Tony Awards 2022 predictions: A Strange Loop, The Lehman Trilogy dominate

The 75th Annual Tony Awards is set to begin Sunday with an hour-long special called “The Tony Awards: Act One” on Paramount+ hosted by Darren Criss and Julianne Hough. The official ceremony begins immediately after on CBS at 8:00pm ET and airs live coast-to-coast.

The event will be hosted by past Tony nominee and recent Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose.

With just hours before the ceremony begins, here are some of the shows that are ahead in the race.

Also Read | Tony Awards 2022: Complete list of nominees

Last year, Jeremy O. Harris’ “Slave Play” ended up winning not one of its 12 nominations. This year, Michael R. Jackson’s musical, “A Strange Loop,” has been nominated for 11 awards, the most of any show in 2022. 

“Loop” is a set to win for best score, by Jackson. The musical’s star, Jaquel Spivey, also looks likely to win, taking the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical away from the formerly pre-ordained Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man.” At this moment, Spivey’s major competition is Myles Frost in the season’s other Michael Jackson musical, “MJ.” 

The chances for “Loop” winning Best Musical is complicated. Jackson recently gave an interview to the New York Times Magazine in which he discussed not wanting to hold “Blackout” nights for his show that included all-Black audiences.

“I just struggle with the idea that like I’m supposed to create a quote-unquote all-Black space,” he said. 

Harris, on the other hand, introduced Broadway to “Blackout” performances with “Slave Play.”

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With its gender-flipped lead character, “Company” has garnered lots of attention, especially in the wake of composer Stephen Sondheim’s death. With a cast including Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams, the starry drama “Take Me Out” is most often cited as the show to beat in the play revival category.

In a category of Broadway regulars including Billy Crystal (“Mr. Saturday Night”) and Hugh Jackman (“Music Man”), the real contenders for the lead actor trophy are: Jaquel Spivey (“A Strange Loop”) and Myles Frost (“MJ”).