All I can think about is how different this Tonys season would be in Caroline or Change was a spring show!

Like seriously, Caissie Levy would have definitely been nominated, along with much more plausible paths for both Tamika Lawrence and Samantha Williams.

It also probably would have gotten more nominations in behind-the-scenes and technical categories.

There would be no debate about Sharon D. Clarke winning Best Actress in a Musical and it would have legitimate shots at a bunch of other awards.

It definitely gets you thinking about how much a season is shaped by when shows perform!

TotallyEffed said: "I actually don’t think it would have changed anything."

Agreed 

jkcohen626 said: "There would be no debate about Sharon D. Clarke winning Best Actress in a Musical "

Who tf is debating this?? She's probably the easiest prediction of any acting award this year (possible exception MLP). I cannot see a road to a win from ANY other lady in that race.

I'm not sure a whole lot would change in terms of the nominations it got. It repeated the exact same 3 nominations that the revival got at the Olivier: Revival of a Musical, Lead actress for Sharon, and Costume Design. Maaaaybe Caissie Levy and Michael Longhurst might have benefitted if the show was open, but its hard to say. 

While there is certainly a "recency bias" when it comes to actually winning a Tony, its quite easy to be nominated for a closed show. The nominators see everything, after all. They do a good job at remembering what is closed.

I think Mare Winningham could be a dark horse and take the Tony. Girl From The North Country has a lot of momentum. 

I mean, it didn't help Tonya Pinkins.

We say it's a sure thing, but had I seen the OBC cast of Wicked and Caroline, I would have thought Tonya was the shoo-in. 

I think it’s totally plausible that Chip and Tamika could have gotten nominated if the show was in the spring. But alas, all we have are memories.

Lavieboheme3090 said: "I think it’s totally plausible that Chip and Tamika could have gotten nominated if the show was in the spring. But alas, all we have are memories."

We do have a new cast album. I'm grateful for that. 

If Joaquina wins, I won't be thrilled, but I'll accept it. If Mare wins, I'll be furious. I'm still desperately hoping this is Sharon's award.

RippedMan said: "I mean, it didn't help Tonya Pinkins.

We say it's a sure thing, but had I seen the OBC cast of Wicked and Caroline, I would have thought Tonya was the shoo-in."

She was having vocal issues during that time, which could have contributed to her loss. 

Fosse76 said: "RippedMan said: "I mean, it didn't help Tonya Pinkins.

We say it's a sure thing, but had I seen the OBC cast of Wicked and Caroline, I would have thought Tonya was the shoo-in."

She was having vocal issues during that time, which could have contributed to her loss."

Verrry much so vocal issues were a factor. But…the winner that year wasn’t particularly consistent either…

A New York Times Critics Pix and the most amazing reviews of the season, yet it disappeared at the Tony Awards.

I think the same thing is going to happen this season with Kimberly Akimbo. It's advance is very weak - even with those amazing reviews.

I fear it's going to be long gone before the Tony awards. 

''It's so ironic reading some of these comments now. Most of the play categories at this year's Tony Awards were won by productions that ended their runs months beforehand. They all likely benefitted from the portal system voters must log.''

Jeffrey, that's a really interesting point. That certainly sounds better than the old days when it was all based on the honor system. But how foolproof is the Tony portal system? Is it possible for a Tony voter to pretend to have seen a show by punching in a likely date? Or does each Broadway show have someone going over the rolls of the Tony voters and double-checking the dates of their attendance? 

Why can't they create a special Tony voter card, much like a COVID vaccination card? Whenever a Tony voter went to a show, they'd have to present their Tony card and I.D. And the system would electronically track each voter's attendance.

Updated On: 8/15/22 at 07:45 PM

Wayman_Wong said: "''It's so ironic reading some of these comments now. Most of the play categories at this year's Tony Awards were won by productions that ended their runs months beforehand. They all likely benefitted from the portal system voters must log.''

Jeffrey, that's a really interesting point. That certainly sounds better than the old days when it was all based on the honor system. But how foolproof is the Tony portal system? Is it possible for a Tony voter to pretend to have seen a show by punching in a likely date? Or does each Broadway show have someone going over the rolls of the Tony voters and double-checking the dates of their attendance?"

I don't know. I've only learned this from Sam Eckmann of Gold Derby. Although he also mentioned that the honor system comes into play with absent performers. Let’s say a voter saw Company in March and logs their date in the voter portal, but Patti LuPone was out with COVID. This particular voter didn’t reschedule their tickets and saw an understudy for Joanne. The portal would not automatically remove Featured Actress in a Musical from this voter’s ballot because it only reads if you saw the show or not (there is no data connected to this system about performer absences. Incorporating that would be a monumental task). Voters are simply asked to recuse themselves from voting in a category where they weren’t able to see a nominated performer. Some will follow that rule, but many will probably vote anyway if they’ve only missed one person because they want to have a say in the outcome.

Updated On: 8/15/22 at 10:15 PM