Drama Desk Reactions — Page 2

That's a really fair question to ask about The Prom. If it didn't have the best Book, Lyrics, Actor, or Actress of the season (and that's just it's other nominations), why is it the best musical?

Preparing myself for everyone to start the non-stop “Prom is winning the Tony for Best Musical!!” comments for the rest of the week...ugh. Although, SpongeBob did win last year, so

Updated On: 6/2/19 at 11:01 PM

HeyMrMusic said: "Oklahoma still hasn’t won any revival awards this season."

I noticed the same thing, but has it lost to Kiss Me Kate yet? It seems Oklahoma! was divisive enough to not generate as much love as Fiddler. but still impressed people more than Kiss Me Kate. I think its a near lock for the Tony.

While I think Hadestown is still the frontrunner for Musical, I think at least with respect to the acting categories, these should mirror the Tonys (appropriately enough, leaving Featured Actor in a Musical wide open....)

the fact that rags Parkland Sings The Songs of The Future got totally shut out breaks my damn heart.

while I am thrilled The prom took home outstanding musical, as othwers have said the fact it won nothing else is super odd.

JBroadway said: "A quick statistical observation about this year’s Drama Desks (and it’s generally true of most years):

Just about every award tonight went to a Broadway show, except in categories where no Broadway shows were nominated. The only exception to this was Fiddler’s win of Musical Revival. To be fair, this year had an unusual number of categories made up of only Off-Broadway shows. But in general it seems to me that the Drama Desks talk a big talk about appreciating all New York theatre, but when it really comes down to it, they’re almost always biased toward Broadway. And I know that’s not new information (Especially when you consider that Hamilton and Little Shop are the only off-Broadway productions to EVER win Best Musical), but it still frustrates me."

well, the primary purpose of the Drama Desk is to get tickets for its members, most of whom would not get them otherwise. As it is, there are a healthy number of League members who support curtailing these Drama Desk tickets. The truth is, if they started routinely honoring the best of New York theatre instead of Broadway, those tickets would dry up in a New York minute.

JBroadway said: "it seems to me that the Drama Desks talk a big talk about appreciating all New York theatre, but when it really comes down to it, they’re almost always biased toward Broadway."

It's a double-edged sword. You could split all the categories, guaranteeing awards for Off-Bway shows, but then the Off-B awards could be viewed as "second-class" (+ the ceremony would be 5 hours). Keep them together and honor the best of New York theatre, and risk this trend continuing for decades to come. At the same time, it would be hard to argue that any of this year's Bway winners weren't deserving. (I think the design and craft categories are especially tough, because on Bway the resources are so much greater.)

Also, not every DD member will have seen every Off-B show. Most of them have seen all the Bway shows. So in that regard, there is a bias because Broadway shows have (generally) longer runs and are more high-profile.

TLDR, I don't know if there's a good way to fix it.

Updated On: 6/3/19 at 01:26 AM

There is no way the majority of voters will schlep out to see every eligible off-Broadway production. That's about a hundred shows a season- and then add in the dozens of Broadway shows. Unless it's a major hit, it is probably being passed on. That's why throwing together off and on Broadway productions for awards like this is a dubious decision.