The big surprise of yesterday morning's Tony nominations had to be "Cry-Baby" beating "A Catered Affair" for the fourth nomination slot. The show has not the slightest chance of winning, but this means that it'll receive a slot to perform on the Tonys broadcast - assumedly they'll do Rob Ashford's showstopping jailhouse number from Act Two.
We all knew that "In the Heights," "Passing Strange" and "Xanadu" would receive three of the four slots. In fact, I was surprised when people hinted that "Xanadu" had only a tenuous hold on a nomination. If not "Passing Strange," "Xanadu" certainly received the most positive notices of any new musical.
So what did that leave for the final remaining slot: "A Catered Affair," "Cry-Baby," "Young Frankenstein" or "The Little Mermaid." We all thought it would go to "A Catered Affair." But as yesterday demonstrated, "Catered Affair" really got slammed by the nominators. And while I am not defending it as a great musical, it is nevertheless a very ambitious and compelling one that deserved greater recognition.
But as it happens, "A Catered Affair" is apparently doing better commercially than the nominated musicals. And "Cry-Baby" is not likely to pick up commercially. It'll close soon enough. But due to the nomination, probably not in time for "No No Nanette" to move into its theater to play a short summer run on Broadway :(
Also interesting is how split the Outer Critics and Drama Desk nominations came out in how they favored these shows. (Note: "In the Heights" was ineligible this year for these awards since it was nominated last year.) Outer Critics really favored "Young Frankenstein," while Drama Desk really favored "Catered Affair." And so I wish "Catered Affair," which I caught last night and rather enjoyed, much luck for the Drama Desk Awards, which take place on Sunday.