy Ending —Music: Will Aronson; Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical — Music & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts Real Women Have Curves: The Musical — Music & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez Best Orchestrations Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber — Just in Time Will Aronson — Maybe Happy Ending Bruce Coughlin — Floyd Collins Marco Paguia — Buena Vista Social Club David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber — Sunset Blvd. Best Scenic Design of a Musical Rachel Hauck — Swept Away Dane Laffrey and George Reeve — Maybe Happy Ending Arnulfo Maldonado — Buena Vista Social Club Derek McLane — Death Becomes Her Derek McLane — Just In Time Best Costume Design of a Musical Dede Ayite — Buena Vista Social Club Gregg Barnes — BOOP! The Musical Clint Ramos — Maybe Happy Ending Paul Tazewell — Death Becomes Her Catherine Zuber — Just In Time Best Lighting Design of a Musical Jack Knowles — Sunset Blvd. Tyler Micoleau — Buena Vista Social Club Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun — Floyd Collins Ben Stanton — Maybe Happy Ending Justin Townsend — Death Becomes Her Best Sound Design of a Musical Jonathan Deans — Buena Vista Social Club Adam Fisher — Sunset Blvd. Peter Hylenski — Just In Time Peter Hylenski — Maybe Happy Ending Dan Moses Schreier — Floyd Collins
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patti LuPone controversy, explained: The comments, the backlash, the apology and what's next
Patti LuPone, the legendary and often outspoken three-time Tony Award winner, has found herself at the center of a major controversy following remarks made in a The New Yorker interview published on May 26. Her unfiltered criticism of two fellow Tony winners — Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald — ignited widespread backlash across the Broadway community, sparking conversations about race, privilege, and respect within the theater world. Below is a breakdown of what happened and what's next. The controversy stems from a sound bleed issue between LuPone's production of The Roommate with Mia Farrow and the neighboring theater hosting the Alicia Keys musical Hell's Kitchen. According to LuPone, noise from Hell's Kitchen could be heard from her show. On her stage manager's advice, she reached out to Robert Wankel, head of the Shubert Organization, to resolve the issue. The problem was quickly addressed, and LuPone sent flowers to the Hell's Kitchen crew as a goodwill gesture. More from GoldDerby How 'The Day of the Jackal' producers unlocked their contemporary adaptation of the spy thriller Jacob Elordi reveals personal reason for joining 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North': 'It was something important to me' 'Adolescence' soars past 'Stranger Things' to become Netflix's new No. 2 original show (behind only 'Wednesday') However, that gesture did not land as intended. Lewis took to Instagram at the time to criticize LuPone's actions. In a video post, she described LuPone's approach as 'bullying,' 'racially microaggressive,' and 'rooted in privilege,' pointing out that LuPone had essentially labeled 'a Black show loud.' When asked about Lewis's remarks during the New Yorker interview, LuPone fired back with unfiltered disdain. 'Oh, my God. Here's the problem. She calls herself a veteran? Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the f* she's talking about.' After a quick online search, LuPone said, 'She's done seven. I've done thirty-one. Don't call yourself a vet, bitch.' (Note: The New Yorker clarified that Lewis has ten Broadway credits, while LuPone has twenty-eight.) The exchange escalated when the interviewer noted that Broadway icon McDonald had reacted to Lewis's video with supportive emojis. LuPone didn't hold back: 'Exactly,' she said. 'And I thought, You should know better. That's typical of Audra. She's not a friend.' While she hinted at a past falling out with McDonald, she declined to elaborate. When asked by The New Yorker's By Michael Schulman her opinion of McDonald's recent performance in Gypsy, LuPone paused for fifteen seconds before turning to the window and simply saying, 'What a beautiful day.'Four days after the interview was published, the Broadway community responded with a powerful open letter, signed by more than 500 theater professionals. 'Recently, Patti LuPone made deeply inappropriate and unacceptable public comments about two of Broadway's most respected and beloved artists: Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald. In a published interview with The New Yorker, she referred to Kecia Lewis—a Black woman and a 40-year veteran of the American stage—as a 'b***.' This language is not only degrading and misogynistic—it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect. It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment…' The letter went on to call for accountability, not just from LuPone, but from the institutions that support artists in the theater community. It demanded that: Public figures who engage in harassment or use racially or gendered harmful language should not be welcomed at high-profile industry events, including the Tony Awards. Participation in such events should be contingent on accountability measures, including restorative justice and anti-bias training. Institutions must adopt clear policies for addressing harmful behavior, regardless of an individual's responded swiftly. The day after the open letter went public, she issued an apology on social media — a notable moment for a performer known for standing by her words. 'For as long as I have worked in theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologized. That is changing today," her note began. "I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful. I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies.' She went on to express her support for the open letter: 'I wholeheartedly agree with everything that was written in the open letter shared yesterday. From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don't belong anywhere else. I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.' While LuPone's apology has been acknowledged by some, others question whether it goes far enough — or whether the industry will take concrete steps toward fostering a more inclusive and accountable environment. For now, the controversy remains a flashpoint — not just about one actor's remarks, but about long-standing issues of privilege, race, and respect on Broadway's most prominent stages. All eyes now turn to the Tony Awards this Sunday, a night that honors Broadway's finest but also serves as a reflection of the industry's values. LuPone is not nominated this year, but her presence — or absence — will be closely scrutinized. The open letter explicitly called for individuals who engage in racially harmful behavior to be excluded from high-profile events like the Tonys. Whether LuPone attends — and if the industry responds at the event — could send a strong signal about how seriously these demands are being taken. Beyond the theater world, LuPone has a high-profile role in the Disney+ series Agatha All Along, where she portrays Lilia Calderu, a centuries-old witch and member of Agatha Harkness's coven. The show is a possible Emmy's contender. However, the controversy may complicate LuPone's awards trajectory if backlash continues, it could overshadow her work. That being said, the "Evita" star remains a formidable performer with a loyal fan base. Only time will tell how she navigates her return in the wake of this controversy. Best of GoldDerby 'Maybe Happy Ending' star Darren Criss on his Tony nomination for playing a robot: 'Getting to do this is the true win' Who Needs a Tony to Reach EGOT? Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patti LuPone Apologizes for Her ‘Demeaning and Disrespectful' Comments on Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald
Patti LuPone has issued an apology after hundreds of members of the Broadway community condemned her recent remarks disparaging fellow Broadway actresses Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald. 'For as long as I have worked in the theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologized. That is changing today,' LuPone wrote in the opening of a statement released via Instagram on Saturday (May 31). More from Billboard Patti LuPone Called Out by Broadway Community in Open Letter Condemning 'Bullying' & 'Harassment' Cynthia Erivo Opens Up About Her Queerness: 'The More Yourself You Are, The Better Understanding Starts to Happen' The Roots Apologize to Fans After First Day of 2025 Roots Picnic Marred By Long Lines: 'Safety Will Always Be Our Number 1 Priority' 'I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful. I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies,' said LuPone. LuPone's response arrived the day after after an open letter directed at her — and signed by more than 500 individuals in the Broadway world — was published in outcry to comments from the actress perceived to be 'degrading and misogynistic,' as well as a 'blatant act of racialized disrespect.' The letter was also aimed at 'a culture, a pattern' in the Broadway industry: 'a persistent failure to hold people accountable for violent, disrespectful, or harmful behavior — especially when they are powerful or well-known.' In Saturday's statement, LuPone acknowledged the message of the letter and expressed regret over what she said about her peers. 'I wholeheartedly agree with everything that was written in the open letter shared yesterday,' she wrote. 'From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don't belong anywhere else. I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.' The New Yorker ran a profile on LuPone earlier this week that quoted her calling Lewis — who's in the Alicia Keys-created Broadway musical Hell's Kitchen, which was performed next door to the LuPone-starring The Roommate in 2024 — a 'b—-' for considering herself a stage 'veteran.' The piece had LuPone recounting complaints she'd made to Shubert Organization head Robert Wankel that sound from Lewis' Hell's Kitchen could be heard during her stage time in The Roommate. (Lewis had responded to LuPone's complaints on Instagram at the time, and deemed them 'bullying,' 'racially microaggressive' and 'rooted in privilege' for calling 'a Black show loud.') 'She calls herself a veteran?' LuPone said in The New Yorker article dated May 26. 'Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the f— she's talking about. Don't call yourself a vet, b—-.' LuPone also remarked that she had a 'rift' with McDonald, who'd shown support for Lewis: 'That's typical of Audra. She's not a friend,' LuPone told The New Yorker; McDonald later said she was unaware of the rift. LuPone, a three-time Tony Award and two-time Grammy Award winner, in 2024 starred as Robyn opposite Mia Farrow's Sharon in The Roommate for the dark comedy's four-month engagement on Broadway at the Booth Theatre. She just wrapped a series of concert dates that ran across select U.S. cities from late January through late May, with a couple festival appearances slated for this summer. In 2024 Lewis won her first Tony, for best featured actress in a musical, for her work as Miss Liza Jane in Hell's Kitchen, the Broadway production whose performers were also awarded the Grammy for best musical theater album last year. Hell's Kitchen is presently still playing on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre. McDonald, currently leading the Broadway revival of Gypsy at the Majestic Theatre, has won six Tonys, two Grammys and an Emmy throughout her career. Nominated for her portrayal of Rose in Gypsy, she's up for another Tony, for best actress in a musical, at this year's ceremony. She holds a record number of total Tony nominations (11). The 2025 Tony Awards will broadcast live to both coasts on CBS just a week from today, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 8; the show will also stream on Paramount+. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patti LuPone Apologizes for Interview Comments About Kecia Lewis, Audra McDonald: 'I Am Devastated'
Patti LuPone is apologizing for the recent comments she made in a New Yorker profile about Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis that's had the theater world buzzing. 'For as long as I have worked in the theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologized. That is changing today. I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful,' she wrote on Instagram on Saturday. 'I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Audra McDonald Says She Didn't Know About "Rift" Between Her and Patti LuPone 'Gypsy' Theater Review: Audra McDonald Climbs the Mountain of One of the All-Time Greatest Musicals and Plants a Triumphant Flag Kecia Lewis Says Patti LuPone Calling 'Hell's Kitchen' "Too Loud" Is "Racially Microaggresive," Requests Apology 'I wholeheartedly agree with everything that was written in the open letter shared yesterday. From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don't belong anywhere else,' LuPone continued. 'I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.' The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Lewis and McDonald's reps for comment. On Friday, Playbill reported that there was a letter that over 500 Broadway performers signed reprimanding LuPone's behavior. The letter, in part, read that her comments were a 'persistent failure to hold people accountable for violent, disrespectful, or harmful behavior — especially when they are powerful or well-known.' Tony winners Wendell Pierce, James Monroe Iglehart and Maleah Joi Moon signed it, as well as Courtney Love. Last fall, while LuPone was starring in The Roommate, she complained about the musical next door, Hell's Kitchen, which Lewis was in, being 'too loud.' After that, Lewis took to Instagram to say that LuPone was 'bullying,' 'racially microaggressive' and 'rooted in privilege.' In the New Yorker interview, LuPone responded by saying, 'Here's the problem. She calls herself a veteran? Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about,' she said. 'Don't call yourself a vet, bitch.' LuPone also said McDonald was 'not a friend' and that they had a rift years ago. However, on Thursday, McDonald appeared on CBS Mornings to promote Gypsy and her 11th Tony nomination and said she was surprised by LuPone's comments. 'If there's a rift between us, I don't know what it is. That's something you'd have to ask Patti about,' she said. 'I haven't seen her in about 11 years because I've been busy with life and stuff.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter From 'Lady in the Lake' to 'It Ends With Us': 29 New and Upcoming Book Adaptations in 2024 Meet the Superstars Who Glam Up Hollywood's A-List Rosie O'Donnell on Ellen, Madonna, Trump and 40 Years in the Queer Spotlight
Chicago Tribune
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
2025 Tony Awards: Who will win, who should win in a year with few sure things
Will Nicole Scherzinger, sizzling in 'Sunset Blvd.,' beat out Audra McDonald, who made Rose a metaphor for the tragic human condition? Could Jonathan Groff, a knockout Bobby Darin, win back-to-back kudos? Might Sadie Sink of 'John Proctor Is the Villain' be sunk by the wild-eyed Laura Donnelly of 'The Hills of California' or the ever-savvy Mia Farrow of 'The Roommate,' even though all three women played equally terrifying characters? These and many other questions will be answered on Sunday at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, where host Cynthia Erivo will present the 78th annual Tony Awards (beginning at 7 p.m. June 8 and broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+). The ceremony will be the climax of the 2024-25 Broadway season and the reason that several struggling musicals ('Real Women Have Curves,' 'Boop! The Musical') are hanging in there, hoping for a life-saving boost. Tony Award voters are casting their ballots. Let's look at who should be ascending to the dais in the traditional ebullient panic, holding back tears and staring into the camera to tell all the envious theater kids at home how you, too, can have all this if you only fight off the naysayers and follow your dreams! Right. Down to it. This one will be, and rightly should be, a runaway victory for 'Maybe Happy Ending,' a delightfully unnerving musical that most everyone on Broadway underestimated because it was an original love story between two retired South Korean 'helperbots.' To my mind, Will Aronson and Hue Park's quirky, charming little tuner succeeds mostly because of one small but pivotal idea: the notion that a robot's battery life can be a proxy for human mortality. Oliver and Claire fall in love as their percentages drop. Thus, the show manages to simultaneously tap into the fear we all have of an imminent robotic takeover (oh, it's coming) while avoiding the problem of making a dystopian musical. By making the robots as vulnerable as us, they forged a charming romantic comedy performed by Helen J. Shen (robbed of an acting nomination) and Darren Criss (who dove deep into robotland). The competition? Nothing credible. 'Buena Vista Social Club' is a very good time, musically speaking, but has a predictably formulaic book. The inventive 'Death Becomes Her' works just fine as a campy frolic but it relies much on its source movie. And 'Operation Mincemeat' is the most jolly of pastiches, rib-tickling fun all the way. Only 'Dead Outlaw' represents truly credible competition and deserves to siphon off some votes. But at the end of the day, it's a musical about a corpse. There were two excellent, Tony-worthy new plays in this Broadway season: Jez Butterworth's 'The Hills of California,' set in the British working-class resort of Blackpool, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' 'Purpose,' both a high-style dissection of the dysfunctional family of the civil rights icon Jesse Jackson and a moving exploration of what it's like to be an introverted kid in a high-pressure family. 'Purpose,' which is still running and more relevant to most Tony voters, is likely to win. But Butterworth's play forged a complex dramaturgical structure and explored deeply empathetic characters. Its central point? To explore how and why childhood trauma impacts our adulthoods. Butterworth has been writing plays a lot longer than Jacobs-Jenkins and his experience shows; I wanted the perfectly crafted 'Hills' to never end. Writer Kimberly Belflower's very lively 'John Proctor Is the Villain' might sneak in there, but I think that audiences at this drama about high schoolers studying 'The Crucible' are responding more to a brilliant production than to the play itself, which is at the end of the day a melodrama that relies on someone else's intellectual property. No shame there, but not the equal of the competition and, with much respect, nor is the very smart and potent 'English,' a show about ESL students that also leads to an inexorable conclusion matching the playwright's point of view. This category will hinge on how many voters embrace Jamie Lloyd's cleverly branded deconstruction of 'Sunset Blvd.' over George C. Wolfe's more nuanced approach to 'Gypsy.' In many ways, the two leading candidates represent a kind of yin and yang of musical revival. 'Sunset Blvd.' is showy and radical and replaced the gilded excess of the original production with an excess of concept, deceptively minimalist but only on the surface. Wolfe's 'Gypsy' aimed to excise the show of Patti LuPone-like drama. McDonald, who brought her classically trained voice to Rose, saw her antiheroine more as an everywoman and the production responded accordingly, as if Wolfe were trying to say that 'Gypsy' was the American tragic musical that few previously understood. I see the arguments against 'Sunset Blvd.' but in the end, Lloyd's staging was just so audaciously thrilling that it overcame them for me. As a director, he's obsessed with film, but then this is a musical about a movie star, so if ever there was a show that could stand such a metaphoric obsession, then here it was. And although this may seem counterintuitive, I thought 'Gypsy' missed the chance to stage this title with far more Black actors, allowing it to serve as a metaphor for the condition of Black entertainers in early 20th century America. It almost went there, but not quite. 2025 Tony Award nominations: Steppenwolf's 'Purpose' and 'Death Becomes Her' both score bigThis was not a stellar season for play revivals. 'Romeo + Juliet,' a pretentious and wildly uneven misfire, did not even remotely deserve its Tony nomination and, bracing moments notwithstanding, 'Our Town' was uneven and derivative of David Cromer's prior revival. 'Eureka Day,' a piece about pretentious pre-school parents and teachers, was an effective satire but hardly surprising. That leaves David Henry Hwang's 'Yellow Face,' an autobiographical piece about Hwang himself and a 'Miss Saigon' casting scandal. 'Yellow Face' has knocked around the American regions for years. But this was a truly excellent piece of new direction from Leigh Silverman and for the first time, the play transcended its inside-baseball orientation and had much to say about America and race. Team Nicole Scherzinger or Team Audra McDonald? Both deconstructed iconic characters (Norma Desmond and Madam Rose) using every ounce of their mutually formidable craft. With all due respect to McDonald, I'm Team Nicole because her work was the more radical of the two performances in rescuing Norma from bathetic senility and giving her back her sexuality, and because McDonald's tragic approach to Rose inevitably de-emphasized her chutzpah and self-aware vivacity which is much of why 'Gypsy' is 'Gypsy.' Still, no shame in being on the other team. It would feel strange for either Megan Hilty or Jennifer Simard to win for 'Death Becomes Her' at the expense of the other and I suspect Tony voters will feel the same way. But let's add some props for Jasmine Amy Rogers, truly a perfect Betty Boop who managed to turn a vampish cartoon figure into a complex and vulnerable heroine. If you judge a performance by pizzazz, charm and growing star power, Jonathan Groff is your winner for his dazzling take on Bobby Darin in 'Just in Time.' If immersion inside a character is your choice, you are choosing between Darren Criss for 'Maybe Happy Ending' and Andrew Durand in 'Dead Outlaw.' I thought Durand was just astonishing as the titular outlaw, whose corpse takes on an all-American trajectory of its own. Aside from the technical demands of playing a dead dude, Durand also nailed a guy with zero access to his own feelings. In other words, what he didn't do was probably as important as what he did. I preferred that to Jeremy Jordan in 'Floyd Collins', but I may be in a minority. And Tom Francis, who sings his way through Midtown eight times a week in 'Sunset Blvd.,' will have deserved support. Mia Farrow has acted only rarely in the past decade but her empathetic performance as a vegan, pot-growing Iowan in 'The Roommate' was a reminder of her astonishing ability to fuse what actors think of as externals and internals — her work felt deeply authentic but savvy observers also noted the sophistication of her comic technique and dramatic timing. Alas for Farrow, this is an extraordinary category and by far the most competitive at this year's Tony Awards. Take Sarah Snook, whose work in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' had not a single syllable out of place on the night I saw the show, notwithstanding the huge technical demands of a video-filled production that co-starred numerous versions of her recorded self. She's one of the world's great performers. Then there was the less-famous Laura Donnelly, who played a mother and (later) her adult daughter in 'The Hills of California,' all in service of the writer's point that we all eventually have to live the way we were raised. So distinct were these two characters that some punters in my row clearly did not know they were watching the same actress they'd seen in a different role just a few minutes before. Donnelly was at once empathetic and Medea-like in her intensity. We were supposed to be scared of both of Donnelly's characters and I swear I could not tell you which terrified me the most. Sadie Sink also has a lot of fans and that was indeed a savvy turn in 'John Proctor.' But this competition is between Snook and Donnelly and it was a hard choice for me. Donnelly haunts me the most. George Clooney is on the list of nominees and I hardly need to recount his formidable talents, but he was fundamentally filmic in 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' rather than truly translating his subtle version of Edward R. Murrow to a stage the size of the Winter Garden Theatre. So, with an additional nod of admiration to the delightfully quirky Louis McCartney, who managed to survive all of the crashes and bangs of 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' I preferred Jon Michael Hill, playing a young man born into a famous and famously dysfunctional Black political family even though he just wanted to take photographs and stay as far away as possible from his father and his actions. Hill was the most rooted actor in a stellar Steppenwolf Theatre production of 'Purpose.' But I suspect Cole Escola, the star of 'Oh, Mary!,' a silly but strikingly effective satire of Mary Todd Lincoln and her bearded spouse, who will take the prize. No complaints here. Escola hardly was subtle with a guileless, all-in performance that has been packing the house. It's a one of a kind show and that's its greatest selling point. But Escola also offers a clever commentary on present-day America, fueled by fun, freedom and frustration. What the Tony nominations got right — and wrongDavid Cromer's work on 'Dead Outlaw' was typically detailed and worthy and Christopher Gattelli wrangled 'Death Becomes Her' with witty aplomb, but 'Maybe Happy Ending' was an eye popping career-high for Michael Arden, who created the most romantic of dreamscapes and yet also insisted that the audience look precisely and only where the director wanted its eyes to be. Speaking of career highs, Danya Taymor convinced her youthful cast in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' that the stakes in this high school English class were a matter of life and death. Taymor has to compete with Kip Williams, who employed multiple screens and videographers in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' for what was more conceptual authorship than direction, and with Sam Mendes, whose mastery of the exquisite ensemble cast of 'The Hills of California' was formidable. Mendes has won many kudos; most Tony voters will want to reward Taymor, a rising talent. Fair enough. Last, here are my picks for the remaining acting categories.
