American In Paris Didn't Win

You are mistaken. It did win.

I actually have been quite impressed with the voters choices for Best Musical lately (Once, Gentleman's Guide, and now Fun Home).

It seemed that ever since the press was kicked off as Tony voters back in 2009 that the remaining voters (several of them being producers) were going to vote for the much more commercially viable show like Newsies, Beautiful, and An American in Paris. But I think the voters realize that those shows are already going to be hits no matter what that they didn't really need the Best Musical Tony at all where the more artistically crafted shows need the Tony more to stay alive. An American in Paris won its fair share of the gold last night, it'll be fine.

Remember when Michael Riedel used to make fun of Patrick Pacheco for always getting his predictions spectacularly wrong? Because he seems to be getting his punishment...

^I'm aware of that, thank you very much.

I was under the impression it was selling quite well.

The producers can cry into their pillows filled with money.

Remember when Americans had to change it to Freedom Fries? And look at us now, rewarding Paris!

It didn't go home empty handed and TBH not winning the Best musical Tony isn't a huge deal since it's selling very well anyway.

"I actually have been quite impressed with the voters choices for Best Musical lately (Once, Gentleman's Guide, and now Fun Home)."

But are they really the Best New Musicals of a season?! IMO, Once and GG were the most boring Tony winners I have ever seen. And I have no interest in seeing Fun Home, I've been listening to the cast recording and not doing anything for me (Note: I also listened to the cast recordings of the either two before going to see them and didn't like them. I just went because they were Tony winners). I may be the minority but Tony should create a new category for these shows "Best Artistic New Musical" lol

Hey, ebontoryan, do you have any intention of seeing Fun Home? You are so opaque about it.

"No I don't as I've mentioned the cast recording does nothing for me"

That's odd. Mine cooked me breakfast and rubbed my feet. Maybe it feels your hostility when you play it.

American in Paris is a "ballet-musical" and won where it should have for choreography, lighting, design, orchestrations-

Very very few musicals have ever won more than four Tonys (only 52 by my count) and other shows with four wins include: Rent, Aida, GGTLAM,Jersey Boys, Ragtime and Bye Bye Birdie, so pretty sweet company!

Its a big winner and fine adaptation of the completely stunning movie...

@ebontoyan

An American in Paris had one of the worst books of the season. The was essentially no real driving force behind the plot, let alone having any character development. An American in Paris may have been one of the prettiest shows to look at this season, but that does not make it the best musical. If you are going to have sour grapes over an in your opinion "boring" artistic musical winning over an "entertaining" "commercial" musical, I would not use An American in Paris as your example. If anything I were in your shoes I would be more upset over Something Rotten not winning, than An American in Paris, which is a truly solid musical all around (score, book, production).

Fun Home may not have a "plot" but that is because it is a memory play. Big Alison is going through a box of her father's stuff as she begins sketching out what will be her memoir Fun Home. When she takes an item out of the box, she is immediately taken back in time. Once she starts to examine the past she wants to discover why her father stayed in the closet leading to his suicide. Since he killed himself 3 months after she came out, she feels her sexuality played a major role in his demise.

It is a very unique plot structure, especially for a musical. The plot may not seem entertaining on paper, but its the performances in conjunction with the in the round staging that make the show soar. If you see the show and disagree, that is fine, but you cannot solely base your opinion on the cast recording.

I will concede about ONCE winning, as it was one of the most boring pieces of theater I have ever sat through. It was like watching paint dry on a Picasso, beautiful but boring. The show had no plot:

Boy meets girl, Boy and girl fall in love, Boy finds out girl is married with a son, girl finds out boy has a girl friend in America, boy and girl make a song together.

Did it deserve to win over the more commercial yet equally successful Newsies, in my opinion no, but I am not a Tony Voter.

Fun Home on the other hand is truly great musical, that we won't wonder why it was successful 20+ years from now when it is revived, compared to An American in Paris, which only works because of the production and not the musical itself.

Liza's Headband

I never denied that I was a Newsies fan... but I saw Once before I saw Newsies, and still thought it was boring.