A few responses:
Mrslovett, get over it, and you probably will. The Tonys are always bound to leave you somehow feeling displeased. It's just an awards show. Politics. Broadway itself is still there, affected but surviving. I like your concept about not giving up if they stop producing ****ty musicals though.
Rentboy, what Theatreboy is saying is that the reconceived and completely modern Sweeney Todd lost out to the utterly "golden age" and anachronistic Pajama Game (arguably a lesser production from the Golden Age), which is doing well on Broadway, proving that there is still a taste among audiences for well made and accessible musical fare of the golden age kind.
Also, the Broadway musical is heading in all sorts of wildly different directions. There's a million miles between the works of LaChiusa and Guettel and
The Color Purple and
Jersey Boys. Whatever merits those latter shows may have, they are merely better examples of a genre of subpar musicals that are taking over Broadway. The great new musicals by the former aside (they seem to be in and going to another place all together), I would take a golden age musical over a Jersey Boys any day, and as someone who hopes to some day be an active force in the scene, hope to follow it on that yellow brick road.
I do agree that the name Oprah may have helped LaChanze significantly (which she acknowledges) but there's no denying her talent and ability to rise above the material (along with the rest of the cast). I'm not too sure how much Patti deserved it either.
Jimmynysf.... heh.
TheBoyFromChi... yeah, you're right. I know a few people who can attest to that. Too bad the people writing musicals these days can't seem to write a good one! One wonders why these people get the job! Maybe they need to go back to class.
ItstheM, you never know. When West Side Story debuted nobody expected it and it was years before the impact was felt. The next earth shaking musical may have already debuted (Floyd Collins) or is just around the corner and nobody is looking.
I think Jazzysuite puts it best. It could have gone any way. It wasn't the kind of year with lots of clear winners (besides anything concerning The History Boys, a show about which I have become very enthusiastic). I also really appreciated the producer of Jersey Boys's speech, acknowledging everything on Broadway, of which his show is one aspect.
yr ronin,
joey
Jazzy 
