Tony Voters Speak: The Critic

All week leading up to Sunday’s Tony awards, we’re polling anonymous Tony voters about whom they’ve cast their votes for and why. This time we ask a theater critic and Tony voter: Who’s on your ballot?

Best Play: The Coast of Utopia. “I cast my vote for The Coast of Utopia, even though it’s a dramaturgical disaster, reactionary and about fifteen years late. Had it debuted shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, it might have been instructive, but otherwise, it’s nine hours of Tom Stoppard telling us (a) he has read a lot of books and (b) idealists make lousy politicians. Thanks, Tom! That having been said, it was the most ambitious show of the season and contains some terrific speeches. I wouldn’t mind if August Wilson won, though. But Radio Golf doesn’t pack enough punch.�

Best Original Score: Spring Awakening. “It’s incredible fun, and some numbers, like “Bitch of Living� or “Totally Fucked,� you can imagine playing at a party without dying of embarrassment. So I checked off Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater. However, I have to say that Michael Korie and Scott Frankel’s score for Grey Gardens contains more emotional nuance and hit me perhaps deeper than Spring’s vicarious teen-angst elations.�

Best Actress in a Play: Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed. “If Vanessa Redgrave wins it over Julie White, it will be a shame. White was a ferocious, funny, profane life force, whereas the humorless Redgrave played The Year of Magical Thinking, that stillborn wannabe-snob-hit text, like a talking death’s head.�