Reidel's June 3rd Column
Reidel's June 3rd Column
Reidel's June 3rd Column#1
Posted: 6/3/09 at 9:43amAnyone read Reidel's column to day re: the Tony's? I totally agree with Spacey's comments that the Tony's should be on PBS, allowing for a complete and fair distribution of presentations relevent to the season under consideration. The idea that Best Revival of a Play be relegated to the earlier part while the show is being cluttered up with scenes from touring productions of shows from previous seasons is outrageous. For once and for all, get the Tony's off CBS and put them where they belong.
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#2
Posted: 6/3/09 at 10:24amI agree. Especially considering CBS is always complaining about the low ratings.
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#2
Posted: 6/3/09 at 10:47amI recall a few years when there was the two-hour network telecast which was preceeded by a one-hour PBS telecast that presented the awards not deemed "important enough" to be on CBS. That seemed to work out fairly well.
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#3
Posted: 6/3/09 at 10:51amYou're correct, Times Square. Needless to say, the hour that was on PBS was much better than the CBS coverage and, at the time, many people were clamoring for the whole show to be on PBS. It was great to see that hour with no commericials.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#4
Posted: 6/3/09 at 11:07amThe purpose of the Tony Awards is to promote Broadway and sell tickets. A two hour show on CBS sells more tickets.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#6
Posted: 6/3/09 at 11:32amThat's not true at all. The Tonys was meant and designed to promote excellence in theater, not sell tickets. The same way the Oscars is meant to promote excellence in film. Most of those films aren't blockbusters, and most of them no one has seen, so why are the Tonys any different? Most of middle American probably hasn't heard of or seen many of the musicals or plays currently playing on Broadway, so what's the point of trying to cater to those people? Why promote a show - Legally Blonde - that wasn't even nominated when it was on Broadway? Seems stupid.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#7
Posted: 6/3/09 at 12:09pmYes yes yes and the Grammys were to honor outstanding accomplishments in the recording fields. They are all completely about promoting their product.
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#8
Posted: 6/3/09 at 4:32pm
While their real purpose may be to honor excellence, awards shows also have an incredible power to promote, which should not be ignored. Anytime something wins a major award, it usually automatically becomes popular, regardless of whether they watched the telecast on which the award was presented. Even being nominated for awards brings a boost to the box office/sales of the product/show/movie, etc.
Any movie that wins major Oscars, especially Best Picture, automatically gets a boost at the box office, as people want to witness an award winner, something special.
The Tonys have the most marketing power, as theater is by far the most insulated and least accesible entertainment field. A movie ticket is up to $10. A theater ticket is up to over $100. Not everyone can afford to go to the theater. So if the Tony Awards want to market the shows to a broader audience, where they will get more notice, more power to them. It is also good for shows in general, as many get box office boosts merely from performing on the telecast, even if they win nothing. And so theater in general has something to gain from the Tonys, other than having excellence in their craft recognized. It goes back to the old statement about tourists: they'd be more likely to choose a show that they've seen a number from and are familiar with than a show they know little to nothing about, if we suppose they know nothing about theater. A little entrepenuership mixed into an awards show is not a bad thing if it helps shows stay afloat.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#9
Posted: 6/3/09 at 11:56pm
I totally understand that reasoning, but I think there are far better ways to do that and still keep some strand of dignity in the award.
Why not have each play perform a scene? Give them 5 mins or something, and let them put something together to promote their show.
Why not have medley's from each nominated "score" sung or played to showcase them?
Why not show case Off-Broadway theaters and shows. I think most tourists are kind of confused about Off-Broadway, so why not showcase it a little?
I mean, I know none of these ideas are sure, but why not do something like that instead of promoting a show that's already won the Tony, is still sell-out on Broadway, and is probably having a pretty successful tour (I'm looking at you Jersey Boys). Or why not give a segment of the show to providing a backstage tour with a current long running Broadway show. I'm sure viewers would get a kick out of going backstage at Wicked or Mamma Mia or something.
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#10
Posted: 6/4/09 at 12:29amTo be fair, it is a lot harder for a play to perform a scene out of context than a musical.
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#11
Posted: 6/4/09 at 12:35amI remember a few years ago they had some of the actors from the different nominated plays reading lines while standing at music stands. I remember being incredibly bored. Especially since the lines were all from different plays they didn't really mesh together all that well. It was just a mish mash.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#12
Posted: 6/4/09 at 12:37amOh, yeah, I can totally seeing it being hard, but like, even on Broadway World when they do the "show previews," I think something like that would work. It's hard to cheer for a play you've never seen, so if they can show some of the nominated shows, I think that may help. Or, having The Early Show having a segment of their show devoted to the Tonys would help. Like doing it the week before and just every day showing a clip or two from some of the nominated shows. It might help to build awareness or hype. Just something!
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#13
Posted: 6/4/09 at 5:12amYeah, the actors standing at the lectern reading lines from plays didn't work, but scenes from the plays were presented live, in costume on set replicas, on the Tonys from 1987 to 1990. Most of the segments worked great, in my opinion. Highlights of those segments included Linda Lavin and Jonathan Silverman in Broadway Bound, James Earl Jones and Courtney B. Vance in Fences, Annette Bening and Tim Daly in Coastal Disturbances, Tim Hutton, Mary Louise Parker and Barnard Hughes in Prelude to a Kiss, John Lithgow and B.D. Wong in M. Butterfly and especially Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack, bringing down the house in a scene from Lettice and Lovage.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/12/05
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#15
Posted: 6/4/09 at 1:38pm
When PBS showed the "First 10 Awards" segments from 1997 to 2002 many local stations opted not to carry them leaving fans in those cities without access. If the whole show went to PBS that might also be a problem.
Our local PBS station ran the Drama Desk Awards once in 2006, showing it at 2 AM a week after the awards. And remember how many BWW fans didn't get to see LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA because their stations didn't show it.
You may also remember that "The First 10 Awards" just featured the awards and profile segments on the nominees. They did not show any scenes from plays or numbers from musicals. The PBS programs had a curiously off-Broadway look and feel compared to the more expensive CBS segments.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/04
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#16
Posted: 6/4/09 at 5:38pm
CBS needs to wake up and smell the grease paint! For years they have tried to increase ratings among the general viewing audience by adding people to present who had little or no connection to Broadway. It doesn't work. The only people who will EVER watch this are theater fans. Adding musical snips from touring companies will not attract people in the midwest or elsewhere unless they are already theater fans. That is the way of the world. Why not allow the theater pros to get the recognition they deserve among their colleagues and IF you are going to televise it, throw it to PBS who has supported music, opera, theater and art for years. At least that way we can see all the awards.
If you believe that the TONYs attract theater lovers who are planning to come to NY, you are talking about a small part of the total TV viewing population and anyone who is really interested can find snips of shows on their web sites today and see interviews and performances on talk shows. In this season so ripe with excellent play revivals, and in light of the fact that plays contribute to nearly half of the income on Broadway, one would think we would not diss the theater pros working on these plays.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
re: Reidel's June 3rd Column#18
Posted: 6/4/09 at 9:17pm
I'd be much happier if nothing were changed about the Tonys but the grocer's apostrophe some people insist on putting in the word Tonys.
You know, like Tomato's $1.39/lb.
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