This has come up many times before. A lot of people say its unnecessary. Personally I like it, and it could add to the performances. Best Cast Recording is a Grammy category, but I think it would be nice to honor songwriters with a good song in a overall undeserving score.
Problems that arise: Do some shows get 2 performances (1 for best musical 1 for best song?) If only 1 performance it could cost a best leading actor/actress nominee the chance to perform. If a song is good enough for a Tony, shouldn’t the score be nominated? Which results in double awards for more or less the same category. You would need producers to petition for 1 or 2 songs from their show to be nominated. You can’t expect the nominating committee to rate every single song, from every show.
If they did it, it would have to be named something like Best New Song Written for the Stage. To disqualify songs from Jukebox musicals and movie musicals etc.
The Best Score "Honorable Mention" Award tends to fall under Best Orchestrations (MOVIN' OUT?).
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
It is interesting you should bring this up because I stumbled across my sheet music for "Any Dream Will Do" and it says "Best Broadway song 198(?)" under the title. I never knew there was such an award, and then thought the Tony's should add the category.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert