2015 Tony Award Predictions

Hurray! It's Tony Awards weekend!!! I have Sunday's menu planned, the specialty cocktail selected, and most importantly, my picks for this year's winners.

Tonight my kids and I had fun going through the list of nominees and picking our favorites. Now that's what I call quality family time. :) My boys put some serious thought into their decisions, struggling over whether a play with a puppet sounds better than a play with the word "Dog" or "Wolf" in the title. That's a tough choice for a 5- and 7-year-old to make! We're all looking forward to tallying up our scores tomorrow night to see how many we picked correctly!

My boys and I had fun filling out this year's Tony Awards ballot!

I've listed my picks below, and I have to say I think it's going to be a good night with a few surprises. I think Curious Incident is going to dominate the play category, with Hand to God coming in a close second. As for musicals, I think it's going to be a three-way toss up between Fun Home, Something Rotten!, and An American in Paris all bringing in several awards. We'll see!

* My pick for the winners

Play
* The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens
Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar
Hand to God by Robert Askins
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two by Hilary Mantel and Mike Poulton

Musical
An American in Paris
* Fun Home
Something Rotten!
The Visit

Book of a Musical
An American in Paris - Craig Lucas
Fun Home - Lisa Kron
* Something Rotten! - Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell
The Visit - Terrence McNally

Score
Fun Home, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: Lisa Kron
* The Last Ship, Music & Lyrics: Sting
Something Rotten!, Music & Lyrics: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
The Visit, Music: John Kander, Lyrics, Fred Ebb

Play Revival
The Elephant Man
Skylight
* This Is Our Youth
You Can't Take It with You

Musical Revival
The King and I
* On the Town
On the Twentieth Century

Actor (Play)
Steven Boyer, Hand to God
Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Ben Miles, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Bill Nighy, Skylight
* Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Actress (Play)
Geneva Carr, Hand to God
* Helen Mirren, The Audience
Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles
Carey Mulligan, Skylight
Ruth Wilson, Constellations

Actor (Musical)
Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris
* Brian d'Arcy James, Something Rotten!
Ken Watanabe, The King and I
Tony Yazbeck, On the Town

Actress (Musical)
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris
Beth Malone, Fun Home
Kelli O'Hara, The King and I
* Chita Rivera, The Visit

Featured Actor (Play)
Matthew Beard, Skylight
K.Todd Freeman, Airline Highway
Richard McCabe, The Audience
Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man
* Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Micah Stock, It's Only a Play

Featured Actress (Play)
Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take it with You
Patricia Clarkson, The Elephant Man
Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
* Sarah Stiles, Hand to God
Julie White, Airline Highway

Featured Actor (Musical)
* Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!
Brandon Uranowitz, An American in Paris
Max von Essan, An American in Paris

Featured Actress (Musical)
Victoria Clark, Gigi
Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
* Sydney Lucas, Fun Home
Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Emily Skeggs, Fun Home

Scenic Design (Play)
* Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Bob Crowley, Skylight
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Rockwell, You Can't Take it with You

Scenic Design (Musical)
* Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris
David Rockwell, On the Twentieth Century
Michael Yeargan, The King and I
David Zinn, Fun Home

Costume Design (Play)
Bob Crowley, The Audience
Janea Greenwood, You Can't Take it with You
* Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Zinn, Airline Highway

Costume Design (Musical)
Gregg Barnes, Something Rotten!
Bob Crowley, An American in Paris
William Ivey Long, On the Twentieth Century
* Catherine Zuber, The King and I

Lighting Design (Play)
* Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Paule Constable and David Plater, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Natasha Katz, Skylight
Japhy Weideman, Airline  Highway

Lighting Design (Musical)
Donald Holder, The King and I
Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
* Ben Stanton, Fun Home
Japhy Weideman, The Visit

Direction (Play)
Stephen Daldry, Skylight
* Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Scott Ellis, You Can't Take it with You
Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Hand to God

Direction (Musical)
* Sam Gold, Fun Home
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
John Rando, On the Town
Bartlett Sher, The King and I
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, On the Town
Christopher Gattelli, The King and I
Scott Graham & Steven  Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
* Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Orchestrations
* Christopher Austin, Dan Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris
John Clancy, Fun Home
Larry Hochman, Something Rotten!
Rob Mathes, The Last Ship

If you'd like to fill out your own ballot, you can print one out through the Tony Awards website at http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/2015_Printable_Ballot.pdf.

2015 Tony Awards Nominee Predictions

The snow has all melted. The trees and flowers are starting to bloom. Robins are searching for the perfect nesting place. All this can only mean one thing... It's Tony Awards season!

At 8:30am tomorrow (April 28), Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker will co-host this year's Tony nominations announcement in a live webcast. And before the nominees are revealed, I like to make my predictions of which productions I think will be up for nomination this year.

Starting with the category of Best Play, here are the shows I predict will hear their names called tomorrow morning:

• The Audience
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
• Disgraced
• Hand-to-God
• Wolf Hall Parts One & Two

Here are my picks in the category of Best Musical:

• Finding Neverland
• Fun Home
• It Shoulda Been You
• Something Rotten
• The Visit

In the category of Best Revival of a Play, my picks are:

• The Elephant Man
• It's Only a Play
• Love Letters
• This Is Our Youth

And finally, in the category of Best Revival of a Musical, I'm betting on:

• On the Town
• On the Twentieth Century
• Side Show

What are your thoughts? Have you seen any shows that you're sure will get nominated (or win!) this year?

For a complete list of eligible productions or information on tuning into the live announcement tomorrow morning, please visit the Tony Awards website.

Central PA Man Attends 2014 Tony Awards

On Sunday evening, most central PA theatre fans were huddled in front of their TVs, eyes glued to the Tony Awards, waiting in anticipation to see who of Broadway's finest would take home one of the coveted awards. Would Audra McDonald make Tony Award history by winning her sixth Tony Award? Would four-time past Tony host Neil Patrick Harris take home a Tony of his own? Which show would win the prestigious title of Best Musical?

But one central PA theatre professional was a little bit closer to the Broadway action.

Dennis Norton, who handles the programming for the Hershey Theatre, just completed his first year as a judge for the Tony Awards, and on Sunday he had the opportunity to attend his first Tony Awards ceremony. Dennis joined over 6,000 other members of the theatre community at Radio City Music Hall in New York City to celebrate the best of the best on Broadway.

Upon arriving at Radio City Music Hall just before 6:00pm, Dennis was immediately impressed. "Seeing 6,000 people dressed to the nines was a very emotional experience," he said. He also stated that, "The operational aspect was amazing in itself," noting that the way Radio City Music Hall handled moving so many people through its theatre was very impressive. Since it was a live event, the doors were locked at 7:00pm, and there was absolutely no late seating.

Dennis was one of approximately 6,000 people who attended the 2014 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall.

As for the ceremony itself, it didn't disappoint. Dennis described the evening as an "emotional roller coaster," pointing out the variety of emotions in the evening's performances, from the suffering in Les Misérables, to the upbeat Aladdin, to the inspiring story of Beautiful - The Carol King Musical. "Each Broadway show comes with its own very emotional experience," he said. "It was like looking through a photo book of emotions."

One of the things Dennis found interesting was watching the audience respond to each award. He very quickly realized that there were groups of people from each show seated together, and it was easy to tell who was with each show. Dennis happened to be seated near a group with the musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which ended up winning the Tony Award for Best Musical. While this was one of the most anticipated awards, the whole evening was really a celebration Dennis said. "Just being present to witness this celebration was such a thrill."

Dennis was thrilled to be a part of this year's Tony Awards, which proved to be an evening filled with emotion and celebration.

Through his programming role with Hershey Theatre, Dennis is a member of The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry. The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing are the presenters of the Tony Awards, so through Dennis's affiliation with the League, he is able to serve as a judge. In order to vote in a category, a judge must have seen every production in that category. This year, Dennis was qualified to vote for 11 out of 26 categories.

Though this year's Tony Awards are over, Dennis said that work on next year's Awards is already beginning. Holler if Ya Hear Me, a musical based on the music of Tupac Shukar, opens next week and will be the first musical of the 2015 Tony Awards season.

Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, together with the M.S. Hershey Foundation, is dedicated to continuing Milton Hershey's legacy through the Hershey Theatre by presenting Broadway in Central PA. For more information on the Hershey Theatre and upcoming performances, please visit www.hersheytheatre.com.

And the 2014 Tony Awards Go To...

The curtain has gone down. The red carpet is all rolled up. And the Tony Awards are over until next year.

Last week I made my predictions of who would go home with a Tony Award. Out of 26 categories, I got 12 right, and I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with that result considering this was my first time making picks!

Here's a rundown of the results (the asterisks indicate my picks and the italics indicate the winners):

Musical
After Midnight
Aladdin
Beautiful: The Carol King Musical
*A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Play
Act One
All the Way
Casa Valentina
*Mothers and Sons
Outside Mullinger

Musical Revival
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Les Miserables
*Violet

Play Revival
The Cripple of an Inishmaan
The Glass Menagerie
A Raisin in the Sun
*Twelfth Night

Actor (Musical)
*Neil Patrick Harris (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
Ramin Karimloo (Les Miserables)
Andy Karl (Rocky)
Jefferson Mays (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder)
Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder)

Actress (Musical)
Mary Bridget Davies (A Night with Janis Joplin)
Sutton Foster (Violet)
Idina Menzel (If/Then)
*Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carol King Musical)
Kelli O'Hara (The Bridges of Madison County)

Actor (Play)
Samuel Barnett (Twelfth Night)
Bryan Cranston (All the Way)
*Chris O'Dowd (Of Mice and Men)

Mark Rylance (Richard III)

Tony Shalhoub (Act One)

Actress (Play)

Tyne Daly (Mothers and Sons)

LaTanya Richardson Jackson (A Raisin in the Sun)

Cherry Jones (The Glass Menagerie)

*Audra McDonald (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill)

Estelle Parsons (The Velocity of Autumn)

Featured Actor (Musical)

Danny Burstein (Cabaret)

Nick Cordero (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

Joshua Henry (Violet)

*James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin)

Jarrod Spector (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Featured Actress (Musical)

*Linda Emond (Cabaret)

Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Anika Larsen (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Adriane Lenox (After Midnight)

Lauren Worsham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Featured Actor (Play)

Reed Birney (Casa Valentina)

Paul Chahidi (Twelfth Night)

Stephen Fry (Twelfth Night)

Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night)

*Brian J. Smith (The Glass Menagerie)

Featured Actress (Play)

Sarah Greene (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Glass Menagerie)

Sophie Okonedo (A Raisin in the Sun)

*Anika Noni Rose (A Raisin in the Sun)

Mare Winningham (Casa Valentina)

Score

Aladdin (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin)

*The Bridges of Madison County (Jason Robert Brown)

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman)

If/Then (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey)

Book of a Musical

*Aladdin (Chad Beguelin)

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Douglas McGrath)

Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical (Woody Allen)

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Robert L. Freedman)

Direction (Musical)

Warren Carlyle (After Midnight)

Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Leigh Silverman (Violet)

*Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Direction (Play)

*Tim Carroll (Twelfth Night)

Michael Grandage (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun)

John Tiffany (The Glass Menagerie)

Choreography

*Warren Carlyle (After Midnight)

Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine (Rocky)

Casey Nicholaw (Aladdin)

Susan Stroman (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

Orchestrations

Doug Besterman (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

*Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County)

Steve Sidwell (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Jonathan Tunick (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Scenic Design (Musical)

*Christopher Barreca (Rocky)

Julian Crouch (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Alexander Dodge (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Santo Loquasto (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

Scenic Design (Play)

Beowulf Boritt (Act One)

Bob Crowley (The Glass Menagerie)

Es Devlin (Machinal)

*Christopher Oram (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Costume Design (Musical)

Linda Cho (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

William Ivey Long (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

*Arianne Phillips (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Isabel Toledo (After Midnight)

Costume Design (Play)

Jane Greenwood (Act One)

Michael Krass (Machinal)

Rita Ryack (Casa Valentina)

*Jenny Tiramani (Twelfth Night)

Sound Design (Musical)

Peter Hylenski (After Midnight)

Tim O'Heir (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

*Mick Potter (Les Misérables)

Brian Ronan (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Sound Design (Play)

Alex Baranowski (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Steve Canyon Kennedy (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill)

Dan Moses Schreier (Act One)

*Matt Tierney (Machinal)

Lighting Design (Musical)

Kevin Adams (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

*Christopher Akerlind (Rocky)

Howell Binkley (After Midnight)

Donald Holder (The Bridges of Madison County)

Lighting Design (Play)

Paule Constable (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Jane Cox (Machinal)

*Natasha Katz (The Glass Menagerie)

Japhy Weideman (Of Mice and Men)

My 2014 Tony Award Predictions

It's almost time for the 2014 Tony Awards! That means it's time for theatre-obsessed folks like myself to make our best guesses as to who will go home with one of the shiny statues on Sunday night.

As I was going through the 26 categories making my picks, I couldn't help but feel like I was back in high school taking one of those dreaded multiple choice tests (or as I liked to refer to them, "multiple guess" tests). For almost every category, I was really torn between two choices. Since I was forced to make only one pick for each category, I am now left feeling the same uncertainty that I always felt after those tests. And if the results are anything like my high school test results, the winner will probably be the one that I didn't choose (especially for those ones where I went back and changed my answer!).

In particular, I found the categories of Musical Revival, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, and Score to have extremely tough match-ups. I probably changed my picks 10 times for these categories. But the good thing about tough match-ups is that it means there is a ton of talent on Broadway this year (which sadly isn't always the case).

So since the school bell is ringing, I guess it's time to put my pencil down and turn in my test. We'll find out my score on Sunday night!

Musical
After Midnight
Aladdin
Beautiful: The Carol King Musical
*A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Play
Act One
All the Way
Casa Valentina
*Mothers and Sons
Outside Mullinger

Musical Revival
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Les Miserables
*Violet

Play Revival
The Cripple of an Inishmaan
The Glass Menagerie
A Raisin in the Sun
*Twelfth Night

Actor (Musical)
*Neil Patrick Harris (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
Ramin Karimloo (Les Miserables)
Andy Karl (Rocky)
Jefferson Mays (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder)
Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder)

Actress (Musical)
Mary Bridget Davies (A Night with Janis Joplin)
Sutton Foster (Violet)
Idina Menzel (If/Then)
*Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carol King Musical)
Kelli O'Hara (The Bridges of Madison County)

Actor (Play)
Samuel Barnett (Twelfth Night)
Bryan Cranston (All the Way)
*Chris O'Dowd (Of Mice and Men)

Mark Rylance (Richard III)

Tony Shalhoub (Act One)

Actress (Play)

Tyne Daly (Mothers and Sons)

LaTanya Richardson Jackson (A Raisin in the Sun)

Cherry Jones (The Glass Menagerie)

*Audra McDonald (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill)

Estelle Parsons (The Velocity of Autumn)

Featured Actor (Musical)

Danny Burstein (Cabaret)

Nick Cordero (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

Joshua Henry (Violet)

*James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin)

Jarrod Spector (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Featured Actress (Musical)

*Linda Emond (Cabaret)

Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Anika Larsen (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Adriane Lenox (After Midnight)

Lauren Worsham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Featured Actor (Play)

Reed Birney (Casa Valentina)

Paul Chahidi (Twelfth Night)

Stephen Fry (Twelfth Night)

Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night)

*Brian J. Smith (The Glass Menagerie)

Featured Actress (Play)

Sarah Greene (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Glass Menagerie)

Sophie Okonedo (A Raisin in the Sun)

*Anika Noni Rose (A Raisin in the Sun)

Mare Winningham (Casa Valentina)

Score

Aladdin (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin)

*The Bridges of Madison County (Jason Robert Brown)

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman)

If/Then (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey)

Book of a Musical

*Aladdin (Chad Beguelin)

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Douglas McGrath)

Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical (Woody Allen)

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Robert L. Freedman)

Direction (Musical)

Warren Carlyle (After Midnight)

Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Leigh Silverman (Violet)

*Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Direction (Play)

*Tim Carroll (Twelfth Night)

Michael Grandage (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun)

John Tiffany (The Glass Menagerie)

Choreography

*Warren Carlyle (After Midnight)

Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine (Rocky)

Casey Nicholaw (Aladdin)

Susan Stroman (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

Orchestrations

Doug Besterman (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

*Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County)

Steve Sidwell (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Jonathan Tunick (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Scenic Design (Musical)

*Christopher Barreca (Rocky)

Julian Crouch (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Alexander Dodge (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

Santo Loquasto (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

Scenic Design (Play)

Beowulf Boritt (Act One)

Bob Crowley (The Glass Menagerie)

Es Devlin (Machinal)

*Christopher Oram (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Costume Design (Musical)

Linda Cho (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder)

William Ivey Long (Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical)

*Arianne Phillips (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Isabel Toledo (After Midnight)

Costume Design (Play)

Jane Greenwood (Act One)

Michael Krass (Machinal)

Rita Ryack (Casa Valentina)

*Jenny Tiramani (Twelfth Night)

Sound Design (Musical)

Peter Hylenski (After Midnight)

Tim O'Heir (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

*Mick Potter (Les Misérables)

Brian Ronan (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical)

Sound Design (Play)

Alex Baranowski (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Steve Canyon Kennedy (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill)

Dan Moses Schreier (Act One)

*Matt Tierney (Machinal)

Lighting Design (Musical)

Kevin Adams (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

*Christopher Akerlind (Rocky)

Howell Binkley (After Midnight)

Donald Holder (The Bridges of Madison County)

Lighting Design (Play)

Paule Constable (The Cripple of Inishmaan)

Jane Cox (Machinal)

*Natasha Katz (The Glass Menagerie)

Japhy Weideman (Of Mice and Men)

Well, this has been fun (in an end-of-school-year-this-was-my-last-final kind of way). To make your own Tony picks, The NY Times has a great ballot you can use.

And make sure to tune in to The Tony Awards on CBS on Sunday at 8:00pm!

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From A Broadway Contest

When I entered NewYork.com's Ultimate Broadway Fan contest, I honestly didn't expect to ever hear anything about the contest again. Sure I hoped I would win - that's why I entered! I mean, the prize included round trip transportation to NYC, a two-nights stay at the Crowne Plaza hotel, chauffeur service to/from the hotel, and dinner at NYY Steak. Oh, and did I mention tickets to the Tony Awards rehearsal?! So what did I have to lose?

But come one, I was one of thousands of people who submitted a photo portraying why they are Broadway's biggest fan, so really what were my chances?

Actually, it turns out that my chances were better than I expected. When the first round of the contest ended, I was notified that I was one of 30 finalists to go on to the next round of the contest!

When I found out I was a finalist to win this Broadway lover's dream prize, you can bet I was prepared to go to war. I mean, tickets to the Tony Awards rehearsal were enough to get me on board... The rest was just icing on the cake.

So go to war is what I did. For 10 days straight, I put everything I had into this contest, working 24 hours a day, neglecting my family and house, and persistently annoying all of my friends, all to try to win a contest. (Who does that?) It was an extremely exhausting 10 days, which I'm glad are now over.

(Bonus points if you can name the musicals that these photos are from!)

Sadly, all I had just wasn't enough. It basically came down to a popularity contest, and, well, I've never really been the popular kid. Ultimately I think I came in 4th place, which if you think about it really isn't too shabby out of thousands of entrants.

Now that the contest has ended, I've spent some time reflecting on my experience. Here's what I've learned:

1. I have amazing friends and family. Ok, so I pretty much knew this already, but this contest only reinforced this fact. I had friends and family voting every hour of every day. I had a friend voting in the middle of the night while feeding her baby. I had a friend set her alarm to remind her to vote every hour. I had a friend vote from a stepper at the gym. And I had friends sharing my photo like crazy! Hey, just because I'm not Ms. Popular, doesn't mean I don't have great friends.

2. People can be surprising. In a good way. Some of the people who were the most supportive of me were people who I really don't see much. Friends from high school. Parents of friends from high school. People I haven't talked to (other than Facebook) in years. People I've only met a few times. I was amazed at the support that showed up in the most unexpected places.

3. I really AM Broadway's biggest fan. Again, this is another one that I already knew. But the amount of time, energy and resources I used on this contest has left me with no question of this fact. I'm just not Broadway's most popular fan.

4. I am never entering another contest like this again. Ever! (So any friends who may have blocked me during this contest, feel free to unblock me so that you can go back to seeing my other awesome posts about what I ate for breakfast or what one of my kids shoved up his nose. I guarantee there will be no more begging for votes!) Some day I will make it to see the Tony Awards and/or the rehearsal. It's definitely a bucket list item. Maybe I'll win the lottery. Maybe I'll win another kind of contest. But a contest like this just isn't going to be the way for me to get there.

Now that this contest is behind me (us), I can rest easy knowing I did everything I could and tried my best. Lots of contestants gave up in the first few days after one contestant took a substantial lead early in the contest. Others obviously stopped trying about half way through when previously mentioned contestant took an even bigger lead. But I kept on going. I put every ounce of energy into this contest, clinging to the hope that somehow enough people would get on board and I would have a huge comeback. There were a few times when I thought I stood a chance. But I just didn't have the connections and amount of social media followers that the winner has.

And let's not forget one of the best things to come out of this contest. I'm happy to have had the chance to partner with the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. I hope that you will consider joining a team to walk or making a contribution of your own. The true fighters are the people fighting monsters like cancer...not the ones fighting to win a contest.

For anyone still reading who helped me by voting, sharing the link/photo, tweeting, contacting people you thought could help, or just encouraging me, thank you just isn't enough. I really have no words to express my gratitude for all the support I received during this contest. I feel like I've let a lot of people down by not winning, as I know there were a lot of people rooting for me, and even several people who invested almost as much time as I did into this contest. I'm sorry I couldn't pull off the win, and I truly appreciate every single person who helped me get as far as I did. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Help Send Me to the Tony Awards!

Please vote for my photo to  help me win a trip to the Tony Awards rehearsal!

If voting by phone: http://bit.ly/SendKimToTheTonys

If voting by computer: www.newyork.com/ultimatefancontest

And then click "VOTE" for this photo:

 

Thank you for your help! Read on for more of the story... :)

Last week I was doing a quick email check. I was prepared for my usual ritual of deleting about 50 spam emails and catching up on one or two emails from friends and family. But as soon as I logged in to my account, my eyes were immediately drawn to one particular email. It wasn't from any of my friends. It wasn't from any of my family members. It wasn't even spam.

It was from the team at NewYork.com. This email wasn't just any email. This was an email congratulating me on being a finalist for the "Ultimate Broadway Fan Contest," which I entered a few weeks ago!

Now, you might be thinking that this doesn't really sound like a big deal. It's just a silly contest, right? Wrong!

The winner of this contest will receive a two-night stay at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Times Square, a free dinner for two provided by NYY Steak, and roundtrip airfare for two (complete with limo transportation to and from the airport/hotel, provided by ExecuCar). Oh, and did I mention it includes two tickets to the Tony Awards Rehearsal, provided by the Broadway League? Yes, you read that right... Tickets to see the rehearsal for THE TONY AWARDS!!!!

So that's why I freaked out just a little bit when I found out I am a finalist to win this prize package. Ok, maybe I freaked out a lot. Ok fine, I did a ridiculously embarrassing happy dance and screamed like a 12-year-old girl at a One Direction concert.

Anyone who wanted to enter the contest had to submit a photo stating why they are Broadway's Biggest Fan. Here's what I submitted:

Yes, I used my kids. No, I don't feel guilty about it.

My photo was one of 30 selected as a finalist. But now the hard part starts. It's basically a popularity contest at this point, with the photos displayed for voting at www.newyork.com/ultimatefancontest. Whichever photo receives the most votes by 5pm EST on Friday, May 16 will be the winning photo. And that person will get to go to the rehearsal for the Tony Awards, along with all the other perks mentioned above!

So I have to resort to begging here. Please vote for my photo! Please? I'm completely batting my eyelashes at you and giving you my dazzling smile right now. Is it working?

You can vote once an hour for the entire duration of the contest, so please vote as often as you can. This would absolutely be the experience of a lifetime for an extreme Broadway enthusiast like myself!

Over the next 10 days, I plan to have no shame. I'll be on my hands and knees begging for votes. Just think how happy these two little boys will be if their mommy got to go to the Tony Awards rehearsal! (Yes, I'm using my kids again. No, I still don't feel guilty about it.)

Thank you in advance for your support and helping me over the next week and a half!!!

My Tony Nominee Predictions

If you're reading this or if you're a follower of my blog, I'm guessing you've figured out that I love theatre and all things Broadway. But you may not know that I'm also a big football fan (Go Steelers!!).

Every year, Chad and I throw a Superbowl party. We look forward to the day of the Big Game, when we can gather all our friends and root for which team we want to win.

Our Superbowl party tradition of half-time Jell-O shots has been going strong for 10 years now!

If you're a Broadway fan yourself, then you know that the Tony Awards® are basically the Superbowl of Broadway. Just like I had my calendar marked for the Superbowl back in February, I have a nice big red circle on Sunday, June 8, when Broadway's best will be awarded with one of these well-deserved coveted statues.

No big deal... only a Tony award!

But before we find out who will take home a Tony, we first need to find out who will be nominated... And that happens TOMORROW!

Tomorrow morning, starting at 8:30am, past Tony-nominee Jonathan Groff, along with actress Lucy Liu, will announce the nominations for the American Theatre Wing's 2014 Tony Awards®. It's basically the NFL Draft of Broadway, and I can't wait!

I'm anxious to find out who this year's nominees will be, and I thought I'd have a little fun by making some predictions of my own. So without further ado, here are my predictions of which plays and musicals will hear their name called tomorrow morning:

Best Play Nominee Predictions
Bronx Bombers
Casa Valentina
Mothers and Sons
Outside Mullingar

Best Musical Nominee Predictions
Aladdin
The Bridges of Madison County
If/Then
Rocky

A few of these shows I'm almost certain will receive a nomination... But there were a few tough calls, and I had to leave out a few that I still think stand a good chance of receiving a nomination. There were some great shows this year, so I can't wait to find out how my predictions pan out!

There will be a total of 26 categories announced tomorrow, but I thought I'd keep it short and sweet and just predict these two categories for now. (Come on, did you really feel like reading 26 predictions from little old me? I mean, by the time you finished reading all that, the nominations would probably be over!)

I'll also be making my predictions for the winners once the nominees have been announced and closer to June 8, so stay tuned! Until then, I'll be anxiously awaiting tomorrow morning to see which players are drafted to Broadway's all-star team in hopes of taking home a Tony in a few weeks.