77th Tony Awards Performance Predictions

Said it on another thread, but even though Henry’s story is the most moving part of Illinoise, I’m happy for Man of Steel. It stands on its own and has a beautiful message about our power as humans.

Hell’s Kitchen feels like it’ll definitely be Empire State of Mind as an opening or closing to the show. Outsiders should be Great Expectations, Suffs’ Keep Marching, Cabaret’s Wilkommen (maybe as the opener with Empire as the closer of the evening), Merrily’s Old Friends, and Tommy’s Pinball Wizard.

I imagine Illinoise will do “Chicago” as it’s the most famous song from the album.

Awful. Sung well but sadly NOT. GOOD.

I would love to see the New York City ballet perform as it’s their 75th season, and the Tony’s are being held in their home. Sarah Jessica Parker can introduce them.

They let the rockettes perform when it was at radio city

I wonder if any of the not-nominated shows will perform?

I could see THE WIZ, BACK TO THE FUTURE, and GREAT GATSBY ponying up the money to do a number. Maybe also THE NOTEBOOK (with Ingrid?)

The ratings ARE usually pretty dismal but a Tony performance can live on past the telecast and catch on online. And while shows also do numbers on talk shows and such, usually it's not with full costume and set behind them, and I think there's probably also a certain perception of prestige for just having performed on the Tony Awards. Some people may not watch the awards themselves but would go down the list of performances just to see if any of them pique their interest.

Last year the Tonys had 4.3 million live viewers. While this number is far behind many pre-pandemic years and behind other awards shows, it is still an excellent advertising opportunity for Broadway productions. Live TV numbers are down across the board, so this is still an incredible amount of people to get in front of at once (and most of that audience are people who would be potential ticket buyers). Plus its a major event that will receive TV and online coverage in the following days, and performances then make the rounds on social media. A great performance can become a talking point. This is a huge ticket selling opportunity.

I have to imagine The Notebook, Back to the Future, and Great Gatsby will attempt to get something on the telecast as they attempt to maintain sales without a Best Musical nomination. The Wiz will probably sit this one out since they are making plenty of money and have a limited run.

I also think it would be money well spent for The Notebook to ask for a performance slot, as it's a familiar title, will almost certainly tour, and has a range of songs to choose from that would make sense removed from the show.

Wicked performed on the 2014 telecast for their 10th anniversary. Could we see Aladdin perform for their 10th anniversary, or Disney paying for a slot to promote their 100th anniversary as a company? I kind of expected them to have The Lion King open last years ceremony to celebrate its 25th anniversary on Broadway, alas they didn’t.

Jordan Catalano said: "If “The Notebook” does perform, they’d be silly not to have McAdams introduce it."

akin to when Keri Russell and Meg Ryan introduced Waitress and She Loves Me, respectively.

SUFFS should absolutely whip out the pyrotechnics and do Fire & Tea if they really want to blow people away and push tickets, but I know it’s really gonna just end up being The March or Keep Marching. Which is a shame - those numbers won’t do too many favors beyond that of the crowd the show is already selling well to. They feel a bit too obvious and quite frankly unordinary compared to that of the more “theatrical” show-ey moments that really is where it shines.

And no - I’d wager Fire & Tea isn’t a too much a spoiler even for a late Act 2 number. Even if it was - small price to pay to get people really talking up a storm about the show, particularly those who may have otherwise written it off.

Updated On: 5/7/24 at 07:30 PM