Below, my fearless predictions for the 2022 Tony Awards:
BEST MUSICAL
Girl from the North Country
MJ
Mr. Saturday Night
Paradise Square
Six
A Strange Loop
Will win: A Strange Loop
Should win: Girl from the North Country
BEST PLAY
Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage
Hangmen by Martin McDonagh
The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini and Ben Power
The Minutes by Tracy Letts
Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau
Will win: The Lehman Trilogy
Should win: The Minutes
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Caroline, or Change
Company
The Music Man
Will win: Company
Should win: Caroline, or Change
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
American Buffalo
for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf
How I Learned to Drive
Take Me Out
Trouble in Mind
Will win: Take Me Out
Should win: How I Learned to Drive
BEST SCORE
Jason Robert Brown and Amanda Green, Mr. Saturday Night
Jason Howland, Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare, Paradise Square
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Tom Kitt and Michael Korie, Flying Over Sunset
Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six
Will win: A Strange Loop over Six
Should win: Flying Over Sunset
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas and Larry Kirwan, Paradise Square
Conor McPherson, Girl from the North Country
Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, Mr. Saturday Night
Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop
Lynn Nottage, MJ
Will win: Jackson
Should win: McPherson
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Sharon D Clarke, Caroline, or Change
Carmen Cusack, Flying Over Sunset
Sutton Foster, The Music Man
Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square
Mare Winningham, Girl from the North Country
Will win: Kalukango (for a truly featured role)
Should win: All of the other nominees are top-tier, but Cusack truly gave all in Sunset
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night|
Myles Frost, MJ
Hugh Jackman, The Music Man
Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire
Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop
Will win: Spivey
Should win: Frost
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Gabby Beans, The Skin of Our Teeth
LaChanze, Trouble in Mind
Ruth Negga, Macbeth
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.
Mary-Louise Parker, How I Learned to Drive
Will win: Parker
Should win: O’Connell
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy
Adam Godley, The Lehman Trilogy
Adrian Lester, The Lehman Trilogy
David Morse, How I Learned to Drive
Sam Rockwell, American Buffalo
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues
David Threlfall, Hangmen
Will win: Rockwell, over Beale
Should win: Morse
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Jeannette Bayardelle, Girl From The North Country
Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night
Jayne Houdyshell, The Music Man
L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop
Patti LuPone, Company
Jennifer Simard, Company
Will win: LuPone (although there’s a teensy tiny chance Lee could win)
Should win: Simard
BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Matt Doyle, Company
Sidney DuPont, Paradise Square
Jared Grimes, Funny Girl
John-Andrew Morrison, A Strange Loop
A.J. Shively, Paradise Square
Will win: Doyle
Should win: Shively (who is his show’s true lead – shhh, don’t tell)
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s
Rachel Dratch, POTUS
Kenita R. Miller, for colored girls…
Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew
Julie White, POTUS
Kara Young, Clyde’s
Will win: Aduba
Should win: Dratch
BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Alfie Allen, Hangmen
Chuck Cooper, Trouble in Mind
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out
Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde’s
Michael Oberholtzer, Take Me Out
Jesse Williams, Take Me Out
Will win: Ferguson
Should win: Williams
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
Marianne Elliott, Company
Conor McPherson, Girl from the North Country
Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, Six
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ
Will win: Elliott (in a tight race over Brackett)
Should win: McPherson
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Lileana Blain-Cruz, The Skin of Our Teeth
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls…
Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy
Neil Pepe, American Buffalo
Les Waters, Dana H.
Will win: Mendes
Should win: Waters
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls…
Warren Carlyle, The Music Man
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, Six
Bill T. Jones, Paradise Square
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ
Will win: MJ
Should win: MJ
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset
Bunny Christie, Company
Arnulfo Maldonado, A Strange Loop
Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, MJ
Allen Moyer, Paradise Square
Will win: Company
Should win: MJ
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
Beowulf Boritt, POTUS
Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, Skeleton Crew
Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy
Anna Fleischle, Hangmen
Scott Pask, American Buffalo
Adam Rigg, The Skin of Our Teeth
Will win: The Lehman Trilogy (over The Skin of Our Teeth)
Should win: The Lehman Trilogy
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Fly Davis, Caroline, or Change
Toni-Leslie James, Paradise Square
William Ivey Long, Diana
Santo Loquasto, The Music Man
Gabriella Slade, Six
Paul Tazewell, MJ
Will win: Six
Should win: The Music Man
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Montana Levi Blanco, The Skin of Our Teeth
Sarafina Bush, for colored girls…
Jane Greenwood, Plaza Suite
Jennifer Moeller, Clyde’s
Emilio Sosa, Trouble in Mind
Will win: The Skin of Our Teeth
Should win: Plaza Suite
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Neil Austin, Company
Tim Deiling, Six
Donald Holder, Paradise Square
Natasha Katz, MJ
Bradley King, Flying over Sunset
Jen Schriever, A Strange Loop
Will win: Six
Should win: Flying Over Sunset
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Joshua Carr, Hangmen
Jiyoun Chang, for colored girls…
Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy
Jane Cox, Macbeth
Yi Zhao, The Skin of Our Teeth
Will win: The Lehman Trilogy
Should win: The Lehman Trilogy
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Simon Baker, Girl from the North Country
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Company
Paul Gatehouse, Six
Drew Levy, A Strange Loop
Gareth Owen, MJ
Will win: Six
Should win: Girl from the North Country
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Justin Ellington, for colored girls…
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.
Palmer Hefferan, The Skin of Our Teeth
Nick Powell, The Lehman Trilogy
Mikaal Sulaiman, Macbeth
Will win: A The Lehman Trilogy
Should win: Dana H.
BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
David Cullan, Company
Tom Curran, Six
Simon Hale, Girl from the North Country
Charlie Rosen, A Strange Loop
Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, MJ
Will win: A Strange Loop
Should win: Girl from the North Country
