I know for a fact that there are many, many other people on here who rave about shows that have invested in it and as I said, Im not 'whoring' the fact that my parents are investors, I used that fact to make a point.
Plum, they mean nothing if the difference in ticket sales was negligable. Avenue Q did about as much business (80-96%) last year as DRS is doing this year, in comparison to the sold out Wicked and Spamalot phenomenons.
I already made my counterargument to that- Avenue Q took up all the "little show that could" points that Tony voters are going to give for a while. Spamalot is the big, fat sold-out hit that will no doubt spawn a profitable tour, and Spelling Bee is the critical darling that may or may not do so. It's not an exact Wicked-Avenue Q parallel (there's fewer screaming teenage girls involved), but it's close.
I think we're just taking two different conclusions from the closeness of the situations. You assume this means Spelling Bee will win, because Avenue Q won. I remain convinced that Avenue Q's win was an aberration that's not likely to be repeated. It's the exception that proves the rule, and the rule is that Tony voters are an inherently conservative bunch. They'll go with the giant hit.
Though heaven knows I'd like to be wrong- if Avenue Q's win marked the beginning of a new trend rather than an anomalous blip, I'd be a happy girl.
Plum, have a little faith! Surely not all Tony voters are so money-driven - if you truly believe this is how the awards are decided, in such a calculated and cynical manner, why afford them any respect? Perhaps this is naive, but I believe that previous results should have no bearing whatsoever on the outcome. Every year is a new contest! May the best show win.
The chink in that parallel is that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels wasn't the critical hit Avenue Q was, or Spelling Bee is. And it doesn't have the endearing "little show from Off-Broadway" vibe, either.
