The 2012 Tony Awards aired… I was excited this time around because two of the shows with a lot of buzz were coming in with quite a few nominations: Once and Newsies, both of which I saw on my last trip to NYC. The only major similarity is that both are based off of movies of the same name, both are special in different ways.

Once is a bittersweet musical, heart wrenching, almost melodramatic… and the one that I was most hesitant to watch, but as I mentioned earlier my impressions changed and I fell in love with the show and the music. Maybe because I related more than I care to admit. Of the following Tony nominations the Tonys won are in bold:
– Best Musical
– Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical: Steve Kazee
– Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical: Cristin Milioti
– Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical: Elizabeth A. Davis
– Best Director of a Musical: John Tiffany
– Best Choreography: Steven Hoggett
– Best Book: Enda Walsh
– Best Orchestrations: Martin Lowe
– Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Bob Crowley
– Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Natasha Katz
– Best Sound Design of a Musical: Clive Goodwin

To be honest, I am not terribly surprised, of all the nominations I wasn’t really expecting them to sweep in the acting categories. As for choreography, Once was going to have stiff competition from the Newsies. The Newsies was the cult movie that bombed in the box office and blossomed into something huge on Broadway. When I planned my trip to NYC it was with the intent of seeing the Newsies on Broadway, particularly because of my work on Pure So You Think You Can Dance and the dancers related with that show. If there is anything that I felt that the Newsies had any other show was the choreography, hands down… but then I already talked about my impressions on the musical as well as the various changes of the stage adaptation of the Newsies over the movie. Below were the original Tony nominations for the Newsies, the awards the show won are in bold:
– Best Musical
– Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical: Jeremy Jordan (Jack Kelly)
– Best Director of a Musical: Jeff Calhoun
– Best Choreography: Christopher Gattelli
– Best Score: Alan Menken (Music) and Jack Feldman (Lyrics)
– Best Book
– Best Orchestrations
– Best Scenic Design of a Musical

What I found mildly entertaining is the overlap of nominations between the two shows:
– Best Musical
– Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
– Best Director of a Musical
– Best Choreography
– Best Book
– Best Orchestrations
– Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Newsies was only able to beat out Once in one of eight nominations while Once picked up the other seven when they went head to head. In hindsight (well some foresight) I didn’t really think that Newsies had a strong chance to get any of the Tonys outside of choreography… Once was just that good, afterall it turned a skeptic like me into a lover.

All in all a good show, kind of disappointed that I missed it, however… from what I was able to see online, I am very glad.