Playbill.com asked our readers to join the dialogue and vote for whom they would like to take home the coveted Tony Awards. Through our non-scientific, strictly-for-fun poll via PollDaddy.com, Playbill.com readers were able to vote for their favorites — in categories including Leading Actress and Actor in a Musical, Leading Actress and Actor in a Play, Featured Actress and Actor in a Musical, Featured Actress and Actor in a Play, Best Choreography, Best Direction of a Play and Musical, Best Revival of a Play and Musical, and Best Musical and Best Play — from May 16-June 5. Read the complete list of voters' picks here.
Read Playbill.com's complete coverage of the Tony Awards here.
Click through to compare the poll results to the Tony winners and see how accurate our readers' predictions were.
Photo by Joan Marcus |
Readers picked Kelli O'Hara for her performance as Francesca in The Bridges of Madison County, but the Tony went to first-time winner Jessie Mueller, who stars as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Watch Mueller in performance here. Read Playbill.com's Diva Talk column with Mueller here.
Photo by Joan Marcus |
Our readers chose Ramin Karimloo, who stars as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, but the award went to Neil Patrick Harris, who returned to Broadway for the first time in ten years to star in the title role of the cult-rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Read Playbill.com's interview with Harris here.
Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva |
Readers were spot-on when they picked Audra McDonald as Best Actress; she took home her sixth Tony Award for her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. Read about McDonald making Tony Awards history here.
Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva |
In his Broadway debut, "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, a victory that Playbill.com readers predicted. Cranston stars as President Lyndon B. Johnson in the history play All The Way. Read Playbill.com's interview with Cranston, on coming to the stage after years on screen, here.
Photo by Joan Marcus |
Lena Hall's gender-bending rock performance as Yitzhak in the Broadway premiere of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's Hedwig and the Angry Inch won the actress her first Tony Award, an honor that Playbill.com readers had predicted. Read Playbill.com's interview with Hall here.
Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann |
Readers selected James Monroe Iglehart as the winner for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, and Iglehart indeed took home the Tony Award for for his energetic performance as the Genie in Aladdin. Read Iglehart's Cue & A with Playbill.com here.
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN |
Celia Keenan-Bolger's performance as Laura in the revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie was the readers' pick for Best Featured Actress, but the award went home with Sophie Okonedo for her Broadway debut in the Kenny Leon-helmed A Raisin in the Sun. Read Playbill.com's interview with Okonedo here.
Photo by Joan Marcus |
Mark Rylance's performance as Olivia in the all-male production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night was the readers' pick for Best Featured Actor, and the Tony voters agreed, awarding Rylance with his third Tony Award June 8. Read Playbill.com's interview with Rylance on making Tony Awards history here.
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A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder was the clear pick for Best Musical from Playbill.com readers. The musical by writing/composing team Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak, which was inspired by the book "Kind Hearts and Coronets," follows the unlikely hero Monty Navarro, who upon learning he is a distant relative of a wealthy family, systematically sets about murdering the eight relatives who stand between him and the family fortune. A Gentleman's Guide won the Tony for Best Musical June 8. Read the Playbill.com interview with the writers of Gent's Guide here.
Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva |
Robert Schenkkan's All The Way was the top choice by readers and voters, taking home the Tony Award for Best Play just as readers predicted it would. Directed by Bill Rauch, artistic director of the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, All The Way features Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") in a star turn as LBJ, providing an inside look at the beginning of his presidency.
Photo by Joan Marcus |
The 1998 John Cameron Mitchell/Stephen Trask cult-hit rock musical about East German transgender rock singer Hedwig was readers' top choice for Best Musical Revival. Hedwig, which was called "the best rock musical ever!" by Rolling Stone, took home the Tony for Best Musical Revival June 8. Read Playbill.com's interview with director Michael Mayer to get the scoop about bringing Hedwig to Broadway.
Photo by Brigitte Lacombe |
The Glass Menagerie, the star-studded revival of Tennessee Williams' memory play, was readers' top choice for Best Revival, but the Tony went to the Kenny Leon-helmed production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, which features Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Sophie Okonedo and Anika Noni Rose as the Younger family.
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN |
Readers were dead-on in picking Darko Tresnjak, who made his Broadway debut directing A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. The fast-paced, funny musical took home four Tony Awards June 8, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Costume Design and Best Direction of a Musical.
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN |
John Tiffany was the readers' top choice for his atmospheric revival of The Glass Menagerie, but the Tony went to Kenny Leon, who helmed his second revival of A Raisin in the Sun in ten years. Leon has also directed August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, Radio Golf and Fences, and his upcoming production of Holler If Ya Hear Me opens on Broadway June 19. Read Playbill.com's interview with director Kenny Leon here.
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN |
Readers picked Warren Carlyle for After Midnight for Best Choreography, and they were correct. A former dancer, Carlyle's choreography has been all over Broadway the last few years, notably in Eric Schaeffer's 2011 production of Follies, for which Carlyle garnered a Drama Desk Award nomination, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and A Christmas Story, The Musical! Check out Playbill's Booking It! Feature on Carlyle here.