With the Tony Awards just a month away, Ross and I will be blogging about the individual categories and who’d we like to see win. These aren’t predictions, per se. Sometimes who we want to win might be different from who will win—like any industry awards, the Tonys are often influenced by insider politics.

Today, we’ll start with two categories, Best Orchestrations and Best Choreography.

Best Orchestrations

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

Loren’s Pick: Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris
Ross’s Pick: John Clancy, Fun Home

Loren Says: “Unfortunately, the Gershwin score of An American in Paris is ineligible for a Tony this year because it’s not necessarily “new.” But the music team from Paris is as worthy as anyone of a win in this category. The rich orchestrations at the Palace Theater is one of the main draws for this show. It’s robust, gorgeous and moving.”

Ross Says: “For me, these two categories lack some of the excitement I feel when I look at some of the other ones, but I will have to agree with Loren that there isn’t much comparison. An American in Paris does shine in this department creating a wonderfully full texture of sound and music. But I am tempted to throw my weight behind Fun Home for the simple fact that the simplicity of the show and the music carried right through to the orchestrations, and added to the emotionality of the piece for me.”

Best Choreography

The Nominees:
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

Loren’s Pick: Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Ross’s Pick: Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Loren Says: “My hero this season is Chris Wheeldon. The debut Broadway director and choreographer is a genius. An American in Paris is the very definition of a dance-ical, and at Wheeldon’s skillful hands we get a range of emotions, interesting shapes, and a meld of classical and jazz. Wheeldon has a way of interpreting the familiar Gershwin score with movement that somehow makes the music even more beautiful. After the 11th hour ‘An American in Paris’ ballet, you’re at once left smiling and breathless.”

Ross Says: “I do believe Loren has nailed it again in his assessment, but I can’t help wanting the choreography award go to Frantic Assembly and the play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This play is simply stunning and part of its beauty lies in the movement of the actors especially in the moments of abstract dance and movement. I’m not sure that a play and it’s choreographer has ever been nominated in this category before, but I’m so excited to see them included. An American in Paris was glorious but it did not move me so completely as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time did and I think the choreography played a very big role in that.”