Who Will Get a Nod? Broadway.com Predicts the 2014 Tony Nominees for Performances in Musicals

It’s our favorite time of year—Tony season! There’s only one more day until we find out who will be nominated for this year’s trophies, and the Broadway.com staff has spent countless hours analyzing this year’s rough competition. After days of deliberation (and a few office fistfights), we present a list of our predictions—and trust us, it wasn’t easy. We’ve created a Tony forecast, including frontrunners, hopefuls and a Broadway.com Shoutout to actors we hope the nominators will remember. Check out our Tony Awards cheat sheet for performances in musicals!

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

FRONTRUNNERS

Left to Right:
Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch — Who would’ve guessed that a transgender East German rock goddess would turn out to be the role Harris was born to play? Ecstatic reviews make the former host an instant Tony favorite.
Andy Karl, Rocky — He’s thrilling in the boxing ring, but the key to Karl’s performance as Rocky Balboa is the romantic yearning and heartfelt quest for greatness he brings to an iconic role. A knockout!
Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder — In a series of quick changes, Tony winner Mays plays eight members of the doomed D’Ysquith family, the kind of virtuoso comic juggling act Tony nominators can’t resist.

IN THE MIX

Left to Right:
Adam Jacobs, Aladdin — Saddled with a cartoon costume, Jacobs is the warm and sunny center of a huge production, winning the hearts of audiences (and Princess Jasmine) while singing and dancing with aplomb.
Steven Pasquale, The Bridges of Madison County — As the ultimate object of desire, Pasquale manages to be both sexy and self-effacing, and he and Kelli O’Hara kill Jason Robert Brown’s challenging score.
Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder — An ideal foil for the antics of co-star Jefferson Mays, Pinkham makes us root for a murderer with his debonair performance as rags-to-riches hero Monty Navarro.
Will Swenson, Les Miserables — Javert can be a thankless part, but Swenson infuses the unyielding Inspector with power and moral fervor, going toe to toe with Ramin Karimloo and making us see “Stars” in a new light.

BROADWAY.COM SHOUTOUT

Ramin Karimloo, Les Miserables — It’s hard to imagine anyone delivering a more intense, charismatic and beautifully sung Jean Valjean than Karimloo, who gives Les Miz a jolt of adrenaline and earns a Tony aisle seat.

ALSO POSSIBLE
Eric Anderson, Soul Doctor; Zach Braff, Bullets Over Broadway, Norbert Leo Butz, Big Fish; Zachary Levi, First Date



BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

FRONTRUNNERS

Left to Right:
Sutton Foster, Violet — What a gift to see Foster show a new side of her talent as Violet’s wounded yet resourceful title heroine, a moving, vanity-free performance that puts her in contention for Tony #3.
Jessie Mueller, Beautiful — Mueller channels Carole King in a way that’s believable but totally her own—and her warm and winning star turn in this hit bio musical is a shoo-in for a Tony nod.
Kelli O’Hara, The Bridges of Madison County — Will a fifth Tony nomination be the charm for O’Hara? Her acclaimed, gorgeously sung performance as lovestruck farm wife Francesca is operatic in scope.

IN THE MIX

Left to Right:
Courtney Reed, Aladdin — Spunky Princess Jasmine is brought to life by raven-haired Reed, who sings and spars charmingly with her long-suffering father, Aladdin and every other guy who crosses her path.
Michelle Williams, Cabaret — Three-time Oscar nominee Williams offers a daring take on Sally Bowles, emphasizing the singer’s kewpie-doll vulnerability and pulling out the stops in an emotional rendition of the title song.

BROADWAY.COM SHOUTOUT

Idina Menzel, If/Then — In this unusual new musical, Menzel deserves Tony love for pivoting between two versions of the same character with ease while performing diva-worthy power ballads for an adoring audience.

ALSO POSSIBLE
Mary Bridget Davies, A Night With Janis Joplin; Krysta Rodriguez, First Date




BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

FRONTRUNNERS

Left to Right:
Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway — A “star is born” performance pushes Cordero toward a Tony nod as a bodyguard with a natural gift for play doctoring and the grace to lead a Susan Stroman dance number.
Joshua Henry, Violet — Would a rural southern white woman in 1964 really fall in love with a black soldier she met on a bus? Uh, yeah, if the soldier could act and sing as gloriously as Joshua Henry.
James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin — Light on his feet and able to channel the entire Disney catalog, Iglehart’s sensational, sure-to-be-nominated Genie leads musical numbers that must be seen to be believed.

IN THE MIX

Left to Right:
Danny Burstein, Cabaret — The sweetest Herr Schultz imaginable, Burstein is superb at conveying the Jewish fruit seller’s romantic ardor and blindness to the looming danger of the Nazis in 1930 Berlin.
Jared Grimes, After Midnight — Star dancers have a history of cracking the featured actor category, and show-stopping tapper Grimes, who moves with the grace of Fred Astaire, could find himself among this year’s chosen.
Anthony Rapp, If/Then — Rapp does double duty as Idina Menzel’s nerdy BFF Lucas, falling in love with different people in the show’s two scenarios and keeping the audience involved throughout.
Bobby Steggert, Big Fish — Before his current dramatic role in Mothers and Sons, Steggert sang the role of wistful Will Bloom, who longs to reconnect with his father (Norbert Leo Butz) before it’s too late.

BROADWAY.COM SHOUTOUT

Jarrod Spector, Beautiful — Composer Barry Weil could be a one-joke (hypochondria) role, but Spector deserves awards-season love for his witty portrait of a 1950s-era man secure enough to work with strong women.

ALSO POSSIBLE
Colin Donnell, Violet; Jake Epstein, Beautiful; Hunter Foster, The Bridges of Madison County; James Snyder, If/Then




BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

FRONTRUNNERS

Left to Right:
Linda Emond, Cabaret — Forget a pineapple: It’s a Tony nomination for Emond’s quietly shattering portrayal of Frau Schneider, the landlady who turns her back on love to remain safe from the rising Nazis.
Anika Larsen, Beautiful — Larsen is pitch perfect as wisecracking songwriter Cynthia Weil, performing pop hits with gusto and painting a touching portrait of friendship with Jessie Mueller as Carole King.
Lisa O’Hare, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder — As Edwardian-era golddigger Sibella, O’Hare turns in an amusing portrait of a narcissist that’s likely to catch the eye of Tony nominators.

IN THE MIX

Left to Right:
Lena Hall, Hedwig and the Angry Inch — In a season packed with female impersonators, Hall goes the other way as Hedwig’s loyal hubby Yitzak, nailing the show’s rock score and going glam at curtain call.
Adriane Lenox, After Midnight — Bawdy, boozy Tony winner Lenox is a sassy delight singing “Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night” and more in Broadway’s re-creation of the Cotton Club.
Marin Mazzie, Bullets Over Broadway – Three-time Tony nominee Mazzie is on familiar ground as a vain diva (see: Kiss Me, Kate) and she parries perfectly with a starry ensemble as Helen “Don’t Speak” Sinclair.
Margo Seibert, Rocky — There can be no Rocky without Adrian, and newcomer Seibert shows the strength behind the character’s shyness, anchoring the show’s love story with a gorgeously sung performance.
Lauren Worsham, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder — Worsham combines an operatic soprano and off-kilter sensibility as Phoebe D’Ysquith, the only family member safe from murderous Monty Navarro.

BROADWAY.COM SHOUTOUT

Kate Baldwin, Big Fish — The calm center of this short-lived musical, Baldwin movingly conveyed love and pain as Sandra Bloom, a heroine caught between a volatile husband and wounded son.

ALSO POSSIBLE
Fantasia Barrino, After Midnight; Amber Iman, Soul Doctor; Nikki M. James, Les Miserables; LaChanze, If/Then; Caissie Levy, Les Miserables; Cass Morgan, The Bridges of Madison County; Helene Yorke, Bullets Over Broadway