It’s awards season in theater, and the annual shunning of movie stars on Broadway has begun.
The Outer Critics Circle announced their nominees this morning, and the group looks like the murderer who picked up the smoking gun.
They managed to avoid everyone, whether their work was stellar or not. That means Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson in “The Fear of 13,” each of whom was praised for their performances. Also, Don Cheadle and Ayo Edibiri in “Proof,” who were equally applauded by critics.
Also missing: Mark Strong, who was the linchpin of “Oedipus,” but is better known from his many films, and the terrific Alden Ehrenreich in “Becky Shaw.”
Of course, part of the problem is that the Outer Critics — following other groups in their wokeness – has gender free acting categories. This cuts the number of potential nominees in half.
To put it bluntly, that sucks.
The OCC also completely snubbed the musical version of “Beaches” (they may be right — who knows?), and omitted anything for Tracey Letts’ play “Bug” including star Carrie Coon (I guess they don’t like her TV success in “White Lotus” or “The Gilded Age”). Unsurprisingly, they completely avoided Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bacharach in “Dog Day Afternoon,” as well as Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer in “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.”
Hollywood- type stars fared better in the category of solo shows, since there weren’t many other choices. Jean Smart, Daniel Radcliffe, and Sean Hayes (off Broadway) were all noted, but you can bet one of the others — Mary Kate O Flanagan or Jack Holden — will be the winner.
It’s always been this way. Broadway needs name stars to attract business. But “theater people” resent them for taking their jobs. They do want them for the Tony Awards. But look at the reaction to Pink being named host this year. She’s a great choice, but diehards are waiting for her to fail. (She won’t, sorry.)
Why should big stars put themselves through all this stress? For Brody, Thompson, Cheadle, Edibiri, Coon, Strong the answer is: they’re actors. They’re doing it for the audience, themselves, and the art. Let’s hope the Tony Awards are smarter.
