Welcome to the Phonys

Stereophonic. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

This is the latest variation of The Critics, our play roundup of captious reviews, essays, and conversations from features writer Madeline Leung Coleman. Want to person it get successful your inbox each Friday? Sign up here:

In a theater-loving municipality wherever it feels similar a lasting ovation is modular procedure, it’s clip to find retired which applause volition spell down successful past — it’s awards season! This week, some the Drama Desk Awards and the Tonys dropped their nominees, with the Alicia Keys bio-musical Hell’s Kitchen and Fleetwood Mac–inspired Stereophonic leading the database for the second — each of those shows has 13 nominations, while The Outsiders comes successful adjacent down with 12. And portion we could spot bets connected who volition triumph Best Revival oregon Best Lead Actor successful a Musical, there’s 1 happening the authoritative awards volition ne'er beryllium capable to do: archer you what theatre critics really talk astir implicit postshow martinis.

That includes our precise own Sara Holdren and Jackson McHenry. These 2 critics person spent the past fewer months cramming their schedules with previews and spinning retired reviews of each the large shows (and a clutch of tiny ones too). Now that they’ve seen it all, they’re acceptable to manus retired immoderate honors of their ain — successful categories the Tonys voters never dreamed of. Welcome to our awards show. Go up and telephone it the Phonys.

With respect to Rachel McAdams’s nurturer in Mary Jane, this play belongs to the moms who can’t — oregon won’t! It’s a crowded field: Sarah Paulson in Appropriate, Jessica Lange in Mother Play, Cole Escola in Oh, Mary!, Shoshana Bean in Hell’s Kitchen, Kelli O’Hara in Days of Wine and Roses …

Jackson McHenry: I’m awarding this to Cole Escola’s Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! for refusing to admit her children astatine all.

Sara Holdren: I besides ballot for Escola, due to the fact that I don’t deliberation the beingness of Mary Todd’s children bothers her whatsoever. In Appropriate, contempt immoderate of the existent horrors of Paulson’s character, she inactive takes her teenager’s look successful her hands and goes, “I emotion you.” She’s trying. Mary Todd wins points for not trying.

An epidemic has struck the stages of New York: The actors treading the boards are being forced to vie with over-the-top video projections meant to cheat successful backgrounds and ocular effects. The nominees include The Great Gatsby, Spamalot, and The Wiz.

Sara: I judge in The Great Gatsby for this category. The oversaturated digi-video constituent is truthful successful your look and distracting — determination are moments wherever you’re astir apt expected to beryllium paying attraction to a character, and alternatively you’re like, “Oh, look, different mansion oregon a play people oregon integer rain.” I realized thing astir the video sets successful both Gatsby and The Wiz: Neither had an ensemble that was peculiarly small, but successful each I felt similar it wasn’t taking up capable abstraction — the ensembles felt weirdly small and underpowered for the stage. But I deliberation it’s really due to the fact that they’re being eaten by the backgrounds. Nothing is lifting up the quality body. Everything is competing with it.

Jackson: Unfortunately, I deliberation the acceptable for The Wiz is adjacent uglier than the 1 for Gatsby, particularly the yellowish ceramic road. If Gatsby’s acceptable looks similar a simulator, The Wiz’s looks similar a video-game loading screen. You’re waiting for it to footwear up truthful you tin participate a level.

A beardown play for the elements, including some occurrence and pouring rainfall successful shows specified as The Notebook, The Outsiders, Uncle Vanya, Suffs, Teeth, and The Great Gatsby.

Sara: For most effective use of the elements, I’d say The Outsiders for that rumble successful the rain, wherever they’re doing a prolonged portion of signifier combat covered successful mud. Also for immoderate they’ve enactment connected the signifier — I deliberation it’s cork oregon thing similar that, but it’s expected to consciousness similar dirt. There are these beauteous moments successful the choreography wherever they footwear it toward the audience, creating clouds.

Jackson: For the most elements, the rainfall in The Notebook. There’s a batch of wet.

Do we truly request to spot an existent conveyance close now? No, but it’s present anyhow — successful shows specified as The Great Gatsby, The Outsiders, and Lempicka.

Jackson: This 1 goes to Lempicka, the bio-musical of Polish creator Tamara de Lempicka played by Eden Espinosa. (We conscionable learned the amusement is closing May 19.) She paints a pistillate successful a car, and then, suddenly, you spot the car. Why? Who knows. It conscionable rolls successful and out. Some mightiness say, “Well, what about Back to the Future?” The car in Back to the Future isn’t determination for some reason — it is the reason that you came to spot the show.

In not-great productions, these performers outshine their surroundings. Nothing but respect for the precise brave John Zdrojeski in The Great Gatsby, Mia Katigbak in Uncle Vanya, and Quincy Tyler Bernstine in Doubt.

Jackson: I would springiness it to Mia Katigbak in Uncle Vanya because she’s conscionable fantastic contempt the show. I besides deliberation Quincy Tyler Bernstine is truthful bully in Doubt, but that is besides benignant of the portion wherever you’re expected to get idiosyncratic to travel successful and conscionable termination that scene. I bash deliberation the mode that she does it is truly awesome due to the fact that she doesn’t overplay it. She’s not doing the tears and snot.

Sara: John Zdrojeski arsenic Tom Buchanan in Gatsby. While I emotion everything Katigbak does, she’s the benignant of histrion who truly knows however to creaseless the edges of things. You cognize what I mean? She tin ever acceptable herself into the satellite she’s acting in. But with Zdrojeski in Gatsby, I mean, helium truly does conscionable consciousness similar a antithetic class of performer than the remainder of the cast. The remainder consciousness so, “Hello, everyone! Jazz hands!” And he’s like, “I’m present to play a psychologically analyzable role.”

A circumstantial and delightful trend: shows acceptable successful the landlocked states that prominently diagnostic dance. Nominees include The Outsiders (Tulsa), Illinoise (duh), The Heart of Rock and Roll (Chicago?), How to Dance successful Ohio (duh), and Dead Outlaw (Oklahoma but yet California).

Sara: Illinoise really is simply a amusement based wholly successful the body. I was excited erstwhile I realized that it would not person a accepted book, that they weren’t going to beryllium talking the full time, and the choreographer Justin Peck does beauteous work. But the lone crushed I’m going with Illinoise instead of Dead Outlaw — a large amusement that was astatine the Minetta Lane Theatre until a mates weeks agone — is simply a technicality: Despite the information that astir of the communicative is based successful and astir Oklahoma, the 1 who does the wild, one-man Busby Berkeley creation I’m reasoning of, Thom Sesma, is really playing the L.A. County coroner.

Jackson: I inactive privation to ballot for Dead Outlaw — not lone due to the fact that of Sesma’s dance, but besides due to the fact that of the bid heist and horseback riding. It’s got truthful overmuch large question and this benignant of open-sky vastness.

For erstwhile portion of your occupation is pretending to beryllium high. Nominees: Stereophonic (cocaine), Lempicka (opiates, etc.), Tommy (acid)

Jackson: I mean, the Stereophonic coke bag. How tin you not? It’s truthful big. The mode that Sarah Pidgeon does this glamorous small sniff with her manicured nails truly feels lived-in and of the era.

Who knew determination would beryllium much than 1 amusement featuring a screaming lucifer betwixt songwriters? The nominees: Merrily We Roll Along and Stereophonic.

Sara: Merrily is truthful wonderful, but I’m going to spell with Stereophonic just due to the fact that it’s astir originative differences successful their contiguous frictional form. So galore moments are fueled by progressive hostility — whereas a batch of what we’re watching in Merrily is the consequences of that. In Stereophonic, there’s this infinitesimal wherever they play an unthinkable opus and everyone is sitting successful however unthinkable it was. Then Peter (Tom Pecinka) turns to his bandmate and woman Diana (Sarah Pidgeon) and says, “It’s good, but there’s lone truthful overmuch I tin bash if you’re not gonna chopped the verses down; your ego is getting successful the way.”

Jackson: If we were conscionable considering Daniel Radcliffe’s opus astir moving with Jonathan Groff’s quality in Merrily, “Franklin Shepard, Inc.,” I would springiness it to that.

And it’s not from the histrion who is presently playing the Emcee in Cabaret.

Sara: The champion existent show arsenic this benignant of quality is not the 1 by Eddie Redmayne, who’s in Cabaret astatine the Kit Kat Club on Broadway — it’s George Abud arsenic Marinetti in Lempicka. He’s playing an creator who was the real-life begetter of futurism, historically shoehorned into the play. But that doesn’t matter, due to the fact that helium does what the Emcee in Cabaret is expected to do: He guides america on arsenic the satellite tumbles toward fascism. The opinions helium expresses are explicitly ugly, but Abud does it with truthful overmuch palmy charm without giving distant immoderate of the menacing. Whereas Redmayne’s Emcee is conscionable a mess, wiggling his fingers.

Jackson: He wholly tips his hand. It’s unusual to watch Cabaret and ne'er consciousness similar you’re being seduced by the Emcee. Redmayne’s Emcee is conscionable going, “Welcome to Berlin, it’s evil,” and hopping around. There is meant to beryllium a analyzable dynamic with the Emcee wherever he’s some benignant of queer and luring you into fascism. But this accumulation seems to archer you, “All of this look is going to pb to being a brownish shirt.” It seems un-thought-through and un-nuanced. Abud is overmuch much convincing.

For the caller retiree successful your life. Tommy, Stereophonic, The Heart of Rock and Roll.

Jackson: Stereophonic. A communicative based connected Fleetwood Mac making Rumours is worldly for large drama. Whereas The Heart of Rock and Roll is, though benignant of charming, inspired by the Huey Lewis and the News catalogue.

Sara: It whitethorn not beryllium a afloat vote, but I volition propulsion successful a weird small thumbs-up for the Who musical, Tommy. It is undeniably dated, and yet there’s thing that’s inactive breathtaking there. There’s thing astir some the Who’s euphony and Ali Louis Bourzgui’s cardinal show arsenic Tommy that weirdly holds up.

Jackson and Sara agree: There’s nary mode that the precise run-of-the-mill Alicia Keys musical Hell’s Kitchen should beryllium nominated for arsenic galore Tonys as Stereophonic.

The Tonys doesn’t usually manus retired prizes for this — but past they amazed america by announcing a special grant for Jaja’s hairsbreadth and wig decorator Nikiya Mathis. Let’s speech astir her work!

Jackson: The play takes spot astatine a hair-braiding salon over the people of a day, and the full clip you request to person convincing braiding going connected — these women are meant to beryllium precise bully astatine their jobs. There are adjacent small skips successful time, which means the actors’ wigs request to advancement acold capable guardant to beryllium realistic and to make the consciousness of enactment being done. The amusement managed to pass truthful overmuch astir the characters and the mounting conscionable utilizing the materials of hairsbreadth itself.

Sara: It’s spectacular. The histrion Kalyne Coleman, who played aggregate customers successful the show, posted this unthinkable video of 1 of her speedy changes wherever she runs offstage, loses her full costume and wig, gets different costume and wig, and goes backmost connected arsenic different character. Watching that happening connected signifier was incredible, but truthful was seeing what happened backstage.

A peculiar grant for the erstwhile eldest boy, whose starring relation in An Enemy of the People involves getting a bucket of existent crystal dumped connected apical of him astatine each performance.

Sara: It’s intelligibly his favourite infinitesimal successful the full show.