Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Freeman5
Understudy Joined: 6/8/09
#1Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 7:40amIn my opinion, there are 6 actresses who really deserve Best Lead Actress in a Play nominations: Jessica Hecht, Laurie Metcalf, Amy Morton, Kristine Nielsen, Holland Taylor and Cicely Tyson - can the nominating committee simply decide to make room for an additional nominee? I know there are posters on here who are partial to Bette Midler, Jessica Chastain, Fiona Shaw and even Scarlett Johannson as well. I would be extremely disappointed if any of the six I've named got overlooked. If there can only be 5 nominees in the category, who would be most likely left off the list? I think it would be Holland Taylor, who was superb.
Musicaldudepeter
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
#2Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 7:49amAt last year's Emmys, the lead actress in a comedy ballot was pushed to seven nominees instead of six, simply because there were seven equally deserving candidates... Is this the case for the Tonys, can they stretch categories if needed? I know in 2011, the best actress in a musical category was cut down to 4 because apparently there weren't enough eligible nominees or something
#2Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 7:58am
Not sure about the Tonys, but with the Oscars, they can't.
Only the new rules for the Best Picture category have from 5-10 nominees for that award.
All other categories are maxed out at five, no matter what (some can scale from 3-5, depending on how many eligible films there are, but that is determined before the nomination process begins).
Even if there is a tie for fifth place, they will break it by tallying voters' second and third choices on the nominee ballots. Whoever comes up most as a second or third choice (assuming they have tied as first choice) wins the nomination.
But you'll never see (for example) six actresses up for the Best Actress Oscar, under the current rules.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#3Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 8:03amThey can nominate fewer (based on the number eligible, I believe) but I've never seen anything that discussess nominating more.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#4Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 8:11am
I don't know if Tony Award rules can be changed ad hoc; in 1975, many categories had six nominees.
Updated On: 4/27/13 at 08:11 AM
#5Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 8:20am
Didn't the Tonys used to have four in each category?
They didn't make it five until fairly recently (maybe ten years ago?).
I remember the year Glenn Close won for Sunset Blvd., there were only two actresses nominated. Glenn and Rebecca Luker for Show Boat.
I don't believe in the "everybody gets a gold star" philosophy, and I think it should be difficult to score a nomination and a win. I wish the Oscars would change their Best Picture back to five (max) for nominations.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#6Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 8:27amOP: You left off Bette, who will surely get a nom.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#7Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 8:48am
When it comes to theatre statistics, nothing is cut and dried.
One would think that it would be the easiest thing in the world to determine the number of nominees in a category. Just count 'em up. But joint nominations muddy the issue. The 1975 best actor nominees is a case of point. Two actors were given a joint nomination for performances in two different plays. Five other actors were nominated. So were the number of nominations in this category six, seven, or nine?
Perhaps the record nominess in a category would be in 1960, when
Lauri Peters and the children were nominated along with three other actresses for best musical supporting actress. That makes 10 nominees.
Musicaldudepeter
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
#8Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 8:54amThat Lauri Peters et al nomination was a disaster... I mean why not just nominate her on her own? Or give the kids a Theatre Honor or something if they were that impressed by them.
#9Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 8:56amThe case of the Emmys last years happens on occasion. It was, according to the Emmys if I recall correctly, due to a tie in the nominating process. Numbers 6 and 7 were tied (never released to the public who they were) so, voila!, seven nominees. Nothing to do with whether they deserved it (editorializing like that has little to do with nominees.)
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Musicaldudepeter
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
#10Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 9:56amI put my money on 6 and 7 being Edie Falco and Melissa McCarthy.
#11Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 10:03am
It's just so bizarre that Joseph Stewart and William Snowden (the Von Trapp boys) were jointly nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical along with the rest of the kids.
Put that one right next to the "three Billys" win as an all-time odd decision.
EDIT: By the way, I don't find the Alice Ripley/Emily Skinner joint nomination decision odd at all, considering the material and the characters they played. But "three Billys" set a weird precedent of alternating actors being judged for a single acting honor. Will original-cast alternates be considered for future honors? It was a bad decision.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Updated On: 4/27/13 at 10:03 AM
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#12Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 10:08amIn 2011 there were only 6 eligible leading actresses... so instead of nominated 5, they nominated 4. (Sherrie Rene Scott and Janet Dacal were left out) The '95 Awards year was a dismal year for musicals, regardless (only two new musicals opened that season).
Musicaldudepeter
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
#13Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 10:27amI'm so confused. If there were 6 eligible candidates in 2011, why the hell didn't they just nominate 5 then?
BroadwayBaby2012
Chorus Member Joined: 10/23/12
#14Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 10:31am
The nominations in the acting categories are limited to a maximum of 5. There have been several years in which 2 actors tied in the balloting in which case there was a re-vote to determine which actor would be nominated in the fifth slot.
This was the case in 2000 with the featured actor in a musical category which resulted in 3 men from the show being nominated though it was the case that Lee Wilkoff had tied with another actor for the 5th slot and in a re-vote Wilkoff received the majority and scored the nomination.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#15Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 10:35am
1. Well, it would be cruel to eliminate the ONE person that didn't make the grade.
2. There is verbage, somewhere, that describes how they determine whether to drop down to four. It has to do with then number eligible. (I cannot quote it.)
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
BroadwayBaby2012
Chorus Member Joined: 10/23/12
#16Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 10:42amThe rules actually state that each category is limited to 4 nominations, however, in the event that are 7 or more eligible candidates in an acting category, the number of nominations in the category can be increased to 5.
#17Can the Tony nominating committee decide there are more than 5 deserving nominees?
Posted: 4/27/13 at 11:17amDramamama, they did just that in--what was it, 2001?--the year of the Roundabout Follies revival. Judith Ivey was the only lead actress NOT nominated (her singing was pretty bad...)
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