A question about the Tonys and concept albums

I was just wondering something out of curiosity. If a composer writes a score with the intention for it to go to Broadway, but releases the score as a concept album prior to doing so, could the composer still be able to be nominated for the Tony for best score?

I know that the rules changed after Pete Townshend won the Tony for best score. Tommy, although turned into a stage musical was never written with the intention of it becoming one. I know that after that happened, the Tony committee changed the rules to state that a score must be at least 50 per cent original for it to be considered for nomination for best score. That is the reason why Once, for example, was never able to be eligible for the best score nomination. But, I was wondering about things like the concept albums for both Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. They were shows that released a concept album prior to being on Broadway. Since this is the case, would those two shows be able to be nominated for best score with today's Tony rules? Unlike Tommy they were always intended to be on the stage etc. Just curious on this one.

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Don't think there are any specific rules about this, more of a case by case basis. I would guess it has to do with whether the music was written with a stage version in mind, as well as how long between the album's release and the show. The concept album for "Aida", for instance, was always meant as a pre-cursor to what would ultimately become a Broadway show, whereas something like "American Idiot" was never specifically intended to become a Broadway show at the time of its release (or at least wasn't advertised as such). It's really a judgement call though.

Sting will find out next year...

The Life also had a concept album and got a nomination for score.

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I believe the score nominations are determined on a case by case basis, as I see nothing in the rules regarding percentage of originality. I'm not sure why a concept album would have any effect when there are many scores that had London cast recordings and still won or were nominated for Tonys and vice versa.

No rules describe that a score has to be "written for Broadway".

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American Idiot is a unique case, because it was intended to be a response to the creation of "Tommy" in a way. Both original albums have linked songs with recurring characters and themes that don't entirely spell the plot out, with vaguely cryptic liner notes providing clues to the way the plot is linked. American Idiot was written with the intent of making a movie or TV special. The film failed to materialize, and the story, which continues to an extent on "21st Century Breakdown," was revised for the stage. The stage version was successful enough to make a movie possible again.

When the score of State Fair was nominated, the voters were told that they were only to consider the songs that had never been sung on Broadway. David Merrick famously passed out earplugs at the theater so voters could more easily ignore the songs that couldn't be considered.

I know that the rules changed after Pete Townshend won the Tony for best score.

The rule of considering only the songs written directly for the theatre was applied to State Fair in 1996 after the Beauty and the Beast score eligibility kerfuffle.

Starlight Express was also a concept album, and it was nominated.

It wasn't a concept album. The London cast recording came first. Instead of a Broadway cast recording, they issued a studio pop version of selected songs. The song "Engine of Love" was released as a single in 1977, which became "He Whistled at Me" (1984), then became "Engine of Love" again (1987), then "He'll Whistle at Me" (1992).

The official title of the category is "Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre". It was this wording that sparked the American Idiot debate. Had it been eligible, it's very possible it would have won.

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The OLCR came out in 1984.

The one you have from 1987 is the US concept album that Mister Matt was talking about.

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2012 Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, Newsies after most of the score had already been released as a movie soundtrack.

I believe, between the new songs and the revised lyrics, the NEWSIES score was determined to be more than 50% new material. That is why it was eligible.

In fact, I remember the material the Tony voters received asked them to only consider the new material in their voting.

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