On May 4th, the Tony Nominee’s sat down with the press to discuss their nominations and what it meant to each of them to be recognized by the Broadway community.
LAURA BENANTI (Nominated for Best Actress in a Musical: She Loves Me)
Q: What has been your favorite moment from She Loves Me?
A: Oh gosh… I would say just getting to sing in a coloratura soprano, and be funny, and have true moments of pathos and reality. It’s very rare, as a soprano, to get to be funny and spunky, so that to me is my favorite part.
Q: Would you ever return to Super Girl [TV] or are you just focusing on theatre from now on?
A: No, the thing I love about my career is that I get to go back and forth between TV and Broadway, so the next television opportunity that presents itself… yeah!….There are two things I am working on for myself, I can’t really talk about them, but one of them is a late night, variety type thing.
Q: Tell me about your book:
A: Oh yes! It’s called “I Stole Your Boyfriend and Other Monstrous Acts on My Way to Becoming a Human Woman.” And it is a comedic book of essays, it’s not prescriptive by any means, but it is kind of a cautionary tale to young women, to prioritize their female friendships, and maybe don’t marry everybody.
BILL CAMP (Nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play: The Crucible)
Q: Talk about your process with your director, Ivo Van Hove:
A: It’s been great. It is my second time working with him, so I knew what I was getting myself into…It’s a privilege to work with him, it’s very very challenging, and requires a lot.
Q: Can you talk about the relationship between The Crucible and the current political campaigns?
A: It’s not my place to make any comparisons, other than what is there. And there certainly is a lot Arthur Miller put into his play, that the ideas and the broken value systems that occur in societies, that start for whatever reason, but then end up horrifically… I don’t think that’s anything new. And I think that, yes what’s happening now in this country, things that are being said, truths and untruths, compliance of masses of people to an authority… it’s all very true. And you can’t get around it.
LIESL TOMMY (Nominated for Best Direction of a Play: Eclipsed)
Q: You are the only female director in all of the directing categories… how does that feel?
A: It’s irritating, first of all, because why in 2016 am I the only woman? And then B, just to be nominated for a Tony is pretty badass so.
Q: Do you feel as though female directors are getting enough recognition?
A: There are so many incredible voices out there. And I think what it speaks to is the same struggle women are having in the film industry. Which is that men, who are running these fields, still feel petrified at the thought of giving women control. That’s what it comes down to. And, at this point, it’s just habit. So, what I feel like we have to do, is every time we get into a room, we have to read their statistics to them…and then they can’t get angry at you, because they did it. They have to fix it themselves. The key is to not relent is constantly sharing the reality and ramifications of what these choices mean.
Q: Tell me about your process with this show.
A: It’s a dream come true. We started working on this six years ago, Danai and I. We did workshops, readings, two regional productions…and now Broadway. There is not a single moment on that stage that we haven’t brain melted over. She’s so brilliant… I think the actresses, the designers and myself feel so privileged to work on something that is so meaningful, that has so much depth.
BRANDON VICTOR DIXON (Nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Shuffle Along)
Q: What does it mean to you, to get nominated?
A: I mean, it means that the power of your work is translating and being communicated, it means that your peers recognize your dedication and your craft, and I really appreciate that. This is a community that I have wanted to be part of since I was a kid. So to be able to truly claim that, and, being doing it onstage with… Ragtime was the first musical I ever saw, in the last row in high school, with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald, he’s been my idol since then. So to be on stage with him, and to be representing them in our category, really means a great deal to me, because they all deserve to be nominated, and I am flattered and honored to carry the torch.
Q: Shuffle Along is such an important piece of theatre, especially with the climate of America today. How does it feel to be able to share this story now?
A: It’s great… I mean, art is activism, whenever you are doing something, you want to be engaged in a practice that matters. I am telling a story that has meaning to myself, and to everyone that sees it, and that is the point, that is the goal.
Jessica Lange, Steve Martin, Michelle Williams, Lupita Nyong’o, Frank Langella, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jane Krakowski, Sara Bareilles, Cynthia Erivo and Jeff Daniels were just a few of the many 2016 Tony Nominees at yesterday’s 2016 Tony Awards Meet the Nominees Press Reception at the Paramount Hotel in New York City. Additional attendees included Laura Benanti, Leslie Odom, Jr., Jonathan Groff, Danielle Brooks, Zachary Levi, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Jessie Mueller, Danny Burstein and many more from the class of 2016 Tony Award Nominees. Nominations in 24 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing’s 70th Annual Tony Awards were announced this week from the Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel in New York City.
The show will air on June 12, 2016 on CBS live from the Beacon Theater. FIJI Water will serve as the official water for the 70th Annual Tony Awards.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
