2016 Pulitzer

[billyelliotfan123]

Posted: 7/29/15 at 2:54pm

What shows do you think will be finalists for the 2016 Pulitzer? I know obviously Hamilton has a great shot at winning but what else from this year has been worthy? Perhaps Gloria?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/29/15 at 3:03pm

It's too early to tell, as they award the Pulitzers for the 2015 year in April 2016 and it's not yet August, therefore we have 5 months of plays to consider.

But the obvious front runner is Hamilton.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/29/15 at 3:07pm

It seems almost inconceivable that the prize will not go to Hamilton.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/29/15 at 3:27pm

Hamilton will probably win.

And everyone on the backlash train will whine incessantly about it.

 

Updated On: 7/30/15 at 03:27 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 12:41am

Hamilton wins and Fun Homes loses? No thanks. 

[mattporter17]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 12:44am

I agree, I think Fun Home is considerably more important than Hamilton but it is what it is. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 1:03am

I don't know why people constantly feel the need to make one show better than the other. Fun Home and Hamilton are both important; we have an abundance of riches at the moment and I feel sorry for those of you who can't appreciate that. That said, Hamilton is a masterful work about the American experiment and it is no surprise it is a lock for the Pulitzer. 

[mattporter17]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 1:11am

I don't think there's a need to compare two radically different pieces of theater as well. I just happen to favor one over the other. I however am not saying that Hamilton isn't a masterful piece of theater, because I'm sure once I see it, I'll completely understand the Pulitzer hype. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 1:18am

Matt, thanks for that, although I wonder how you can "favor" one when you haven't seen the other. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 1:20am

It's a special course you can take on Tumblr.

[stageagent13]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 1:49am

I think Gloria has a chance of being a finalist. I would also nominate Significant Other, but I don't think it would be. 

[OKBroadwayFan]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 9:35am

Fun Home was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize

[OKBroadwayFan]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 9:41am

Also,  In the Heights was a finalist in 2009.

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 9:42am

I really hope the smug, overrated Gloria isn't a finalist, but I fear it will be. It's been imbued with an unearned sense of importance by Ben Brantley when it's really just a shabby little shocker. (God, I sound like After Eight this morning).

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 9:50am

I'm not so sure Gloria will be a finalist. The committee didn't even choose An Octoroon as a finalist, when IMO it should have won the prize. They aren't BJJ fans.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 10:01am

It's very difficult to predict what the committee will choose.
That being said, I would be shocked if Hamilton were not a finalist / the winner next year. As of now, I don't think there's anything else- play or musical- that can compare or lines up with the award's mission as well.

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 10:34am

"I'm not so sure Gloria will be a finalist. The committee didn't even choose An Octoroon as a finalist, when IMO it should have won the prize. They aren't BJJ fans."

An Octoroon is a complicated work, whereas Gloria is more straightforward in its intentions, which is why I think it might fare better with the Pulitzer committee. It also deals with issues that might be appealing to the committee.

Like others have said, I put Hamilton in the "glaring front-runner" category.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 10:46am

The committee also loves to pull works that have not been seen in NYC yet, so who knows?

[Fantod]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 10:50am

The Pulitzer Prize community usually goes with something way less obvious, while the frontrunners usually get nominated.

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 10:58am

"The Pulitzer Prize community usually goes with something way less obvious, while the frontrunners usually get nominated."

Define "usually". More often than not, an obvious choice wins. This is particularly true with plays and musicals that transcend popularity and relevance within the theater community and experience a moment of cultural relevance -- and Hamilton is certainly in that category. Think of August: Osage County, Doubt, Rent, Proof, Angels in America, etc., in this category.

Honestly, since 2000, I would argue there have only been two total surprise, out of left field winners: Anna in the Tropics and Water by the Spoonful, both of which won before they'd received a New York production.

Updated On: 7/30/15 at 10:58 AM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/30/15 at 11:55am

AC, good point re: Gloria.