What's also so ridiculous about Peil's Supporting nomination is: Who is she supporting? ''The King and I'' was designed to be a star vehicle for Gertrude Lawrence. Anna has more songs to sing in ''The King and I'' than anyone else. The show revolves around her arc, and the King is her colorful antagonist. Lawrence won her Tony for Best Actress in a Musical as Anna, and decades later, so did Donna Murphy and Kelli O'Hara.
Despite her billing, the Tonys should've bumped Peil up to Leading Actress, and she could've competed with Leilani Jones, who was billed above the title in ''Grind.'' (It wouldn't have been the first time there were just two Tony nominees in that category.) Instead, the Tonys dumped the Leading Actress category, and bumped Jones down to Featured Actress, alongside Peil, and Evalyn Baron and Lenka Peterson, both from ''Quilters.'' |
