Biggest "Best Musical" Tony Upset of all time?!?! — Page 2

Piazza won 6 Tonys, not 7.

1. Vicki
2. Score
3. Costume Design
4. Lighting Design
5. Scenic Design
6. Orchestrations

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Updated On: 2/27/06 at 12:44 AM

Spamalot over one of the nominees. They were all SO good...
The Lion King over Ragtime
ETA: Fosse over Parade

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Updated On: 2/27/06 at 12:44 AM

Agree Piazza should have taken it...

Also wholeheartedly agree about Music Man over West Side Story. That one makes my soul hurt a little bit. WSS is superior in my opinion.

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foster, I think you meant scenic design not sound design?

I think to the general public, Ave Q over Wicked winning Best Musical. Wicked is so hyped that I thought that there was nothing that was going to stop it, and was 101% positive it was going to win. Never did I expect Q to win...I'm not criticizing that they did or anything like that.

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Movin' Out.

The rest was just filler: Amour and A Year With Frog And Toad

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Updated On: 2/27/06 at 01:33 AM

Yeah I think everyone knew for sure Hairspray would win...no competition that year really.

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Because the votes are secret, we never know how close some of those races were.

In the end, the Tony is just a marketing tool and only really prolongs the runs of marginal shows. MISS SAIGON ran 10+ years without winning best Musical. GREASE ran 8 years.

The best part of teh awards is the chance to see 5 minute excerpts on TV. Sometimes these help shows that don't win teh big award. GRAND HOTEL was saved from failure by being showcased at the top of the 1990 Tonys.

I don't always agree with end results. In 1995 they should have NOT given an award since SUNSET BLVD was teh only new musical and it was hardly an award wrthey show.

When a show takes Best Book and Best Score it SHOULD automatically be named Best Musical!

Revues and Juke Box shows (FOSSE, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN') should be special events and not eligable for Best musical.

Revivals of shows that were born before the Tonys should be eligable for Best musical. (I.e. in 1995 SHOW BOAT would have won Best musical.)

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hello? anyone going to comment on "2 Gentlemen of Verona" over "Follies"???? What was that about?

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Lots of people found FOLLIES to be a morose and depressing indictment of marriage and what it had to say about getting older and regretting the mistakes of the past hit way too close to home for many who were turned off by it. While the score, staging and design were all very well received (and all won Tonys), the book was viewed as a banal, nihilistic soap opera.

Best book and Best Musical went to TWO GENTLEMEN that year which I could never understand until I saw the production of it in the Park last summer. It all made sense. TWO GENTLEMEN is in many ways the anti-FOLLIES -- fun, splashy, multicultural with a terrific score and a strong satirical anti-war sentiment which obviously resonated with the Vietnam era audiences and Tony voters. FOLLIES was a show to be admired and respected (hence the 7 Tonys), but perhaps not loved. I think TWO GENTLEMEN felt like a smart, life-affirming, youthful celebration which may be what people wanted and needed to see during that difficult moment in time, rather than a show that forces you to confront all your failures and disappointments and regrets and perhaps even question whether you married the right person.

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Once again...most of these are not "upsets". An upset is when the clear favorite is defeated. Avenue Q beating Wicked IS an upset. Ragtime losing to The Lion King is NOT an upset (although it is very UPSETTING!). The Lion King was picked by many pundits to win the award. Maybe a better title for this thread is 'Which "Best Musical" Loser most deserved to win' or 'Which show was robbed of the Best Musical Tony'.

There was an minor upset in 1998, however. Even though the vast majority of us probably agree that Audra McDonald deserved the supporting actress Tony that year, The Lion King's Tsidii Le Loka, was actually the pundits clear frontrunner for the award. Audra's win was a minor upset.

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Aveque Q won fair and square over that green ****.

Kidding aside, when I watched the Tony's back in 04, I thought Q had more spunk in their performance than Wicked. Just on that alone, I could see why Q won and not Wicked.