Neil Patrick Harris hosts the 66th Annual Tony Awards.

by Adel Manoukian

The 66th Annual Tony Awards hosted by television star Neil Patrick Harris brought together many talented Broadway stars and alums this past Sunday at the Beacon Theatre. The night went to the musical, “Once” garnering the most wins with 8 Tonys out of 11 nominations. In case you missed the star-studded night, here is a list of other winners in each category.

Musical: “Once.”

Play: “Clybourne Park.”

Revival of a Play: “Death of a Salesman.”

Revival of a Musical: “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.”

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: James Corden, “One Man, Two Guvnors.”

Performance by an Actress in Leading Role in a Play: Nina Arianda, “Venus in Fur.”

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Steve Kazee, “Once.”

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Audra McDonald, “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.”

Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Christian Borle, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Judith Light, “Other Desert Cities.”

Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Michael McGrath, “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”

Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Judy Kaye, “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”

Book of a Musical: Enda Walsh, “Once.”

Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre: “Newsies.”

Direction of Play: Mike Nichols, “Death of a Salesman.”

Direction of a Musical: John Tiffany, “Once.”

Choreography: Christopher Gattelli, “Newsies.”

Orchestration: Martin Lowe, “Once.”

Sound Design of a Play: Darron L. West, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

Sound Design of a Musical: Clive Goodwin, “Once.”

Costume Design of a Play: Paloma Young, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

Costume Design of a Musical: Gregg Barnes, “Follies.”

Scenic Design Play: Donyale Werle, “Peter and the Starcatcher”

Scenic Design of a Musical: Bob Crowley, “Once.”

Lighting Design of a Play: Jeff Croiter, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

Lighting Design of a Musical: Natasha Katz, “Once.”

Yesterday I posted my predictions for the winners on Sunday’s 66^th Annual Tony Awards telecast. Below, my feelings about who will and who should go home with the gold in the musical categories:

Best Musical: Nominees include the already-shuttered Leap of Faith, Newsies, Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Once. This is a rather humdrum list. Once is truly a play with music, as End of the Rainbow and Peter and the Starcatcher both identified themselves this season, but it opted to classify itself as a musical, so I’ll play it as it lays. And it lies at the head of the pack here, challenged only by the crowd-pleasing Newsies. Who would have thought that Newsies, based on a bomb Disney movie musical from twenty years ago, would be the Goliath in this race? I still find it a middling musical, and as the more commercial one, would benefit less from a Tony win than Once, which could use the push. I, perhaps foolishly, grant the win to Once, which succeeds better on its own (slightly problematic) terms than the other nominees.

Will win: Once

Should win: Once

Should have been nominated: absolutely nothing else this season

Best Direction of a Musical: Nominees include Jeff Calhoun (Newsies), Kathleen Marshall (Nice Work If You Can Get It), Diane Paulus (The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess), and John Tiffany (Once). Tiffany will likely prevail here, and should: he managed to fuse a lot of unorthodox moving parts to turn Once into The Little Show That Could. Personally, I’d vote for Follies’ Eric Schaeffer over this quartet, but he didn’t make the cut.

Will win: Tiffany

Should win: Tiffany

Should have been nominated: Eric Schaeffer, Follies

Best Leading Actor in a Musical: Nominees include Danny Burstein (Follies), Jeremy Jordan (Newsies), Steve Kazee (Once), Norm Lewis (Porgy), and Ron Raines (Follies). Sometimes I play this game, where I put my money on the actor I want to win less, as karmic insurance that the one I want to win more will prevail. So even though the general consensus has it that long overdue veteran Burstein will win for his definitive portrayal of Buddy, I’ll stick the much-hyped Jordan instead. All the while, I feel that a solid Lewis and especially Kazee are being overlooked in the mix, particularly the latter nominee, whose delicate work headlining this year’s sleeper hit absolutely deserves recognition.

Will win: Jordan

Should win: Burstein or Kazee

Should have been nominated: no one

Best Leading Actress in a Play: Nominees include Jan Maxwell (Follies), Audra McDonald (Porgy), Cristin Milioti (Once), Kelli O’Hara (Nice Work), and Laura Osnes (Bonnie and Clyde). I’m a huge proponent of Maxwell’s work this year; her rendition of “Story of Jessie and Lucy” slew me, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it all year. Also, Milioti’s idiosyncratic blend of tenderness and pluck was a big driving force behind Once’s success – her “The Hill” has also haunted me all season. But this one looks like McDonald’s race to lose, and that rankles me. Though it’s her first award as a leading performer, McDonald will set a record with five acting wins – tying Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury – and I just don’t think her Bess is harrowing or transcendent enough to earn that career milestone (one that took Lansbury an additional four decades to hit, at that). Still she’s a beloved member of the community, and a win seems all but assured.

Will win: McDonald

Should win: Maxwell

Should have been nominated: Bernadette Peters, Follies

Best Featured Actor in a Play: Nominees include Philip Boykin (Porgy), Michael Cerveris (Evita), David Alan Grier (Porgy), Michael McGrath (Nice Work), and Josh Young (Jesus Christ Superstar). Except for McGrath, all of the nominees here are nominated for revivals, and even Nice Work dusts off a bunch of Gershwin standards. I give McGrath the edge over Cerveris, but for me, Boykin stands out the most. His Crown was riveting, memorable and incredibly well-sung. He buoyed Porgy to places it didn’t go when he wasn’t onstage.

Will win: McGrath

Should win: Boykin

Should have been nominated: Patrick Page, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (yes, really)

Best Featured Actress in a Musical: Nominees include Elizabeth A. Davis (Once), Jayne Houdyshell (Follies), Judy Kaye (Nice Work), Jessie Mueller (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever), and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Ghost the Musical). Mueller was the bright light in an otherwise execrable misfire, and Houdyshell brought humor and subtlety to a small but memorable part. Still, I said it in my review http://nypress.com/hard-work/, this is Kaye’s to win. Note to those who want a Tony: put a chandelier in your show, too.

Will win: Kaye

Should win: Houdyshell or Mueller

Should have been nominated: Melissa van der Schyff, Bonnie or Bryona Marie Parham or NaTasha Yvette Williams, Porgy

Let’s see how my predictions go!

That certainly applies to Raul Esparza, whose Leap of Faith received a Best Musical nomination despite a tepid critical reception. Conventional wisdom had it that Esparza would win his first Tony for the vehicle, an overdue honor since his Company perf got passed over for David Hyde Pierce in Curtains a half-decade ago. Well, Esparza’s out and Follies boys Danny Burstein and Ron Raines are in, along with Newsies’ Jeremy Jordan, Once’s Steve Kazee, and Norm Lewis for The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Will this be Jordan’s Thoroughly Modern Millie moment? Or will veteran Burstein emerge with his own long-overdue first win on Tony night?

The Best Actor in a Drama field seems like a fait accompli – Philip Seymour Hoffman will win for Mike Nichols’ current Death of a Salesman revival, though I found his performance over-studied and less alive that of fellow nominee James Corden of One Man, Two Guvnors, a play many thought would make the Best Play field. (It didn’t, falling to a quartet of plays that transferred from Off-Broadway perches either last season or the one before). Also, James Earl Jones was solid in Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, but Best Actor-worthy? Over a terrific John Larroquette in a true leading role? That’s absurd.

The Best Actress categories have been far more interesting to clock over the season, and while the five chosen for Lead Actress in a Drama are a solid bunch, the list leaves out Angela Bassett for The Mountaintop, Tyne Daly in Master Class, and, saddest of all, the wonderful Jennifer Lim in Chinglish. Venus in Fur’s Nina Arianda will give Bennett a run for her money, though I think the latter has it, to some controversy, since the most impressive aspects of her performance as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow are the musical, not the dramatic ones.

The announcement of a special Tony Award going to Bernadette Peters for her charitable works fueled speculation that she might not get a Lead Actress in a Musical nomination for Follies, and, sure enough, she did not. Instead the field includes one four-time winner – Porgy’s Audra McDonald – and four women who’ve never won, including Jan Maxwell, Peters’ Follies co-star. Dare I say that I’m pulling for a dual Burstein-Maxwell victory? I was also pleased to see Laura Osnes make the cut for Bonnie and Clyde. The show had plenty of problems , particularly a misguided book, but performances were not one of them. (I even prefer Jordan as Clyde to his Newsies turn this year).

Which is why I am saddened that Melissa van der Schyff was left off the Featured Actress in a Musical list for Clyde, especially to make way for Once’s Elizabeth A. Davis. I am, however, happy to see On a Clear Day You Can See Forever’s Jessie Mueller, and hope she makes it to the podium. Josh Young, great but sometimes absent from Jesus Christ Superstar, also scored an early career coup with his nod, but I think Philip Boykin for Porgy has the award. (Lo siento, Ricky Martin – Tony nominators only threw Evita love to more polished co-star Michael Cerveris.)

The featured acting in a play categories are also exciting; nominators certainly threw bones to certain plays that might have gone unrecognized otherwise, like Don’t Dress for Dinner (Spencer Kayden) and Stick Fly (Condola Rashad). Andrew Garfield in Salesman never won me over, but his un-nominated co-star Finn Wittrock did. I also would have liked to see The Lyons’ Michael Esper score a nod, or Thomas Sadoski, who departed Other Desert Cities fairly early in its Broadway run but was terrific. Ditto for his co-star, Judith Light, taking over for Linda Lavin after Desert’s Lincoln Center run. Follow this trail of Broadway casting bread crumbs: Lavin declined reprising the Desert role that went to Light to play Hattie in Follies at the Kennedy Center, a role that Jayne Houdyshell then took on for Broadway so Lavin could take on the lead role in The Lyons. All three ended up with Tony nods. Well played.

Here’s a full list of this year’s Tony nominees below. I’ll have my official predictions in a few weeks.

http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/index.html