Skip to main content

Thoughts on the 2018 Lucille Lortel Nominations

Here are a few thoughts on the Lucille Lortel Award nominations that were announced earlier this week:
  • It seems bizarre that Mary Jane by Amy Herzog was not nominated for Outstanding Play. First of all, it received six other nominations, so the committee clearly liked it. Second, it is one of the best things of the season, in my opinion, and a much stronger offering than basically everything else in the category, especially The Treasurer and Pipeline.
  • It also would've been nice to see Amy and the Orphans remembered for Outstanding Play.
  • The Outstanding Musical is downright embarrassing. Bella and Hundred Days are two of the worst things I've ever seen, and the praise Desperate Measures received is baffling. It's akin to a well-done high school production, amateurish in every way.
  • The Outstanding Revival category contains four of my favorite shows of the season: Jesus Hopped the A Train, Torch Song, Fucking A, and In the Blood. While I thought The Government Inspector was a little too thin to justify its run time, it was still a well-done production with a terrific performance by Michael Urie at the center. There will be a very worthy winner regardless of the outcome.
  • Surely there were more than two worthy choices for Outstanding Solo Show, right? What happened there? And if Harry Clarke does not beat the fifty minute skit that was Who's Holiday then there is no justice.
  • It's nice to see the Outstanding Director category practically filled with all women. 
  • Two of my favorite performances of the season were included in the Outstanding Actor in a Play category: Sean Carvajel for Jesus Hopped the A Train and Michael Urie for Torch Song. It will be criminal if Urie does not win here but Carvajel's performance was impressive, and not just because he took over the role two days before previews began. It's also nice to see Peter Friedman nominated. He was the only redeeming thing about The Treasurer.
  • It would've been nice to see Jamie Brewer nominated for Amy and the Orphans.
  • Also very, very, very happy to see Edi Gathegi remembered. Another one of my favorite performances of the season, and I'm worried both he and Carvajel won't be remembered by other awards bodies this season.
  • Although I pretty much disliked everything about The Lucky Ones, Damon Daunno still has one of the best voices in theater, so good for him for being nominated.
  • The less said about Abigail Bengson in Hundred Days the better.
  • It's nice to see Brandon Gill, who gave two great performances in Bella and Too Heavy for Your Pocket remembered for the former. Although I vehemently disliked the show, he was the one bright spot and I think he's immensely talented.
  • Surprising to see Hangmen only getting one nomination for Outstanding Scenic Design. While I had many issues with it, I still think Johnny Flynn deserved a nomination. 
  • I also would've liked to see Saycon Sengbloh or Christine Lahti nominated.
  • Once more for good measure: Michael Urie.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Amy and the Orphans by Lindsey Ferrentino at the Roundabout Theatre Company

There's so much to celebrate about Lindsey Ferrentino's Amy and the Orphans. The play is not only one of the better things of the season but it manages to be funny, entertaining, well-acted, and a major victory for inclusion. Ferrentino's title character has Down Syndrome, and is played by Jamie Brewer, who also has the disease (as does her understudy, Eddie Barbanell. The play becomes Andy and the Orphans when he plays the role.) Amy is never the butt of a joke, never a punch line, and is never exploited, as writers and directors often tend to do when dealing with disabled actors or characters. But of course, that's Ferrentino's intention. Amy has been locked away in group homes (some terrible, some good) her entire life, with limited time spent with her own family. She has had to fend for herself but has developed into a strong individual with likes and dislikes, and even has a boyfriend and a job. Amy has clearly had to overcome a great deal in her life, and...

Fireflies by Donja R. Love at the Atlantic Theater Company

Okay, look, I get it, two-handers are tough. You have two characters with which to tell your story, and you have to somehow tell this story with as little exposition as possible. You have to show, not tell. Are you listening, Donja Love? Love's current play, Fireflies , tells the story of a married African American couple in 1963. He's a preacher, traveling the southern part of the country to speak at the funerals of other African Americans who have died due to racial terrorism. (When the play begins, the church bombing that claimed the lives of four little girls in Birmingham has just occurs.) She's a doting and devoted housewife who goes so far as to write her husband's speeches and sermons for him. But what her husband, Charles, doesn't know is that she secretly smokes, she wants to abort the baby she's carrying, and she writes explicit letters to a woman she's in love with whom she only met once, briefly. Oh, and did I mention she, Olivia, has PTSD a...

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Lyric Theater

Well, here we are, folks. The last review of the 2017-2018 season. And what a show to go out on. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is simply an event. The Lyric theater has been renovated for the show, the marquee is bigger than anything we've ever seen in New York (akin to the gorgeous facades we see in London), the merch is plentiful, you can order drinks at your seat through an app, people are walking around in wizard robes. These two plays are unlike anything we've ever seen on Broadway. And in a sense, it seems simply like a cash-grab. We've done the novels, the movies, the theme park, of course there should be a stage show. This is all a part of Harry Potter brand. Quite frankly, it seems very icky when you think about it. Is this what Broadway has come to? And yes, the rumors are true: the script itself isn't the most perfect. It's not that it's not well-written, it just lacks any sense of nuisance that you'd find in strong dramatic writing. Yes, ...