AND THE WINNER IS…

By Jeannie Lieberman and Julia Polinsky

After a whirlwind of late entries to meet the Tony nominations deadline, the official end of the 2022-2023 theater season is finally here. It was not all smooth sailing; with the omnipresent threat of Covid, shutterings and rescheduling were still common.

Tedra Millan and Seth Numrich in Leopoldstadt (Photo: Joan Marcus)

Oddly the season commenced with a play, Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, and ended with a play, Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. In between were sandwiched a mélange of musicals, both revivals and new work, including a much-anticipated battle royal between Some Like It Hot and New York New York (which turned into a surprisingly lopsided match).

The company of Some Like It Hot (Photo: Matthew Murphy)

The company of New York, New York (Photo by Paul Kolnik)

The musical revivals would make a musical lover’s heart cry with joy; Camelot, Dancin’, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Parade were all given Broadway outings this season. Outstanding new musicals include Some Like It Hot, Kimberly Akimbo, & Juliet, A Beautiful Noise, New York, New York and the surprising Shucked.

The company of Shucked (Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman)

Move over, Julie Taymore:  a new band of puppets are here. Life of Pi’s amazing puppetry brought a zoo’s worth of animals to amazing onstage life.

Hiran Abeysekera in Life of Pi (Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)

This season, Broadway presented 9 new musicals and 7 revivals, and 14 new plays and 6 revivals. In short, there’s something for everyone and every taste, and I am proud to say that Theaterscene has covered them all so as you play along with the voters, relive the season through our reviews and pick your own winners!

The 76^th Annual Tony Awards, Sunday, June 11, 2023, 8pm Eastern. CBS and Paramount+ will broadcast the show live with host Ariana DeBose.

Nominations for the Tonys, 2023: (Theaterscene’s picks are starred)

Best Musical
& Juliet
Kimberly Akimbo
New York, New York
Shucked
Some Like It Hot *

Best Play
Ain't No Mo
Between Riverside and Crazy
Cost of Living *
Fat Ham
Leopoldstadt

Best Musical (Revival)
Into the Woods *
Lerner & Loewe's Camelot
Parade
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Play (Revival)
A Doll's House
August Wilson's The Piano Lesson
The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog *

Best Book of a Musical
& Juliet — David West Read
Kimberly Akimbo — David Linsay-Abaire
New York, New York — David Thompson & Sharon Washington

Shucked — Robert Horn
Some Like It Hot — Matthew López & Amber Ruffin *

Best Original Score
Almost Famous — Music by Tom Kitt, Lyrics by Cameron Crowe & Tom Kitt
Kimberly Akimbo — Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
KPop — Music & Lyrics by Helen Park & Max Vernon
Shucked — Music and Lyrics by Brandi Clark & Shane McAnally
Some Like It Hot — Music by Marc Shaiman, Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman *

Best Actor (Musical)
Christian Borle (Some Like It Hot)
J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot) *
Josh Groban (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Brian D'Arcy James (Into the Woods)
Ben Platt (Parade)
Colton Ryan (New York, New York)

Best Actress (Musical)
Annaleigh Ashford (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) *
Sara Bareilles (Into the Woods)
Victoria Clark (Kimberly Akimbo)
Lorna Courtney (& Juliet)
Michaela Diamond (Parade)

Best Actor (Play)
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog)
Corey Hawkins (Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog)
Sean Hayes (Good Night, Oscar)
Stephen McKinley Henderson (Between Riverside and Crazy) *
Wendell Pierce (Death of a Salesman)

Best Actress (Play)
Jessica Chastain (A Doll's House)
Jodi Comer (Prima Facie) *
Jessica Hecht (Summer, 1976)
Audra McDonald (Ohio State Murders)

Best Choreography
Steven Hoggett (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Casey Nicholas (Some Like It Hot)
Susan Stroman (New York, New York) *
Jennifer Weber (& Juliet)
Jennifer Weber (KPop)

Best Orchestrations
Bill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro (Shucked)
John Clancy (Kimberly Akimbo)
Jason Howland (Shucked)
Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter (Some Like It Hot)
Daryl Waters & Sam Davis (New York, New York) *

Best Scenic Design (Play)
Miriam Buether (Prima Facie)
Tim Hatley and Andrej Goulding (Life of Pi) *
Rachel Hauck (Good Night, Oscar)
Richard Hudson (Leopoldstadt)
Dane Laffrey and Lucy Mackinnon (A Christmas Carol)

Best Scenic Design (Musical)
Beowulf Boritt (New York, New York) *
Mimi Lien (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Michael Yeargan and 59 Productions (Lerner & Lowe's Camelot)
Scott Pask (Shucked)
Scott Pask (Some Like It Hot)

Best Costume Design (Play)
Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell (Life of Pi) *
Dominique Fawn Hill (Fat Ham)
Brigitte Reiffenstuel (Leopoldstadt)
Emilio Sosa (Ain't No Mo')
Emilio Sosa (Good Night, Oscar)

Best Costume Design (Musical)
Gregg Barnes (Some Like It Hot) *
Susan Hilferty (Parade)
Jennifer Moeller (Lerner & Lowe's Camelot)
Paloma Young (& Juliet)
Donna Zakowska (New York, New York)

Sound Design (Play)
Jonathan Deans and Taylor Williams (Ain't No Mo')
Carolyn Downing (Life of Pi) *
Joshua D. Reid (A Christmas Carol)
Ben and Max Ringham (A Doll's House)
Ben and Max Ringham (Prima Facie)

Sound Design (Musical)
Kai Harada (New York, New York) *
John Shivers (Shucked)
Scott Lehrer and Alex Heumann (Into the Woods)
Gareth Owen (& Juliet)
Nevin Steinberg (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Neil Austin (Leopoldstadt)

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Neil Austin, Leopoldstadt

Natasha Chivers, Prima Facie

Jon Clark, A Doll’s House Bradley King, Fat Ham

Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi

Jen Schriever, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Ben Stanton, A Christmas Carol

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Ken Billington, New York, New York

Lap Chi Chu, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot

Heather Gilbert, Parade

Howard Hudson, & Juliet

Natasha Katz, Some Like It Hot

Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Playwright and Theater Journalist Mario Fratti Dead at 95

By Jeannie Lieberman

Italian playwright Mario Fratti has died at the age of 95. Fratti wrote more than 100 works, seventy of which are plays. His best known work is the work he did for Nine. In its original run, Nine won several notable awards, among which are Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Tony Awards. The 2003 revival won yet more Outer Critics and Tony awards.

His work has been translated into 21 languages, with performances in more than two-dozen countries. Born in Italy, he moved to New York City in 1963 and, like so many, stayed here for the rest of his life.

An educator as well as a playwright, Fratti taught Italian literature at Hunter College. He also wrote theater reviews for nine European newspapers, and was on the board of the Outer Critics Circle.

As a fellow Outer Critics Circle member, Mario and I often crossed paths at Manhattan theater evenings and ATCA conferences. He was always cheerful and his pronounced Italian accent lent to his charm. Mario’s energy was contagious no matter what; his passion lent gravitas to each issue. Overall, Mario was a shameless flirt, and so I never left a conversation with him without feeling a little bit flattered.

Few can replace him. I miss him.

Todd Haines, Roundabout Theatre’s Dynamic Leader, Dead at 66

By Jeannie Lieberman

I am grieved and sorry to report the death of Todd Haimes, one of the great forces in New York theater. Over nearly 40 years, Haimes transformed the nearly-bankrupt Roundabout Theatre into a not-for-profit theatrical powerhouse, with 3 theaters on Broadway alone. Under his guidance, Roundabout won multiple Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Obie, and Lucille Lortel awards.

He was only 26 when he became managing director of Roundabout, and immediately put his all into the job – saving the company from shuttering, expanding offerings to different demographics, even lending his own money.  He shepherded the company through impressive development over time, eventually moving from a tiny off-Broadway house to the giant American Airlines theater on 42^nd Street, among other venues in the theater district.

Some of the Roundabout’s triumphs, under Haimes‘ guidance: revivals of Cabaret and A Soldier’s Play, Nine, and Assassins; new work like Fat Ham and Pictures From Home, both currently running. In the true spirit of a non-profit theater, under Haimes’s management, Roundabout reached out to the community and created such outreach as Education at Roundabout, a program that fosters backstage careers for underserved kids.

Of all the people I interviewed as a theatre journalist for the New York Law Journal and later has editor of Theaterscene.com, Todd was the most appreciative and respectful, no matter how busy he was guiding his little company to the gargantuan status that it now enjoys. It’s hard to believe that he did all this when he was relatively young. Despite serious health issues, he never failed to be courteous and a true gentleman, and never lost that spark of recognition, so rare in these days. 

Another word comes to mind whenever I think of him: he was a true “Mensch.” He will be hard to replace. I miss him.

RIP you dear, dear man.