Entertainment Weekly - May 11, 2018

NEWS STORY



( Clockwise

from left )

Harry Potter

and the

Cursed

Child;

SpongeBob

SquarePants:

The Musical;

Angels in

America

R

Broadway has something for everyone

this season, but what do this

year’s Tony Awards have in mind for

Broadway?BY MARC SNETIKER

Stage

Match

REMEMBER HARRY POTTER? HE’S UP FOR A

Tony against Andrew Garfield. SpongeBob

SquarePants might wrench one from Tony

Shalhoub. Amy Schumer is up against Joan

of Arc, and there’s even some heat between

the Rachel McAdams role inMean Girls and

the Audrey Hepburn part inMy Fair Lady.

This Broadway season, capped off by the

May 1 nominations for the 72nd annual

Tony Awards, is the ultimate manifestation

of a not-so-new rising trend: big merchan-

dise titles likeSpongeBob andFrozen sharing

the same theater-district real estate as

intimate dramas likeAngels in America and

The Band’s Visit (an original tuner, favored

to win Best Musical, starring Shalhoub and

Katrina Lenk). But bulk-budget properties

did something right beyond bringing in

bank at the box office. The nominations

include breakout performances not just in

prestige pieces but also in shows once pejo-

ratively dismissed as “commercial.”

The most heated conversation revolves

around hot ticketHarry Potter and the Cursed

Child and the acclaimed revival ofAngels in

America, which lead the pack of plays with 10

and 11 nods, respectively.Cursed Child’s

Anthony Boyle, who plays beleaguered Scor-

pius Malfoy, is a shoo-in for victory as

Featured Actor; so is costar Noma Dumez-

weni, who plays Hermione Granger—unless

Angels’ Denise Gough cinches the trophy for

her turn as pill-popping Harper Pitt. Harry

Potter himself, Jamie Parker, will square off

against front-runner Andrew Garfield,

whose role as a New Yorker dying from AIDS

is equally as spellbinding as the grown

wizard. But then there’s a possible upset by

The Iceman Cometh’s Denzel Washington,

who could also easily cometh for the prize.

Mean Girls andSpongeBob SquarePants:

The Musicalare the year’s most nominated

musicals (and productions in general) with

12 apiece. While the Tonys acknowledged

both shows’ anchoring performances—

Taylor Louderman as the lead mean girl and

surefire Ethan Slater as the lead sponge—

it’s the writing teams that are generating

major buzz. Tina Fey’sMean script, adapted

from her 2004 film, has a grool chance to

win Best Book.SpongeBob’s songwriting

team faces tough competition from critical-

darling composer David Yazbek (The Band’s

Visit), but there’s power in numbers: With

a roster of 17 eligible artists from Cyndi

Lauper to John Legend, the spongy score

just might be the craziest shared nomina-

tion in Tony history—another reason the

exceptional unpredictability of this year’s

race blows past seasons out of the water.

The one sure thing at the 2018 Tonys are

the show’s hosts—newly minted Broadway

veterans Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban,

who will bring their infectious charm (and

hopefully some music) to the live broadcast

airing June 10 on CBS.X



The Band’s Visit’s

Katrina Lenk;

Mean Girls’

Taylor Louderman

18 EW.COM MAY 11, 2018

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD

: MANUEL HARLAN;

ANGELS IN AMERICA

: BRINKHOFF & MÖGENBURG;

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: THE MUSICAL

,MEAN GIRLS

: JOAN MARCUS (2);

THE BAND’S VISIT

: MATTHEW MURPHY