Kevinoes said: "Any thoughts or insights on "Two Gentlemen of Verona"'s Best Musical win? I know "Follies" had mixed critical reception (better than "JCS"'s decidedly sour reception) but does anyone have anything to share or offer about that win that year?
Thanks in advance."
According to Peter Filichia's book, Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks, it seemed that many Tony voters at the time weren't ever sure of what they saw during the long intermissionless show. Some had trouble catching on to one of the musical's most dazzling concepts where most of the characters who were attending the reunion were followed by younger versions of themselves. To make a long story short, Tony voters were either left confused by Follies when it first premiered or felt that the story was too cathartic for them.
Unlike Sondheim and Prince's previous collaboration at the time, Company, that show at least had its main protagonist somewhat optimistic about becoming a husband (likely due to him having never been married). Although when the 1972 Tony Awards took place, Company had already ended its Broadway run about three months beforehand. Despite winning Best Musical the previous year, the show never necessarily became a big hit at the box office. So there probably was a feeling among voters at the time that if audiences weren't crazy about Company, then they'd likely respond even less to Follies. Not to mention that the latter show at that point had been running for over a year and was losing momentum at the box office. We’ve seen in the past how Tony voters don’t usually like to waste any major awards on a production that’s been struggling. With Follies being as polarizing as it was at the time, there was no point for the industry to give it Best Musical and encourage ticket buyers to see something that they likely weren't going to get.
