Predict Tony Winners With Back Stage's Reviews Roundup

The Tony Awards are two weeks from Sunday, and it's time to start casting your ballots for the awards. Whether you're competing with your high school drama class or you have an annual Tony pool, here are some tips for how to predict the winners on Sunday, June 12. If all else fails or you're stuck in categories like lighting or sound design, just pick "Book of Mormon" or "War Horse." Whether you've seen the shows or not – and if you want to, get tickets before the Tony broadcast – they're certain to be the favorites. For all 39 acting nominees in the acting categories, see Back Stage's annual Tony Awards Voters Guide.

Best Play
"Good People." This well-made play is just a tad too well-made. I couldn't shake off the sense of having seen more of a thesis than a drama. – Erik Haagensen

"Jerusalem." Jez Butterworth's "Jerusalem" falls squarely in the tradition of works lionizing the charismatic, nonconforming outsider whose outrageous behavior masks a pure and noble heart that by contrast proves the mendacity of the society surrounding him... While nothing would make me happier than to be able to join in the chorus of hosannas, I sadly must report that I found the show to be three hours and 10 minutes of windy bollocks. – EH

"The Motherf**ker With the Hat." As its title indicates, Stephen Adly Guirgis' "The Motherf**ker With the Hat" is provocative and profane, but, just as those two asterisks blunt that title's immediate impact, the Broadway production of this raw, wild comedy-drama compromises the author's and director's vision. – David Sheward

"War Horse." Gloriously theatrical and almost unbearably moving, this stirring testimonial to the power of honest sentiment is a never-to-be-forgotten theatrical experience. – EH

Best Musical
"The Book of Mormon." "The Book of Mormon," the result of this unlikely four-way collaboration, manages to combine outrageous parody, solid storytelling, and sympathetic yet goofy characters. – DS

"Catch Me If You Can." Buried somewhere under all the 1960s TV variety-show flash and trash, there's an interesting story struggling to get out in the new musical "Catch Me If You Can."… The result is a busy, empty, by-the-numbers musical comedy that has to rank as the Broadway season's biggest disappointment to date. – EH

"The Scottsboro Boys." This look at a monstrous, racially motivated miscarriage of justice in the Depression-era South, staged in the form of a minstrel show, packs quite a punch. It’s a satisfying finale for the legendary songwriting team. – EH

"Sister Act." A ramshackle yet agreeable film comedy with plausibility issues has here become an even more ramshackle and outlandish musical comedy that consistently diminishes its source. - EH

Best Book of a Musical
Alex Timbers, "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." This raucous combination political cartoon, rock concert, and extended "Saturday Night Live" sketch now fills the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre with irreverent wit, in-your-face satire, and lots of sweaty sex appeal. – DS

Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone, "The Book of Mormon." The sharp-edged book and fun score by Parker, Stone, and Lopez offer a screamingly funny yet sharply insightful full-length take on religion in general and Mormonism in particular. – DS

David Thompson, "The Scottsboro Boys." Most critics (myself included) who found fault with the show Off-Broadway laid the blame on book writer David Thompson, particularly his inability to sufficiently characterize the “boys.” There have been modest attempts to address that criticism, but they don’t make a substantial difference. However, thanks to some small but smart focusing, clarifying, and tightening of the book and director-choreographer Susan Stroman’s exemplary staging, it's now clear that the show's purpose is not to tell the men's personal stories. – EH

Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner, and Douglas Carter Beane, "Sister Act." Cheri and Bill Steinkellner's book, even revised, is a mess. - EH

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
"The Book of Mormon," music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone. The sharp-edged book and fun score by Parker, Stone, and Lopez offer a screamingly funny yet sharply insightful full-length take on religion in general and Mormonism in particular. - DS

"The Scottsboro Boys," music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb. The bulk of the biting score dramatizes action and issues, satirically showing us how these outrageous events occurred. - EH

"Sister Act," music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater. Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater have contributed an uninspired pastiche score of smooth soul and churning disco. – EH

"Sister Act," music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater. Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater have contributed an uninspired pastiche score of smooth soul and churning disco. – EH

"Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," music and lyrics by David Yazbek. David Yazbek's perfectly professional Latin-infused songs. – EH

Best Revival of a Play
"Arcadia." Despite several topflight turns, director David Leveaux's production of Tom Stoppard's eloquent play is just fuzzy enough to keep us out of "Arcadia." – EH

"The Importance of Being Earnest." Highly stylized and sleekly staged, this is probably the funniest and sharpest production of the comedy, a favorite on regional and community stages, I've ever seen. – DS

"The Merchant of Venice." Moving indoors to the Broadhurst after a summer's run outdoors in Central Park has darkened and deepened this rich production. Al Pacino and Lily Rabe are two heavyweights at the top of their game. – DS

"The Normal Heart." Larry Kramer's towering American tragedy is getting a letter-perfect production from directors Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe. If you see only one play this year, make it "The Normal Heart." – EH

Best Revival of a Musical
"Anything Goes." Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of "Anything Goes" is such a giddy, goofy, giggly experience, it's almost impossible to describe. But I'll try. Imagine eating all the chocolates you want without getting full, or watching all your favorite Hollywood musicals on TCM without suffering from camp overload. – DS

"How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Director-choreographer Rob Ashford talked Daniel Radcliffe into trying his hand at musical comedy. Alas, the likable and undeniably talented lad is in over his head. – EH

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Todd Rosenthal, "The Motherf**ker With the Hat." Set designer Todd Rosenthal not only cleverly conveys three very different NYC apartments in one setting, but he also gives us vital, specific clues about the occupants of each one. – DS

Rae Smith, "War Horse." Rae Smith's inspired piecemeal set is dominated by a great curved slash of what looks like parchment, on which drawings (by Smith) and videos are projected. – EH

Ultz, "Jerusalem." Ultz provides the meticulously detailed set and appropriately colorful and dull contemporary costumes. - EH

Mark Wendland, "The Merchant of Venice." Now that Mark Wendland's revolving wrought-iron set has been fitted into a smaller indoor space, with the black-painted theater wall serving as a backdrop, the emphasis has shifted to the darker story of Shylock (Pacino). - DS

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt, "The Scottsboro Boys"

Derek McLane, "Anything Goes." The 1987 script is employed here, and Marshall keeps the spoken-word action moving at such a fast and funny clip, with the aide of Derek McLane's fluid shipboard set, that we're never bored in between the musical moments. - DS

Scott Pask, "The Book of Mormon." Skinned animal carcasses litter Scott Pask's creatively cartoonish set. - DS

Donyale Werle, "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." Donyale Werle's nut-house set, which is a country tavern, history department faculty lodge, and boozy rock club all at once, extends into the entire theater and provides the perfect setting for the show's multiple perspectives. - DS

Best Costume Design of a Play
Jess Goldstein, "The Merchant of Venice." Jess Goldstein's period costumes … skillfully fulfill the director's vision. – DS

Desmond Heeley, "The Importance of Being Earnest." [Brian Bedford] enters the home of John Worthing, suitor to Bracknell's daughter Gwendolen, encased in costume designer Desmond Heeley's oppressive gown like an armored battleship, ready to go to war to defend the British hearth against the excesses of Wildean frivolity. - DS

Mark Thompson, "La Bête." Mark Thompson's book-lined study and his gorgeous period costumes...create the perfect setting for this new, jewellike "La Bête." - DS

Catherine Zuber, "Born Yesterday." Catherine Zuber's parade of handsome and colorful period outfits. - EH

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, "Priscilla Queen of the Desert." Then there are those out-of-this-world costumes, designed by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, who also created the Oscar-winning clothes for the film. - DS

Martin Pakledinaz, "Anything Goes." Add Martin Pakledinaz's gorgeous 1930s costumes and Peter Kaczorowski's romantic lighting and you have the ideal "Anything Goes." - DS

Ann Roth, "The Book of Mormon." Kudos to designer Ann Roth for the inspired costumes in the last-named madness. - DS

Catherine Zuber, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Catherine Zuber's wink-wink costumes (her identical designer-knockoff dresses for "Paris Original" are way over-the-top). - EH

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, "War Horse." Paule Constable's chameleonic lights evoke everything from a pastoral English morning to the stark horrors of warfare. - EH

David Lander, "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo." Derek McLane's rundown, suggestive set combines with the otherworldly lighting by David Lander and the eerily realistic sound design by Acme Sound Partners and Cricket S. Myers to conjure up a Baghdad simultaneously hellish and earthly. – DS

Kenneth Posner, "The Merchant of Venice." The backdrop allows lighting designer Kenneth Posner to create ominous shadows and turn the scene into a frightening forecast of a fascist Europe. - DS

Mimi Jordan Sherin, "Jerusalem"

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, "The Scottsboro Boys"
Howell Binkley, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"
Peter Kaczorowski, "Anything Goes." Add Martin Pakledinaz's gorgeous 1930s costumes and Peter Kaczorowski's romantic lighting and you have the ideal "Anything Goes." - DS
Brian MacDevitt, "The Book of Mormon"

Best Sound Design of a Play
Acme Sound Partners and Cricket S. Myers, "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo"
Simon Baker, "Brief Encounter"
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, "Jerusalem"
Christopher Shutt, "War Horse"

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Peter Hylenski, "The Scottsboro Boys"
Steve Canyon Kennedy, "Catch Me If You Can"
Brian Ronan, "Anything Goes"
Brian Ronan, "The Book of Mormon"

Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, "War Horse." Directors Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris marshal their forces with limitless invention. - EH

Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe, "The Normal Heart." Being given a letter-perfect production by directors Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe, this is a "Heart" that beats with blistering but redemptive power. - EH

Anna D. Shapiro, "The Motherf**ker With the Hat." Anna D. Shapiro's direction is basically balanced and powerful. Just as she did with "August: Osage County," this gifted stager skillfully combines intense, fiery confrontations with softer, sympathetic insights into relationships, this time for a gripping picture of a group of current and former alcoholics and addicts. – DS

Daniel Sullivan, "The Merchant of Venice." Director Daniel Sullivan's brilliantly conceived Edwardian-set staging brings all the undercurrents of conflicting passions to the surface. - DS

Best Direction of a Musical
Rob Ashford, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Ashford tries to compensate with such excesses as Howell Binkley's busy, relentlessly colorful lighting of Derek McLane's overbearing set of endless hexagonal boxes. - EH

Kathleen Marshall, "Anything Goes." Kathleen Marshall's sleek staging and joyous choreography recall the best of Hermes Pan and Busby Berkeley, with an expert chorus tapping, shimmying, and buck-and-winging it for all they're worth. - DS

Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, "The Book of Mormon." The staging—with direction by Nicholaw and Parker and choreography by Nicholaw—strikes the perfect balance between wild lampooning and honest limning. Like the best creations of masters such as Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, and John Leguizamo, the "Mormon" characters are simultaneously skewed sketch figures and believable human beings. - DS

Susan Stroman, "The Scottsboro Boys." Director-choreographer Susan Stroman’s exemplary staging. - EH

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Ashford's own overblown and often extraneous dance sequences. The show ends up frenetic and dull all at the same time. - EH

Kathleen Marshall, "Anything Goes." Kathleen Marshall's sleek staging and joyous choreography recall the best of Hermes Pan and Busby Berkeley, with an expert chorus tapping, shimmying, and buck-and-winging it for all they're worth. - DS

Casey Nicholaw, "The Book of Mormon." The staging—with direction by Nicholaw and Parker and choreography by Nicholaw—strikes the perfect balance between wild lampooning and honest limning. - DS

Susan Stroman, "The Scottsboro Boys." Director-choreographer Susan Stroman’s exemplary staging. - EH

Best Orchestrations
Doug Besterman, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"
Larry Hochman, "The Scottsboro Boys"
Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus, "The Book of Mormon"
Marc Shaiman and Larry Blank, "Catch Me If You Can"

- Suzy Evans