However, this year had a couple of wanna be "musicals" with Fela!, Come Fly Away, and American Idiot. Fela and American Idiot are musicals. Come Fly Away is essentially a ballet, but the Tonys categorize it as a musical as they did with Contact and Movin' Out. None of them are "wanna bes", but "currently ares".
it seems to me that Will Smith and Jay-Z would be the obvious choice to show popularity and validity to the Tony's if they gave the award for Best Musical to Fela! sense they are now among the lead producers and are above the title. No, because celebrities have never sold the Tonys (no apostrophe) on television and awarding the producers, who are not appearing in the musical, will have little effect on Will Smith and Jay-Z fans in terms of ticket sales. And I'm not sure how it would add validity to the Tonys since (not sense) awarding another show would not invalidate the broadcast or the awards and if Will Smith and Jay Z are only there to possibly accept an award, not perform, then what are they validating?
Let us not forget the one musical that was trying so desperately to be something bigger than all of them which was Everyday Rapture. How is it trying to be bigger? It's a one-woman show.
Everyday Rapture seems to make more sense for a touring production as do most of the other tony nominees for best musical than Million Dollar Quartet. A one-woman show about a woman who is unknown to the majority of the country is a better touring option than a show about rock and roll legends performing classic songs? Have you been to America?
It's all going to boil down to who needs what award to capitalize most in a touring market. Or not. Sometimes the show that needs the least boost wins like Spamalot, Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys, Hairspray or Thoroughly Modern Millie. It's all speculation, just as it is every single year.
The Tonys have always been about commerce, much more so than "art." Depends on the year. Passion winning Best Musical had nothing to do with commerce.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian