2007 Best Book of a Musical Tony Award Winner Speculation

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 8:57am

Believe it or not, there is no thread on this topic yet.

In my opinion, the Best Book this season is Doug Wright's construction of the first act of GREY GARDENS. However, I think that the award will go to CURTAINS, for the simple reason that it is the only original book of the four nominees. While I personally don't think that the Book for CURTAINS is anything particularly fresh or innovative, I strongly support giving the Best Book Award to an original work. I think now more than ever we need to be encouraging writers to think outside the box and come up with their own ideas. So I would be more than pleased if the award went to CURTAINS. Not to mention that I think, in the big picture this season, Best Book is the only award that CURTAINS really has any shot at winning. Every other award seems likely to go to another show.

The four nominees are:

CURTAINS
GREY GARDENS
SPRING AWAKENING
LEGALLY BLONDE

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:08am

I disagree. The only thing that matters is rewarding the best final product. I don't believe in rewarding "Dude" because it is 'original' or punishing "Gypsy" because it is adapted from a book.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:14am

Curtains. Spring Awakening, (half of) Grey Gardens, and Legally Blonde are 95% verbatim original sources.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:16am

Joe, the Best Book Award didn't exist when GYPSY premiered. Besides, we're talking about this year. Have you seen all, if any, of the nominees?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:19am

I think Grey Gardens is vastly superior to the other nominees this year.

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:22am

No Foster, which is why I used shows not eligible for the award- Curtains may indeed be the best book of a musical this tear, but if so I feel it should be rewarded only for that, not because it is an "Original" book.

If people really are so hung up on musicals not being adapted from other source material (which the VAST majority are) then let's spilt the category like the Oscars do: Best Adapted Book and best Original Book. Of course, I don't think there would be much competition in the "Original Book" category; most years I think there wouldn't be a single nominee.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:25am

Best Book did exist the year DUDE premiered though. So it was eligible.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:32am

I'd say it's between Grey Gardens and Curtains.

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:50am

Never mind. What you said! All the way!

[jv92]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 9:52am

Why are we even bringing up Dude? It's not worth remembering. I think I left midway into the show it was so terrible.
Onto the topic of Best Book...
Grey Gardens has got it. It's brilliantly original. Curtains is good, but Grey Gardens is rather innovative, I think. Has there ever been a musicalization of a documentary on Broadway?

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 10:01am

Well remember the "Best Book" award isn't simply awarded for dialogue its also awarded for "dramatic structure". Hence a sung-through show like "Miss Saigon" getting a Best Book nomination.

So though most of the nominees this year are more or less copies of their source material, you have to account for how the book writer set up the story, made it flow, or however one might interpret "dramatic structure".

Updated On: 5/27/07 at 10:01 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 10:16am

I think Grey Gardens will get it, with a possible upset by Curtains.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 10:18am

Lovemusik should have gotten a nod over Spring IMO.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:13am

SPRING AWAKENING did not deserve a nod for best book.


I would vote for GREY GARDENS, but CURTAINS will win.

[TommyTunesSon]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:24am

While I would vote for Spring Awakening, I am predicting this will be one of the 4 tonys for Grey Gardens. Curtains would be my second choice. As I hated Legally Blonde, obviously that would be my 4th choice!!

Spring Awakening is am AMAZING adaptation!! I don't understand (or even pretend to understand) the hate on so many on here have towards SA. I would give SA a sweep of all the major awards for musicals this year.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:28am

SPRING AWAKENING has the most flawed book of any musical this season, next to maybe only HIGH FIDELITY and THE PIRATE QUEEN.

[Weez]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:28am

What bothers me is the way you get Best Musical, Best Book Of A Musical, and Best Original Score on the musical side of things, but only Best Play on the straight side. There should at least be a Best Script Of A Play award as well. :/

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:33am

Why? The author shares the award for best play with the producers.

Why would you separate "Best Production of a Play" and "Best Play?" They would be impossible.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:36am

Perhaps Best Grammar, Munk.

Or Best Use of Alliteration.

[TommyTunesSon]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:36am

Back in the early to mid-60's there were two separate categories for best play and best producer of a play. If my recall is correct, "The Subject Was Roses" by Frank Gilroy was named best play but the producers of "The Odd Couple" were named best producers (or production). I think this may have only been the case for 2 or 3 seasons? (62-64?) I bet Coram Boy would have been nominated for "production" if this were the case this season.

And sorry, but Spring Awakening is a brilliant amazing adaptation - this idea that originals are superior to adaptations is strange, considering almost every famous musical is an adaptation! What is up with the hate on SA??

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:37am

Many feel that characters in Spring Awakening are underdeveloped and have storylines that don't go anywhere.

[Weez]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:39am

Well, Spring Awakening is a great musical, but the book isn't up to much on its own. Coram Boy is by many accounts a wonderful production to watch but the script alone isn't wonderful. So why not reward a new script that may be brilliant but plagued by a less than wonderful production? If you can separate a book and a score out from a musical, why would it be so impossible to separate a script out from a play?

Updated On: 5/27/07 at 11:39 AM

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:44am

"Many feel that characters in Spring Awakening are underdeveloped and have storylines that don't go anywhere."

Could not have said it better myself Wonderful.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:44am

Yes, that IS a main problem. It has nothing to do with being an adaptation.

Michael Mayer's stunning direction could be better complimented with a more cohesive plot and more development with some of the characters. Some of the lines in the musical are absolutely laughable. I don't recall which lines (I've only seen the show twice) but when I saw the show last weekend, the amateurish parts that were meant to be serious actually got laughs from the audience. They were parts that are not supposed to be funny.

The entire "hit me with the switch" scene just REEKS of high school acting class. It's so poorly executed and constructed that when it's over, you thank God because you almost feel embarrased FOR them.

The other spot that is a huge problem is "The Dark I know Well." The plot is moving along, then stops DEAD for those 5 minutes while the girls lament about being absued. Yes, it's a serious issue, but the subplot comes out of absolutely no where. We don't care about these girls because we don't know anything about them. Wendla's "Your father beats you?!" line and her "With a buckle!" line is just a prime example.

The show stops dead in it's tracks during that overlong scene. It does nothing to move along the plot, it doesn't comment on action. All it does is act as another teenage angsty element to the story. But the subplot is dropped and we never hear or see it again.

The show would benefit greatly from either hiring some females who can actually act their way out of a paper bag, or cutting that entire scene.

And I don't hate SPRING AWAKENING. I do think the buzz is a little absurd, but I think it's a truly sensational show. The score is fantastic, if the lyrics aren't always up to par. The male performances are breathtaking in the show - but their female counterparts are just awful.

Essentially, SPRING AWAKENING needs to be tightened and more focused. They could cut a good 20 minutes.

[jg4892]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 11:56am

i think a lot of it has to do with the show be underdeveloped, but a lot also has a lot to do with acting. If you had seen Krysta Rodriguez, an understudy, do any of the roles, I bet you would feel differently about those acting scenes. Her acting is phenomenal.