Can ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ claim a trio of acting wins at the 2024 Tony Awards?
The actors from the current revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s “Merrily We Roll Along” have skyrocketed in Gold Derby’s combined odds for the 2024 Tony Awards nominations. The prediction center displays commanding leads for Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe to win their respective categories. This is an understandable result considering this revival is the hottest ticket in town and this trio of performers has been ever-present in the media. But how often does a trio of actors from the same production pull off three separate acting victories at the Tony Awards?
It’s quite common for a musical to grab two acting trophies, but three awards is much rarer. To date, only 15 musical productions have earned three acting wins. The first time this feat occurred was at the 1956 ceremony, which was ironically the first time the Tony Awards ever announced a slate of nominees (previously they only unveiled the winners). “Damn Yankees” was the big winner that night with trophies handed out to leads Gwen Verdon and Ray Winston, and a featured prize for Russ Brown.
Other acting trifectas soon followed. In 1958 “The Music Man” snatched a lead prize for Robert Preston and featured wins for David Burns and Barbara Cook. Then Richard Kiley and Gwen Verdon (again!) earned lead wins for “Redhead” in 1959, while Leonard Stone picked up the featured actor award (in a rare tie with Russell Nype for “Goldilocks”). The 1960s and 1970s only presented one triple play apiece. 1966 saw “Mame” win for Angela Lansbury, Bea Arthur and Frankie Michaels. “A Chorus Line” was next in 1976 with victories for Donna McKechnie, Kelly Bishop, and Sammy Williams.
The frequency of these winning trifectas began to increase in the 1980s. “Dreamgirls” (1982) won for Jennifer Holliday, Ben Harney and Cleavant Derricks. “Jerome Robbins Broadway” (1989) picked up victories for Jason Alexander, Debbie Shapiro and Scott Wise. “Miss Saigon” (1991) won for Lea Salonga, Jonathan Pryce and Hinton Battle. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993) won for Chita Rivera, Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello. The 1998 revival of “Cabaret” won for Alan Cumming, Natasha Richardson and Ron Rifkin. “The Producers” (2001) was victorious with Nathan Lane, Gary Beach and Cady Huffman. “Hairspray” (2003) won for Harvey Fierstein, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Dick Latessa. The 2008 revival of “Gypsy” won for Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines. “Hamilton” (2016) won for Leslie Odom Jr., Renee Elise Goldsberry and Daveed Diggs. Most recently “The Band’s Visit” (2018) picked up wins for Katrina Lenk, Tony Shalhoub and Ari’el Stachel.
There is one musical which has them all beat. At the 4th Annual Tony Awards in 1950, “South Pacific” claimed all four acting prizes for Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza, Myron McCormick and Juanita Hall. There were no nominees at this early ceremony, just the announcement of the winners. But to this date no other musical has ever been able to win all four acting categories.
SEE Maria Friedman: From ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ leading lady to director
“Merrily We Roll Along” can’t match “South Pacific” as it has no lead actress contender, but it could certainly become the 16th tuner with a trio of acting winners. Jonathan Groff is the current favorite for Lead Actor in a Musical. He was previously nominated for “Spring Awakening” and “Hamilton” but is still searching for his first Tony win. Lindsay Mendez is the only past winner of the “Merrily” cast, having prevailed for the 2018 revival of “Carousel.” She will aim for the Featured Actress in a Musical award once again, with the majority of our users believing she will pull off a second victory.
Then there’s Daniel Radcliffe, who is poised to break his Tonys curse according to our prediction center. Despite four previous Broadway outings which earned him stellar reviews and three Drama Desk Awards, the Tony Awards have cruelly snubbed him each time. The buzz surrounding “Merrily” combined with his impressive patter song “Franklin Shepard, INC” are likely what has convinced our prognosticators that he will not only earn his first Tony nomination, but ultimately win.
Recent history suggests that we should see a single production claim three acting trophies about two or three times per decade. The 2020s have yet to feature such a trifecta and it’s hard to imagine a better candidate to break this overdue statistic than “Merrily We Roll Along.”
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