NY Drama Critics' Circle Names No Best Musical

This is the first time this has happened since 2004. I wonder why they didn't award it to Spongebob or Mean Girls. I know people say they are garbage, I found them both incredibly fun, and a great night of theatre.


EDIT: It was 2010, thanks for the correction.

Updated On: 5/3/18 at 07:35 PM

I agree with this decision.

BTW, this is not the first time it has happened since 2004. There was no Best Musical winner in 2009-2010 either and it happened right after the 2003-2004 season in the 2004-2005 season. I thought the 2003-2004 omission and 2004-2005 was sort of strange because I felt those were strong years collectively. Maybe no one show stuck out to those critics.

Updated On: 5/3/18 at 07:47 PM

Here's the breakdown of the first ballot before they decided to not award anything:



Hilton Als (proxy): The Boy Who Danced on Air
David Cote (proxy): Jerry Springer—The Opera
Joe Dziemianowicz: abstain
Michael Feingold: Bella: An American Tall Tale
Adam Feldman: Jerry Springer—The Opera
David Finkle: abstain
Sara Holdren: KPOP
Charles Isherwood (proxy): abstain
Christopher Kelly: SpongeBob SquarePants
David Rooney: abstain
Frank Scheck (proxy): KPOP
Barbara Schuler: KPOP
Helen Shaw: Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story
David Sheward: Mean Girls
Marilyn Stasio: SpongeBob SquarePants
Zachary Stewart: The Boy Who Danced on Air
Terry Teachout (proxy): Miss You Like Hell
Elisabeth Vincentelli: Jerry Springer—The Opera
Matt Windman: Jerry Springer—The Opera

http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_thisyears.html#bestmusicalfirst

Edit double post.

Updated On: 5/3/18 at 08:18 PM

I would have given it to Spongebob, KPOP or Mean Girls

Elegance101 said: "If it were exclusively Broadway, I would maybe get it. But they could've awarded an Off-Broadway show on that list. There were some really good Off-Broadway musicals."

Were there? I’m not being facetious. I didn’t see KPOP or Old Stock or The Boy Who Danced on Air, but my impression was that none of them were especially well received. And as far as Bella, Hundred Days, and Miss You Like Hell...I didn’t think much of any of them. Obviously, we may just disagree about the ones I saw, but I’m wondering if I’m misremembering the reception of the first three I mentioned:

Jerry Springer and KPOP were the most chosen musicals in the first round voting. However, even the ones that picked them must not have cared enough about them to want to move on to the next round and name an actual winner.

But was it a good musical?

I loved K-POP! Ashley Park's performance was amazing; though I thought she was more featured than leading. It's a different type of show and I agree with haterobics that it's more a play with music than an actual musical. All the songs they sing are the k-pop songs. There's a lot of drama though within it and I thought the theatrical experience was definitely unique.

From my point of view, why have nominations if they're not going to pick the best musical out of those nominations?

They just couldn't bring themselves to say SpongeBob was the best. I'm not even being salty, it's just facts. This seems to be true with a lot of people.