Broadway On Demand Postpones Tony Award Celebration 6/7

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 11:03am

Link

[barcelona20]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 11:23am

I hope the Broadway.com Tony celebration does not postpone.

[Kimbo]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 1:13pm

barcelona20 said: "I hope the Broadway.com Tony celebration does not postpone."

Why? I have to ask  

(There is ZERO chance it won’t. One Bway website is not going to have a “Tony celebration” when a) another Bway website has postponed theirs, b) the Drama Desk Awards, Public Theatre gala etc have all similarly been postponed, because c) it is not the time for celebration.  If for some jaw-dropping reason they go ahead with it this Sunday, it will seem as out-of-touch, inconsiderate and tone-deaf as... well, as your post. But hopefully you were joking in some way because you realize it obviously will be rescheduled for later in the year.)

The proper response, from a silver-linings perspective, is to say thank God, or it’s just as well, etc., that there was no actual Tony ceremony happening this Sunday, since like the Emmys after 9/11 and they obviously would’ve had to reschedule the entire thing and find a new date at Radio City. 

Updated On: 6/1/20 at 01:13 PM

[barcelona20]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 1:18pm

What is the "proper" time to wait? I know I could use some theatre in my life and I think others could as well.  The other "main" Bway website?  You mean the one that just started a week ago?

[Kimbo]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 1:35pm

barcelona20 said: "What is the "proper" time to wait? I know I could use some theatre in my life and I think others could as well. The other "main" Bway website? You mean the one that just started a week ago?"

I can’t tell you what the proper time is for you to wait, I can only tell you that of the hundreds of professionals I know in the theater community I guarantee you that though it’s breaking their hearts even more, this week not one of them is thinking about theater first and foremost (hence, all the cancellations ... the New 42 Gala just announced being the most recent.)
If you can ‘use some theater’ and can’t wait till the Bway community decides it’s time to celebrate, then I’d suggest you watch a production filmed from the stage, or else there are countless past Tony awards broadcasts on YouTube to tide you over another week or three. Not trying to be snarky at this point, just trying to help with some larger perspective. It’s a hard time for us all, and forms of theater are not hard to find online, on streaming sites, and even in the form of old films like All About Eve or movie musicals... so obviously do what you need to do to help cheer yourself up as best as possible. As tough as it is, I am as well.  Stay safe.

 

Updated On: 6/1/20 at 01:35 PM

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 1:46pm

Kimbo said: "barcelona20 said: "What is the "proper" time to wait? I know I could use some theatre in my life and I think others could as well. The other "main" Bway website? You mean the one that just started a week ago?"

I can’t tell you what the proper time is for youto wait, I can only tell you that of the hundreds of professionalsI know in the theater community I guarantee you that though it’s breaking their hearts even more, this week not one of them is thinking about theater first and foremost (hence, all the cancellations... the New 42 Gala just announced being the most recent.)
If you can ‘use some theater’and can’t wait till the Bway community decides it’stime to celebrate, then I’d suggest you watch a production filmed from the stage, or else there are countless past Tony awards broadcasts on YouTube to tide you over another week or three. Not trying to be snarky at this point, just trying to help with some larger perspective. It’s a hard time for us all, and forms of theater are not hard to find online, on streaming sites, and even in the form of old filmslike All About Eve or movie musicals... so obviously do what you need to do to help cheer yourself up as best as possible. As tough as it is, I am as well. Stay safe.

"

I totally agree. Right now, an awards show should be the last thing you're thinking about. But if you need to take a step back and need some theater, watch one of the professionally filmed productions, listen to cast recordings, watch previous Tony Award performances. There are much more important things that need your attention right now. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/1/20 at 2:39pm

I fully support them and their statement, it's just wholly inappropriate. 

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 6/3/20 at 11:19am

Broadway.com has postponed their show, as well:

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/199385/show-of-shows-broadwaycom-salutes-the-tonys-postponed/

[Robbie2]

Posted: 6/3/20 at 2:30pm

Sutton Ross said: "I fully support them and their statement, it's just wholly inappropriate."

It's not a time for celebrating or for awards...we'll make up for it next year-

[CityLights3]

Posted: 6/5/20 at 9:28pm

Updated On: 6/5/20 at 09:28 PM

[CityLights3]

Posted: 6/5/20 at 9:28pm

But yet it was okay to present the Tony Awards within the same 24 hours of one of the largest mass shooting massacres in this country?!

It was successful and what the world needed because it was done right. The resources these events have right now, to be recorded and edited to perfection from home, could lead to a tone even better than that of that Tony telecast.  Cancelling the Tony celebrations over a week out seems like a major cop out to me.  This industry has sent more letters of support in behalf of black lives matter than any industry I know. Own your words and produce an awards telecast worthy of what your typed words are saying.
 

Just because your stages are dark right now broadway does not mean it’s time to turn out your very powerful light to the world that could learn a lot from a Tony/Drama Desk/Awards celebration telecast that actually feels like it has a purpose and a meaning again.  Once again, with feeling!

Updated On: 6/5/20 at 09:28 PM

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 6/6/20 at 7:02am

I think more people in this country are more concerned with having a job than an awards show. Not to mention that there have been shows that have not opened due to the shutdow.

Updated On: 6/6/20 at 07:02 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/6/20 at 8:35am

CityLights3 said: "But yet it was okay to present the Tony Awards within the same 24 hours of one of the largest mass shooting massacres in this country?!

It was successful and what the world needed because it was done right. Theresources theseevents have right now,to be recorded andedited to perfection from home, could lead to a tone even better than that of that Tony telecast. Cancelling the Tony celebrations over a week outseems like a major cop out to me. Thisindustryhas sent more letters of support in behalf of black lives matter than any industry I know. Own your words and produce an awards telecast worthy of whatyour typed words are saying.


Just because your stages are dark right now broadway does not mean it’s time to turn out your very powerful light to the world that could learn a lot from a Tony/Drama Desk/Awardscelebrationtelecast that actually feels like it has a purpose and a meaning again. Once again, with feeling!"

What exactly would they be celebrating? That they used words.. but no action yet?  We don't need a bunch of rich, white people congratulating themselves on promising to be woke.

 

It's a time to be listening.

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 6/6/20 at 11:43am

CityLights3 said: "But yet it was okay to present the Tony Awards within the same 24 hours of one of the largest mass shooting massacres in this country?!

It was successful and what the world needed because it was done right. Theresources theseevents have right now,to be recorded andedited to perfection from home, could lead to a tone even better than that of that Tony telecast. Cancelling the Tony celebrations over a week outseems like a major cop out to me. Thisindustryhas sent more letters of support in behalf of black lives matter than any industry I know. Own your words and produce an awards telecast worthy of whatyour typed words are saying.


Just because your stages are dark right now broadway does not mean it’s time to turn out your very powerful light to the world that could learn a lot from a Tony/Drama Desk/Awardscelebrationtelecast that actually feels like it has a purpose and a meaning again. Once again, with feeling!"

So you're going to completely disregard what people like Seth Rudetsky are doing (Stars in The House), all of the virtual reunions that have happened, the incredible work that Josh Gad has been doing? You're really that selfish that you'd demand MORE?? These people have worked so hard to do what they've provided and you're being totally selfish. Plus, there are shows that haven't even opened. How would you acknowledge those? It would not be fair at all. How about you focus on what's happening in the world right now and realize there are more important things? Watch previous Tony performances if you need something. But do not expect anything this year. There is just too much going on for them to be focused on putting on any semblance of an awards show or acknowledgement of this season right now. Educate yourself on what is going on in the world right now and just think about how amazing next year will be. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/6/20 at 12:09pm

dramamama611 said: "It's a time to be listening."

I think this expresses it better than anything else I have read here. 

No, this is not the same as Orlando; it seems clear we have reached a point, in the same way that Stonewall stands not as a unique circumstance but as a point marked in time. 

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 6/6/20 at 4:04pm

What was this? I thought the awards were cancelled this year.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/6/20 at 6:54pm

The Tonys were were cancelled. A number of sources had been working on creating alternate programming on the daye of the Tonys -celebrations of broadway.. When we were only fighting a virus.

[Kimbo]

Posted: 6/15/20 at 4:05pm

hearthemsing22 said: "How about you focus on what's happening in the world right now and realize there are more important things? Watch previous Tony performances if you need something. But do not expect anything this year. There is just too much going on for them to be focused on putting on any semblance of an awards show or acknowledgement of this season right now. Educate yourself on what is going on in the world right now and just think about how amazing next year will be."

All of this, exactly.  Take with a grain of salt, but I heard this morning that in the wake of continued protests about George Floyd, the "We See You WAT" letter last week, and the Rayshard Brooks killing this weekend, (not to mention continued uncertainty and anxiety about CO-VID cases rising even as states have begun re-opening), the Broadway.com and Broadway On Demand celebrations have quietly been canceled for good.  With marches, forums and online dialogues continuing at least for another month, and with the summer's sure-to-be-incendiary political conventions on the horizon just a few weeks behind that, the feeling is that not only has the moment passed to celebrate a season that was only half-finished, but that it's simply not a time for celebration at all.  (Before people complain that "the show must go on", consider for context that nearly every other online benefit or event scheduled by theater companies this month has similarly been indefinitely postponed - in some cases, such as MCC's "Miscast", for at least the 3rd or 4th time - ....and before anyone says that the theater world is overreacting, consider that the normally February-set Academy Awards and BAFTA awards just wisely announced that their awards shows have already been delayed to the latest dates ever, specifically the very end of April 2021.

By next June hopefully the theater community, the country, and the world in general will have more to celebrate.  But a lot has to happen before then, so now is a time, as others have said, to listen, to reflect, to VOTE, and hopefully, to grow.

 

Updated On: 6/15/20 at 04:05 PM

[barcelona20]

Posted: 6/15/20 at 5:08pm

I don't understand why we can't celebrate theater and also reflect at the same time.