Brad Garrett ineligible for Tony

Per Theatermania.com:

"Actor Brad Garret, best known for his Emmy Award-winning role of Robert Barone on the CBS-TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, is ineligible for a Tony Award nomination for his performance as Murray the Cop in the current Broadway revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple because he left the production before the the Tony voters were invited to see it.

The show opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on October 27. Garrett had only been signed to appear through January 1, whereas Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, and the rest of the cast are contracted through April 2. At one time, there had been talk that Garrett would extend his contract and would eventually replace Lane in the leading role of Oscar, but it was announced last week that he was leaving the production entirely. Garrett has been replaced by Mike Starr, who gave his first performance as Murray on January 3."
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/7410

I haven't seen the show, but it seems like a shame given that everyone I know who HAS seen it said he was wonderful in it.

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<< I thought in order to be Tony eligible, you just had to be standing on stage opening night. How long does it usually take Tony voters to go see a show (or how long are they allowed to take before seeing it)?!? And how many voters are there exactly (I'm assuming they ALL have to see the performance)? Has this happened before? >>

I found that curious as well. The article says that he left "before the Tony voters were invited to see it". Hmmmm.

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Has this happened before?

Dean Jones in COMPANY

Interesting. Thanks Rath.

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so I guess that's the same reason that usually when a show closes before the Tony's - it usually isn't nominated for anything because none of the voter's saw it during thier "time"?

The producers are simply required, if they want their show to be receive any awards, to offer all Tony voters the opportunity to see their show. They usually do this by making tickets available for several weeks. Nominations are made by the nominating committee, however, not the voting body. In fact, not all Tony voters attend every show (far from it, I'd assume for those voters based out of town and for artsy little plays, for example), and only professional ethics keep them from voting for shows or performances they haven't seen.

The fact that the producers did not make invitations to any voters yet is the only thing holding him back. Had invitations been issued (whether or not many of the voters came), the committee could still nominate him if they felt he was worthy.

Didn't the powers that be at Chicago forget to submit Joel Grey's name for Chicago?

I don't know if this has been answered, but what was the reason behind Brad Garrett's leaving the show so suddenly?

Is his role a Tony-worthy role?

Is there a precedent for such a short contract (2 months and 1 week) for the original cast in an open-ended run?

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Yes, Garrett's contract expired in January. Originally, the word was that he would stay until April in hopes of taking over the role of Oscar if the show extended and Lane did not. But the original plan to have Garrett understudy Lane was not carried through to the present either. He decided not to stay...that's all...not big intrigue.

As for his eligibility, if he had stayed through January when the Tony committee is supposed to see the show, he would be eligible. If he wanted to go home to L.A. and the contract was up, my guess is that the Tony nomination just didn't mean all that much to him.

I did see him several times in the role. Thought he was quite weak the first time I saw him but he did grow into the role after awhile, though I never understood the audience reaction to him when the curtain came up...it was like seeing ROBERT from Everybody Loves Raymond in the theater and that's what the audience reacted to. I didn't think he was all that wonderful...though he was adequate.

I don't know that he would have gotten nominated anyway...there was nothing that was particularly a 'knock out' about his performance.

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