Lobby Hero (2018)

deadline.com/2018/04/new-york-drama-desk-nominations-broadway-harry-potter-mean-girls-angels-in-america-complete-list-1202366975/

Broadway’s ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Mean Girls’, ‘Angels In America’ Among Drama League Award Nominees – Complete List

The 2018 Broadway and Off-Broadway nominees were announced in the categories of Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the Distinguished Performance Award. The nominations were announced this morning by Tony Award winners Harriet Harris, Julie White and nominee Christopher Sieber.

The 84th Annual Drama League Awards, the oldest theatrical honors in America, will be held Friday, May 18, 11:30 am at the Marriott Marquis Times Square.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
Animal
Written by Clare Lizzimore
Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch
Atlantic Theater Company

Hangmen
Written by Martin McDonagh
Directed by Matthew Dunster
Atlantic Theater Company

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child: Parts One and Two
Written by Jack Thorne, based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany
Directed by John Tiffany
Lyric Theatre

In the Body of the World
Written by Eve Ensler
Directed By Diane Paulus
Manhattan Theatre Club

Is God Is
Written by Aleshea Harris
Directed by Taibi Magar
Soho Repertory

Meteor Shower
Written by Steve Martin
Directed by Jerry Zaks
Booth Theatre

Oedipus El Rey
Written by Luis Alfaro
Directed by Chay Yew
The Public Theater

School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Rebecca Taichman
MCC Theater

Until the Flood
Written by Dael Orlandersmith
Directed by Neel Keller
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
Angels in America
Written by Tony Kushner
Directed by Marianne Elliott
Neil Simon Theatre

Children of a Lesser God
Written by Mark Medoff
Directed by Kenny Leon
Studio 54

Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Signature Theater

Hamlet
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Sam Gold
The Public Theater

The Iceman Cometh
Written by Eugene O’Neill
Directed by George C. Wolfe
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre

Lobby Hero
Written by Kenneth Lonergan
Directed by Trip Cullman
Hayes Theatre

Saint Joan
Written by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Daniel Sullivan
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

Three Tall Women
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Joe Mantello
John Golden Theatre

Torch Song
Written by Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Moises Kaufman
Second Stage Theatre

Travesties
Written by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Patrick Marber
American Airlines Theatre

Yerma
Written by Federico García Lorca
Directed by Simon Stone
Park Avenue Armory

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
The Band’s Visit
Book by Itamar Moses; Music and Lyrics by David Yazek
Directed by David Cromer
Ethel Barrymore Theatre

Bella: An American Tall Tale
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Kirsten Childs
Directed by Robert O’Hara
Playwrights Horizons

Frozen
Book by Jennifer Lee; Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Directed by Michael Grandage
St. James Theatre

Hundred Days
Book by The Bengsons and Sarah Gancher; Music and Lyrics by The Bengsons
Directed by Anne Kauffman
New York Theatre Workshop

KPOP
Book by Jason Kim; Music and Lyrics by Helen Park and Max Vernon
Directed by Teddy Bergman
Ars Nova

Mean Girls
Book by Tina Fey; Music by Jeff Richmond; Lyrics by Nell Benjamin
Directed by Casey Nicholaw
August Wilson Theatre

SpongeBob SquarePants
Book by Kyle Jarrow; Based on the Series by Stephen Hillenburg
Original Songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani and Lil’ C. Songs by David Bowie, Brian Eno, Tom Kenny and Andy Paley. Additional music by Tom Kitt; Additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton
Conceived and Directed by Tina Landau
Palace Theatre

Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Book by Colman Domingo, Robert Cary and Des McAnuff; Songs by Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder and Paul Jabara
Directed by Des McAnuff
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie
Devised by David M. Lutken with Nick Corley and Darcie Deaville, Helen Jean Russell and Andy Teirstein
Directed by Nick Corley
Irish Repertory Theatre

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
Carousel
Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; Music by Richard Rodgers
Directed by Jack O’Brien
Imperial Theatre

My Fair Lady
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner; Music by Frederick Loewe
Directed by Barlett Sher
Lincoln Center Theater

Once On This Island
Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; Music by Stephen Flaherty
Directed by Michael Arden
Circle in the Square Theatre

Pacific Overtures
Book by John Weidman; Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by John Doyle
Classic Stage Company

NOMINEES FOR THE DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD
Jelani Alladin, Frozen
Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady
Annaleigh Ashford, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Laura Benanti, Meteor Shower
MaameYaa Boafo, School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two
Juan Castano, Oedipus El Rey
Billy Crudup, Harry Clarke
Eisa Davis, Kings
Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Noma Dumenzweni, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two
Deanna Dunagan, The Treasurer
Eve Ensler, In The Body of the World
Chris Evans, Lobby Hero
Johnny Flynn, Hangmen
Alfie Fuller, Is God Is
Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady
Rebecca Hall, Animal
Harriet Harris, The Low Road
Brian-Tyree Henry, Lobby Hero
Joshua Henry, Carousel
Tom Hollander, Travesties
Oscar Isaac, Hamlet
Chukwudi Iwuji, The Low Road
Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women
Joshua Jackson, Children of a Lesser God
Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band’s Visit
Robert Sean Leonard, Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo
Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls
Elizabeth Marvel, Julius Caesar
James McArdle, Angels in America
Laurie Metcalf, Three Tall Women
Jessie Mueller, Carousel
Patti Murin, Frozen
Alex Newell, Once On This Island
Sahr Ngaujah, Mlima’s Tale
Seth Numrich, Travesties
Deirdre O’Connell, Fulfillment Center
Ashley Park, Mean Girls and KPOP
Billie Piper, Yerma
Karen Pittman, Pipeline
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God
Roslynn Ruff, X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation
Amy Schumer, Meteor Shower
Tony Shalhoub, The Band’s Visit
Paul Sparks, Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo
Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living
John Douglas Thompson, Julius Caesar
Michael Urie, Torch Song and The Government Inspector
Denzel Washington, The Iceman Cometh
Dianne Wiest, Happy Days

SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS (previously announced)
Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre – Idina Menzel
Founders Award for Excellence in Directing – Casey Nicholaw
Unique Contribution to the Theatre – The National Endowment for the Arts

NOTE: The Drama League also wishes to acknowledge the previous recipients of the Distinguished Performance Award who appeared in New York productions this season. As the Award can only be won once in a performer’s lifetime, they are ineligible this season. Their exemplary work, however, is recognized and applauded:

Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady and The Whirligig

Kathleen Chalfant, For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday

Nathan Lane, Angels in America

John Lithgow, John Lithgow: Stories By Heart

Bernadette Peters, Hello, Dolly!

Mark Rylance, Farinelli and the King

Brian Tyree Henry of ‘Atlanta’ on fame, finding home and Paper Boi’s big episode

The actor tells MarketWatch about performing in the FX series and on Broadway in ‘Lobby Hero’

Apr 19, 2018

[excerpt] Beware SPOILERS

Your character William in “Lobby Hero” also has to put up with a different kind of disrespect, from his junior security guard, Jeff, whose actions profoundly change William’s life.

This is how plays are different [from television], because I can’t change the outcome of what’s going to happen up there. I can’t change the fact that I know that he’s sleeping [on the job], and he still tells me no. I can’t change the outcome that I’ll give him his job back, when all I want to do is throw him through the door. I still have to sit here and know that he may never realize what he’s done. It gets me every night and I never know how it’s going to affect me, and I tear up every now and again when I talk about it. When Jeff says that he admires me at the end. It’s written that I don’t respond. I cannot say anything. There’s nothing that I can say. It’s just — one of the hardest things to hear from somebody that you watched for two hours in a play, destroy your life, you know?

I find that I play a lot of characters like that, where it seems like there’s no redemption, and you have to take it on the chin. I carry that with me sometimes. It’s hard to get people to understand and see that. It’s gotta’ be somebody that has to take it on the chin. I feel with Alfred and William, they’re both great people and they just have to have these walls up as a source of protection because people come and take. But then it’s like people are going to do what they’re going to do anyway without any regard of what they need, so it’s like, all right man, you gotta find the humor in there.

In “Lobby Hero,” William is a truth teller, but he’s forced to decide whether to conceal or reveal truths about his brother. How did you approach him?

I don’t think I really had to approach him in any way because I know him. I know what it’s like to not want to made to feel like you’re snitching because snitching in our community is such a big thing. At the same time, it’s like you want to do the right thing and you feel like you can’t. It makes me very — I’m tired of using the word “angry” and I’m tired of using the word “upset.” It makes me present. It makes me want to really, really recognize what’s going on and what things are fleeting and what relationships really matter. I don’t want rage to be the goal with William, even though it seems like it. There’s a desperation, like a baby holding his hands up to be picked up, who wants to be protected. He wants to know that somebody is protecting him. I live around it. I live on my block and I look at these guys and the kids in my neighborhood, and how it just feels like there doesn’t seem to be an outlet. It doesn’t seem like anybody is listening, like anybody cares about our lives.

When you wear the security guard uniform, and spend the play talking to other characters in police uniforms, how does that inform your performance?

When it comes to a uniform, it gives you a chance to really feel like there’s a position or something you’re doing in the world, like you’re contributing something. I can’t tell the difference between doormen and cops, you know what I mean? Like when I see a blue shirt, see blue pants, I’m like “I’m going this way.” My character’s the one that’s constantly on the move. Once I get into the lobby is when I get to sit down and actually take authority of the space. But when Chris [Evans] or Bel [Powley] come in with their cop uniforms on, I automatically know that there’s no way that I’m in the position that they’re in. I have to immediately change because regardless, William still feels the way he does about the NYPD. It really doesn’t matter what position of power he’s in, he knows what that badge means. It’s kind of like a barrier, because as soon as they come in I’m smiling, I’m joyful. I make sure there’s no way that they can put anything on me in any way. Even when it’s to touch Chris’ shoulder, I get nervous to do that. He’s still a cop.

But it’s amazing what uniforms do. I came from a family of security workers. My sisters all were in security and I thought it was really interesting being the only boy, that I would watch these women come in with their bulletproof vests and a gun and mace, and I’m like “What the hell is that? Here’s your younger brother sitting here and y’all are coming in just strapped!” Even when they’re in those uniforms, they’re different people. I have to think about them going through that job and I’m like, “What do people think of them when they see them?” There might be a threat and they might actually have to use that gun.

The play is also very funny. How do you balance William’s authority with his humor?

I have a very bad radar for how people are going to respond to certain things, so I did not think that people would find it funny. There’s humor, sure, but especially with William and Jeff, I did not think that people thought our relationship would be funny. I was like, “Oh my god, are we like ‘The Honeymooners’ here? I didn’t realize I was Ralph!” But there’s still a sense of hardness that I have to have, and I love that people can find humor in the hardness that I play. You know what I’m saying? Instead of people seeing me and all of a sudden thinking I’m a threat. The hardness is what makes the humor come out. Even with Alfred [in “Atlanta”] the hardness isn’t about him actually putting his hands on somebody. The hardness is literally sitting there watching somebody say something so stupid that I can’t possibly find the words to say “shut up.” Going through the physical is easy for someone of my stature, and also because of my stature, people limit me. People automatically think that I’m a threat or people think that I only have two options: To be funny or to be violent. I don’t like that kind of thing hindering me, so I like to switch it up. I can show you how stupid this whole situation is by just looking at you and not blinking for the entire time you’re talking, because it’s that mundane to me.