Sixteen years after his Broadway debut, Daniel Radcliffe has won a Tony Award. Although Broadway fans have known all season long that the actor would likely take home the trophy for his featured turn in the revival of the late Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” his victory comes with great relief for those who have watched the star miss out on a number of nominations in the past.
Radcliffe’s career on Broadway began in 2008 when he took the stage in a revival of “Equus.” The production earned two Tony Award nominations for lighting design and sound design – it won the latter for Gregory Clarke – but was left out of the major categories including for Radcliffe’s leading performance.
The actor made his return only two years later in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” in the role of J. Pierrepont Finch. The character won Tony Awards for Robert Morse in 1962 and for Matthew Broderick in 1995, so it came as a big surprise to some that Radcliffe, following in their footsteps, did not even receive a nomination. To boot, the production was extremely well received by the Tony nominators, earning eight bids including for Best Revival of a Musical and acting citations for Featured Actor and Actress for John Larroquette, who won, and Tammy Blanchard, respectively.
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As Aubry D’Arminio (EW) wrote at the time, “Gasps filled the room at the 2011 Tony nominations announcement this morning when hosts Anika Noni Rose and Matthew Broderick finished reading the list of nods for Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role in a Musical without mentioning Daniel Radcliffe, who was so heralded for his toe-tapping turn in ‘How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.’ Most critics thought he was at least assured a nod, if not a win.”
Like clockwork, Radcliffe would return to the New York stage in 2014 in Martin McDonagh’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” another production that received a healthy six Tony nominations including for Best Revival of a Play and for featured performer Sarah Greene, but not for the actor. Playbill’s Carey Purcell wrote, “After stripping naked in ‘Equus’ and dancing up a storm in ‘How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,’ Daniel Radcliffe proved his stage talents yet again in the title role of the dark comedy ‘The Criple of Inishmaan,’ yet the nominators overlooked his work for a third time.”
Four years later, Radcliffe starred in another play, 2018’s “The Lifespan of a Fact,” a three-hander with Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale. This time around, though, Radcliffe’s lack of Tony nom was neither surprising nor egregious as Gold Derby’s combined odds did not have the production earning a single bid. Radcliffe was ranked 12th in the Best Actor in a Play race, and the production ultimately did not receive any nominations.
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This year was different because of Radcliffe’s undeniable performance as Charles Kringas in what has been described as an “exquisite” production. Indeed, the newly-minted Tony winner plays the incredibly challenging, tongue-tying, show-stopping number “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” with aplomb, dazzling audiences with his character’s on-air meltdown opposite his estranged best friend and writing partner Franklin Shepard (Jonathan Groff). He brings a world-weary goodheartedness to songs like “Old Friends” and a wondrous, childlike enthusiasm to “It’s a Hit!” and “Opening Doors,” too. It was thus a performance too good to overlook, even for a performer used to the feeling.
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