SOUND OFF Special Edition: The 10 Toughest Categories At The 2015 Tony Awards

By: Pat Cerasaro May. 06, 2015

Today we are analyzing the absolute biggest battles at this year's hotly anticipated Tony Awards, shedding a light on the most epic battle royales of the night with some legendary leading ladies squaring off, British blockbusters battling it out with homegrown American fare, one of the fiercest Best Musical match-ups in history and some of the toughest revival competition in recent memory, as well. Of course, the Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS on June 7, but for the next month we all wait with bated breath and tongues wagging to see who will come out on top on Broadway's biggest and brightest night - before the eyes of all of America, no less.

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1. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS versus FUN HOME. Rarely have two musicals so diametrically opposed fought it out for top honors, but with both racking up 12 Tony noms it appears as if we have a dead heat on our hands this year, to boot. Anything can happen - will it be the little Off-Broadway show that could or a breathtaking ballet-infused screen-to-stage translation? Or, maybe neither? It could go any way, but only one will ultimately win out. And, as we learned when AVENUE Q usurped WICKED, you never can guess what will sway the Tony voters most.
2. Best Actor In A Play. Hollywood hotshot Bradley Cooper up against British film and theatre legend Bill Nighy is tough enough, but throw the incredibly impressive work from Steven Boyer in risqué exorcism-themed comedy HAND TO GOD and the charismatic turn from Alex Sharp in THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME into the mix - not to mention WOLF HALL's Ben Miles - and a true fight to the finish will determine Best Actor. Fists up!

3. Best Actress In A Musical. Six-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara from THE KING & I is matched up with iconic living legend Chita Rivera of THE VISIT with the rapturously received performance of ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY's Kristin Chenoweth, the choreographically intensive turn by Leanne Hope in AMERICAN IN PARIS and the breakout sensation being caused by Beth Malone in FUN HOME also in the running. Will Kelli finally bring home gold? Will nomination number 10 be lucky for Chita? Tune in next month to see!
4. Six Featured Actor nominees. The astoundingly tight race for Best Featured Actor required an extra slot to be opened up so as to allow all the nominees into the category this year, which alone says a lot about how close this race is. Will it be Micah Stock for IT'S ONLY A PLAY, Nathaniel Parker for WOLF HALL, Alessandro Nivola for THE ELEPHANT MAN, Richard McCabe for THE AUDIENCE, K. Todd Freeman for AIRLINE HIGHWAY or Matthew Beard for SKYLIGHT? With six slots to choose from, it will undoubtedly be the nail-biter of the night.

5. Best Featured Actor In A Musical. SOMETHING ROTTEN!'s two standouts both face off against each other - Shakespeare (Christian Borle) versus Nostradamus (Brad Oscar), no less - as do two dashing and dynamic performers from AN AMERICAN IN PARIS - Max von Essen and Brandon Uranowitz - along with Andy Karl of ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Will the pair of twosomes split the vote and give last season's ROCKY lead the glory? We will have to wait and see who lasts until the final bell - and for whom it tolls.
6. Best Direction Of A Musical. Running the gamut from laugh-a-minute musical comedy of SOMETHING ROTTEN! to expertly done revival work byway of ON THE TOWN and THE KING & I, along with the dance-heavy AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and the fiercely idiosyncratic FUN HOME makes for a close call between many of Broadway's best - Casey Nicholaw, John Rando, Barlett Sher, Christopher Wheeldon and Sam Gold. All bets are off.

7. Best Direction Of A Play. A canonical classic (YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU) faces fearsome foes in Broadway/Hollywood super-director Stephen Daldry (SKYLIGHT), world renown visionary Marianne Elliott (THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME), respected British helmer Jeremy Herrin (WOLF HALL, PARTS ONE & TWO) and the daring work of Moritz von Stuelpnagel (HAND TO GOD). It could go any way at all.
8. Best Revival Of A Musical. Rarely have three productions equally praised by audiences and critics alike been up against each other in a Tony Awards race this tight, yet early season favorite ON THE TOWN will be compared to the late-season entries THE KING & I and ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY in a match-up sure to inspire the ire of the true Broadway babies amongst viewers. It's anybody's guess, but the best bet may be all the way hidden in the Far East.

9. Best Score. Pop hitmaker Sting received one of the only Tony Award acknowledgements of his short-running musical THE LAST SHIP, while SOMETHING ROTTEN!'s Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick are the rare related (brothers!) composing team and they are also sharing the category with FUN HOME's Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron along with what is being billed as the final score by John Kander and Fred Ebb to be heard on Broadway with THE VISIT. It could go in any direction, but it seems as though affection for one of Broadway's best-known and best-loved teams may ultimately tip the scale in THE VISIT's favor.
10. Best Choreography. A play received a rare choreography nomination this year via the imaginatively staged THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME and its committed team (Scott Graham and Stephen Hoggett for Frantic Assembly) to duke it out with Joshua Bergasse's fresh new ON THE TOWN, Christopher Gattelli's sparkling THE KING & I, Casey Nicholaw's spectacular SOMETHING ROTTEN! and Christopher Wheeldon's near-incomparable AN AMERICAN IN PARIS dances. It will be a breathless race to the final jetee.

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