Plays at the Tony Awards

I don't think this is a unique take at all

But it's so awful to me that plays are never represented at the Tony Awards

Like the only two I can think of that had scenes done on the Tonys are the revival of Torch Song and the original production of Peter and the Starcatcher

Where was a bit from Ain't No Mo' or Leopoldstadt last year? 

Like why do we only get limited video clips from plays 

Just two minute scenes from nominated plays would do wonders for plays like

Actually being financially successful on Broadway 

Like really think about long running plays on Broadway 

Here are literally all of the plays with over one thousand performance

Life With Father
Tobacco Road
Abie's Irish Rose
Gemini
Deathtrap
Harvey
Born Yesterday
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Mary, Mary
The Voice of the Turtle
Barefoot in the Park
Same Time, Next Year
Arsenic and Old Lace
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Angel Street
Lightnin
Cactus Flower 
Sleuth
Torch Song Trilogy
Equus
Amadeus
Mister Roberts
The Seven Year Itch
Butterflies Are Free
Plaza Suite
The Teahouse of the August Moon
Never Too Late

27

There are 27 plays 

To ever break a thousand performances on Broadway 

27

That is an absurdly low number 

There are well over a hundred Broadway musicals that have broken a thousand 

And I think it's in no small part due to Tony Award performances 

To be fair, the Tonys have tried a variety of ways to represent the plays, like including clips or having the playwrights talk about them, but I think it's hard to do an isolated scene because most of the time plays are written so that each scene lends more impact when you've seen the whole thing (though I agree Ain't No Mo' probably could've done something seeing as it was a series of sketches; I was also surprised Life of Pi didn't perform either).  Part of it could also just be a timing issue, with ceremonies often running over time (of course there are other things they could cut, but it doesn't seem like it's been happening).

I wouldn't necessarily blame the Tonys alone for plays not running though.  Broadway in general is a tourist's market and overall getting more commercial each year, which the best plays often do not cater to as much, unless they have a major celebrity.  I remember part of the reason Play That Goes Wrong was able to run as long as it did was partially because it was a family-friendly show that had much broader appeal and was able to tap into an audience that doesn't usually go to the more serious plays.  And I don't think a 2 minute scene could really help sell plays that much (even a 5 minute scene I think would be hard unless the play had some sort of visual spectacle or REALLY impressive scene work).

BeingAlive44Ever said: "I don't think this is a unique take at all

But it's so awful to me that plays are never represented at the Tony Awards

Like the only two I can think of that had scenes done on the Tonys are the revival of Torch Song and the original production of Peter and the Starcatcher

Where was a bit from Ain't No Mo' or Leopoldstadt last year?

Like why do we only get limited video clips from plays

Just two minute scenes from nominated plays would do wonders for plays like

Actually being financially successful on Broadway

Like really think about long running plays on Broadway

Here are literally all of the plays with over one thousand performance

Life With Father
Tobacco Road
Abie's Irish Rose
Gemini
Deathtrap
Harvey
Born Yesterday
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Mary, Mary
The Voice of the Turtle
Barefoot in the Park
Same Time, Next Year
Arsenic and Old Lace
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Angel Street
Lightnin
Cactus Flower
Sleuth
Torch Song Trilogy
Equus
Amadeus
Mister Roberts
The Seven Year Itch
Butterflies Are Free
Plaza Suite
The Teahouse of the August Moon
Never Too Late

27

There are 27 plays

To ever break a thousand performances on Broadway

27

That is an absurdly low number

There are well over a hundred Broadway musicals that have broken a thousand

And I think it's in no small part due to Tony Award performances"

 

Must we have hysterics in every one of your posts?

 

Jordan Catalano said: "In a perfect world, I wish nominated plays could film a full 2-3 min trailer at least to play during the Awards."

I think even this could be ineffective for a great many plays. A lot of plays are just… folks standing or sitting and talking. In the theatre, this can be as electric and intense as any experience you can think of. But it takes a lot of things working together to make that happen. When you try to condense it into a trailer you’ll get… a lot of people standing or sitting talking and sometimes shouting. It comes off stilted or kinda lame.

Musicals have the benefit of having songs that are 2-4 minutes long that can be popped out of context and still work. Plays don’t have that luxury with scenes or monologues. It’ll come off feeling like a thespian troupe competition. 

Oh, totally. In my mind I was thinking more like a full movie trailer treatment with music, editing etc to make it more “exciting”. Again, there’s no perfect way this will ever be addressed which is a real shame. 

They should just copy the Oscars and have two awards: Best play original and best play adapted and in each case the playwright alone would accept the Tony.  As the Tony's stand now there is no award for the playwright unless you count him or her standing behind a crowd of producers taking  bows. As for a trailer as someone mentioned It should only be one protracted scene of the play. (That's what got me to see M With The Hat).  But by just showing a flashy montage the worst play in the world could be made to look good. 

The Oscars show clips but more often montages. But, given time constraints, and the number of musical presentations (new/revival/paid promotion), how long would the play montages be on the Tonys  maybe a minute? I know Hollywood manages to put out minute long trailers to sell a film, and, conceivably, once produced, the montage/trailer can be used to promote a play ... if it were still running. And if it were not a limited run because it was based on star casting.  But, I don't think the Oliviers use clips of plays - filmed or live - and London seems to have a plethora of new plays and revivals, although most are strictly limited runs. 

 

Because of their short runs, many plays aren't even running at the time of the Tony Awards, so that make performances more difficult.  Closed shows aren't going to spend money to create a piece - live or recorded- when nothing will change their bottom line.

 

I think its our own fault that plays flounder on Bway.  Most of the people that frequent these boards have ltittle interest in non-musicals.   I love plays, and I don't get to see as many as I'd like, as I'm an out of towner.  

I wonder if more filmed plays would help.  I know it's a completely different business model, but my understanding is that the Met Opera benefitted greatly from the movie theater screenings.  And I'm not sure how well the simulcast plays have done, but I think giving people an easily accessible, low cost of entry way to watch plays could be good for getting people into as well.  (Though I also wonder how much of people not wanting to go to plays stems from a bad experience with Shakespeare or other plays in English class.  fwiw while I prefer musicals, I find plays easier to read than novels, but sometimes it takes the right director to really make the text come to life).