Do we think non-gendered performance categories might be a possibility? Give out four acting awards in total for Leading Performance in a Play/ Musical and Featured Performance in a Play/ Musical. The categories would feel full of work that feels deserving of recognition, the awards would feel competitive, and it would start a conversation on WHY the categories are separated by gender in the first place.
Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical could have a worthy slate of nominees in Adrienne Warren, Elizabeth Stanley, Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo.
I’d rather see this than shoehorning Aaron Tveit into a Featured category.
I know that most people are predicting Warren will win, but, damn, I sure love Stanley in Jagged Little Pill. Not only did she have the comic timing to nail all the comic bits and the gravitas to land the dramatic scenes, it might be the most healthily, technique-based vocal performance of a rock score I've ever heard on Broadway.
