Tony Watch 2016: Tony eligibility, round 1/Featured performer in a play awards

Yesterday the Tony awards released their first of four lists deciding the eligibility of this season's Broadway shows. You can find their rulings here: Tony eligibility

To go with these announcements, we have developed preliminary predictions for how the shows discussed in eligibility will do Tony-wise in the main categories, and we'll be sharing them over the next few days. The shows discussed in eligibility were: An Act of God, Amazing Grace, Hamilton, Spring Awakening, Old Times, Fool for Love, The Gin Game, Dames at Sea, Sylvia, and Therese Raquin.

We're starting with the featured performer categories. This early in the season its always hard to get a sense of these awards, but we'll give it a shot. Keep in mind some of the performers listed in upcoming have already begun performances, but the Tony awards haven't ruled on their eligibility yet.

Featured Actor in a Play:
This session of eligibility has only presented one strong Tony contender in Gabriel Ebert. Depending on how other performances go over in the remaining months, he may have a shot at the award.

Current prediction:
1. Gabriel Ebert - Therese Raquin
2. Robert Sella - Sylvia
3. Gordon Joseph Weiss - Fool for Love
4. Christopher Fitzgerald - An Act of God
5.  Tom Pelphrey - Fool for Love

A few upcoming performances to look out for:
Richard Goulding - King Charles III
John Gallagher Jr. - Long Days Journey Into Night
Frank Wood - Hughie
Ciaran Hinds - The Crucible

Gabriel Ebert and Kiera Knightley in Therese Raquin

Featured Actress in a Play
There aren't even enough featured actresses in a play to round out a full slate of performances from this session. Luckily there are a good amount coming later in the season. The won actress from this session that has a good shot at the award is Judith Light in Therese Raquin.

Current prediction:
1. Judith Light - Therese Raquin
2. Julie White - Sylvia
3. Mary Wiseman - Therese Raquin

A few upcoming performances to look out for:
Megan Hilty - Noises Off
Saycon Sengbloh - Eclipsed
Phoebe Fox - A View from the Bridge
Zainab Jah- Eclipsed
Andrea Martin - Noises Off
Lydia Wilson - King Charles III

Judith Light and Kiera Knightley in Therese Raquin