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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.
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