Chita hadn't even been nominated for West Side Story, and lost for Bye Bye Birdie, and also wasn't nominated for Bajour.
Gwen had won for Can-Can, Damn Yankees, New Girl in Town, and Redhead, with a nom also for Sweet Charity.
While this show was Gwen's baby, and happened entirely because of her, and for her, and was tailored for her, and kind of a summation and last hurrah for her incredible talents and career... it was by no means the first time a show had been created around her specific talents and star quality, nor had she been under-recognized by the Tonys prior.
I can't imagine having to choose, and I could see many wanting to vote for Gwen and many wanting to vote for Chita. Ideally it would have been a tie, with Donna in Featured where she belonged. I still find it fascinating that Kelly BIshop managed to win Featured against Priscilla Lopez who has TWO full stand out songs in the show while Kelly has 1/3 of one - though her lines and her delivery were extremely memorable, so were Lopez's. I love them both, but seems unevenly matched. Donna would have beat them all though. |
