Are the Tony Awards going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Are the Tony Awards going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
TeddyBear
Swing Joined: 12/2/15
#1Are the Tony Awards going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 1:13am
With shows like Gentleman's Guide and Fun Home winning Tony Awards.
Updated On: 12/3/15 at 01:13 AM
#2Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 1:14am
Tony's what?
#3Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 1:50pm
I think that because Broadway was struggling for so long, Tony voters really embraced the more mainstream shows because they knew they would keep Broadway alive.
La Cage aux Folles>Sunday in the Park with George
The Phantom of the Opera>Into the Woods
Crazy for You>Falsettos
The Lion King>Ragtime
Thoroughly Modern Millie>Urinetown
Monty Python's Spamalot>The Light in the Piazza
Jersey Boys>The Drowsy Chaperone
In the Heights>Passing Strange
Memphis>Fela!
But since Broadway has become the #1 tourist attraction in New York City, voters have lately been voting for shows that weren't the most commercially viable. Probably because they knew the bigger hits were going to do just fine without the Tony.
Once>Newsies
A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder>Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Fun Home>An American in Paris
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#4Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 1:59pm
I don't think popularism is going away.
#5Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:02pm
Two consecutive years does not a pattern make.
And Gentleman's Guide, while not a jukebox musical or a Disney film adaptation, is hardly a radical, polarizing choice. It's a traditional, frothy musical comedy.
The only "daring" Best Musical winner thus far this decade (and maybe one of the most daring winners of all time) I'd say is Fun Home, a musical that is not conventional in its construction, not conservative in its subject matter, and an unapologetic drama that doesn't rely on kareoke-ready pop balladry.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#6Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:07pm
I think the Tonys more and more are recognizing what the best shows are instead of "what are the biggest hits." That being said, a lot of the nominees are highly commercialized shows because many shows on Broadway are very commercial. I think we getting a lot more non commercial shows though because of Fun Home and Hamilton, and other shows that have been winning the Tonys. They must continue to nominate non commercial shows to encourage writers and producers to create whatever they want.
#7Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:27pm
Aren't all Broadway shows, by definition of how much money you need to even stage one, commercial/mainstream/populist? Or at least hoped to be seen as such by their producers?
#8Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:39pm
An earlier example of them not just rolling over for what's most popular: Wicked losing to Avenue Q.
#9Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:45pm
As well as The Who's Tommy losing to Kiss of the Spider Woman and Beauty & the Beast losing to Passion.
#10Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:50pm
I don't think the majority of Tony Voters, when voting for Best Musical, have at the forefront of their minds "I'm voting for this show to save Broadway!" or "I'm voting for this show because it needs the support!"
I think the primary reason why a voter casts their ballot for a choice is strictly financial (ie what do they have to gain, financially, from the vote). And if they are not financially impacted from the vote, then the secondary reason is "which show has friends that I want to help benefit."
Then lastly, if neither of those two things are a factor, then one may vote for some other reason, such as "voting your heart" for the "best," or "a vote for this show sends a message."
--Aristotle
#11Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:58pmAs for Wicked v. Avenue Q: Avenue Q was not a non-mainstream, non-commercial choice. It was merely a smaller show.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#12Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 3:02pm
CapnHook, that's obviously not true, because Fun Home certainly wouldn't have won last year if that was the way people voted.
#13Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 3:08pm
using anecdotes to create rules is a perilous enterprise.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#14Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 4:17pm
"I think the Tonys more and more are recognizing what the best shows are instead of "what are the biggest hits." "
Actually, the most popular hits are 9 times out of 10 5,263,112 times better than so-called "artistic" fare that the self-proclaimed elites love to shove down our throats through praise and awards, much to the audience's distaste and regret. The problem is that the power to award has now been given to the powers-that-be, and a foul, rank lot they are. As bad as the shows they choose, like Once and Fun Home. Our theatre now pays the dire consequences.
"They must continue to nominate non commercial shows to encourage writers and producers to create whatever they want."
As if the creators of commercial shows do not create what they want.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#15Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 4:19pm
There are a lot of cynical exercises that happen in the theatre, and you know it.
#16Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 4:27pm
Kad said: "As for Wicked v. Avenue Q: Avenue Q was not a non-mainstream, non-commercial choice. It was merely a smaller show. "
Maybe not in our minds, but in the general public's minds compared to Wicked it surely was... Songs about porn, closet cases, racism, post-college malaise, etc. vs songs about popularity, "girl-power,", being vapid, blah blah blah. 
#17Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/3/15 at 5:12pm
I think the victory of FUN HOME is a major step personally. GENTS GUIDE was more of a stepping stone.
whatever2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/25/06
#18Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/4/15 at 10:16am
HogansHero said: "using anecdotes to create rules is a perilous enterprise."
it's certainly a popularistic one!
#19Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/4/15 at 10:22am
Why "popularistic" and not just plain "popular"?
#20Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/4/15 at 10:25am
The battlematrition between popularistic and artistifical has always been a major part of Broadway's awardafication.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#21Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/4/15 at 10:27am
It's Ozian
AfterEight, nobody self-describes as "elite." You just have a major inferiority complex.
TerrenceIsTheMann
Broadway Star Joined: 9/28/15
#22Are the Tonys going away from Mainstream Popularistic Theatre ?
Posted: 12/4/15 at 10:27am
I think Jeffrey summed it up well. AAIP, Beautiful, Wicked have all been marketable without a Tony to their name. Meanwhile, a show like Gentleman's Guide needs all the press it can get to sell tickets.
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