Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Tony Awards Tonight: Hugh Jackman vs. Billy Crystal vs. Michael Jackson Is the Big Race

Share

Think the Tony Awards are boring? Not tonight. When the show kicks off on CBS at 8pm, Paramount Plus at 7, it’s going to be a night of amazing performances and close, close races.

The biggest race will be in Best Actor in a Musical. Hugh Jackman from “The Music Man” is pitted against Billy Crystal from “Mr. Saturday Night” and Myles Frost from “MJ The Musical.”

There’s also a big question mark hanging over Jaquel Spivey, newcomer and lead from “A Strange Loop.” If Spivey wins, there will be gasps in the audience at Radio City Music Hall. A Spivey win would pave the way for “Loop” to win Best New Musical, which also be a jaw dropped. “Strange Loop” is by no means mainstream fare.

What Broadway needs today is a big shiny populist hit, that’s for sure.,

At the same time, we’ll see the face off of Jackman’s “Music Man” and Patti Lupone’s company from “Company” for Best Revival of a Musical. Just the showcases of these shows alone on the Tonys will be exciting. Whichever show wins the title will benefit greatly. I could see Jackman take Best Actor and “Company” get Best Revival. We’ll see.

One slam dunk should be Lupone as Featured Actress in a Musical. The statue is hers to lose.

So stay tuned tonight. It’s going to be quite a show. And I’ll be tweeting from @showbiz411 all night!

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

Read more

In Other News