SCHMIGADOON! Reviews — Page 3

Kimbo said: "This year? I could easily see a situation where (for example)Two Strangers wins Score, Titanique wins Book, Ragtime wins Direction, Cats wins Choreography, The Lost Boys wins several Design awards, and Schmigadoon wins Best Musical (along with orchestration or something else). In a scattered year like this one, all bets are off and results could well be scattered."

I have a feeling Cats will win directing and dominate the design categories.

No, Schmigadoon is not a jukebox musical but it is very hard for a musical with a pre-existing score to win Best Musical. Just in recent years, MJ losing to A Strange Loop and Hell's Kitchen losing to The Outsiders are good recent examples. Moulin Rouge doesn't count because none of the musicals were eligible for score. Once doesn't really count either because its biggest threat (Newsies) was also partly a pre-existing score. To find a time where a show with a pre-existing score truly beat a competitive musical with a fully original score, you have to go back 20 years to Jersey Boys. 

That's not to say that Schmigadoon can't win. It absolutely can and these reviews make it closer than it was before. But it's still an uphill climb, no doubt about that. I still think right now that Two Strangers is going to take Best Musical but we'll see.

And yes, any suggestion that anything other than Cats winning Director seems silly to me. Ragtime might take Lead Actor and Actress while Cats wins Revival, Director, several design categories and possibly Supporting categories. The new musicals will fend for the rest.

Updated On: 4/22/26 at 11:52 PM

Mr. Wormwood said: "No, Schmigadoon is not a jukebox musical but it is very hard for a musical with a pre-existing score to win Best Musical. Just in recent years, MJ losing to A Strange Loop and Hell's Kitchen losing to The Outsiders are good recent examples. Moulin Rouge doesn't count because none of the musicals were eligible for score. Once doesn't really count either because its biggest threat (Newsies) was also partly a pre-existing score. To find a time where a show with a pre-existing score truly beat a competitive musical with a fully original score, you have to go back 20 years to Jersey Boys.

That's not to say that Schmigadoon can't win. It absolutely can and these reviews make it closer than it was before. But it's still an uphill climb, no doubt about that. I still think right now that Two Strangers is going to take Best Musical but we'll see.

And yes, any suggestion that anything other than Cats winning Director seems silly to me. Ragtime might take Lead Actor and Actress while Cats wins Revival, Director,several design categories and possibly Supporting categories. The new musicals will fend for the rest."

Not trying to beat a dead horse but the Once win is absolutely valid regardless of its competition because, much as is the case with Schmigadoon, most people didn’t really hear it or experience it as a “pre-existing score”. (People knew the one song that had won the Oscar but I’d argue that in general by then people were much more familiar with the main songs from Newsies.) 

In fact the whole “pre-existing score” thing is a bit misleading, as regardless of competition a show winning with pre-existing music (especially in a weaker season like this one) happens all the time- there are always one or two a decade that partly qualify: Ain’t Misbehavin’, 42nd St, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Crazy for You, The Lion King, Fosse – this century alone, Contact, Once, Moulin Rouge, PLUS Jersey Boys… if one really wanted to argue the point one could also mention Thoroughly Modern Millie and Spamalot (which had ‘pre-existing songs’), or hell even Hadestown which was a record album first.  Voters just don’t think that way. 

At the end of the day for the most part they vote for which show is better and/or which they enjoy the most. I believe the proof is in the pudding if you look at DidTheyLikeIt and Show-Score where Schmigadoon is well ahead of ALL the competition. On DidTheyLikeIt Schmigadoon has 11 race reviews, 4 mixed and only 1 negative (2 Strangers to take one example has 6 positives, 5 mixed and 2 negative). 

But we’ll see. 

Any word on this extending?  And would the extension or lack thereof potentially affect Tony voters from a "business" standpoint? In other words, would they prefer to vote for a show (basically, Two Strangers or Lost Boys, assuming no miracle for Beaches) who are open to remaining open past September 6?

OhHiii said: "Not for nothing, I think Schmigadoon gives voters the opportunity to reward a "big" show for the first time in a while. Yes, Moulin Rouge in 2021, but that has proven to be an outlier. You shouldn't underestimate the industry's appetite to prove bigger shows can be successful on Broadway too despite the larger expenses. Most of these voters are producers and investors, after all.

Will be a more interesting race this year than initially thought it would seem."
 

SCHMIG may be the "biggest" show of the Best Musical nominees, but 28 in the cast and 14 in the band is not huge. It is hardly bigger than OUTSIDERS (23 in the cast and 9 in the band) and more economical than LOST BOYS (26 cast and 15 band, but a much bigger physical production).

On the subject of the road:

If the "road vote" actually mattered (and I don't think it does in a meaningful way anymore - and I also don't think OhHi is talking about the road specifically), I don't know which way their votes would go from purely an economic/programming standpoint.

• SCHMIGADOON might be too corny and too inside baseball for the masses. The negative anecdote I have heard from a few people is that they feel it gives musical theatre people a bad name. But they might be the outliers.
• TITANIQUE is gay af (complimentary) but at least has big hit songs and known IP.
• LOST BOYS is a massive physical production, gritty and contemporary, and while its spectacle may sell it will have a sky-high Guarantee.
• TWO STRANGERS is tiny and New York-focused, more of a show for mid-tier-and-smaller regional houses.

Updated On: 4/22/26 at 01:20 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "SCHMIG may be the "biggest" show of the Best Musical nominees, but 28 in the cast and 14 in the band is not huge. It is hardly bigger than OUTSIDERS (23 in the cast and9 in the band) andmore economical than LOST BOYS (26 cast and 15 band, but a much bigger physical production).

Always a joy, Erm...

It's not crazy to say that Schmigadoon feels like a bigger, more classic musical than The Outsiders. 

According to Cinco Paul on Twitter, there are 11 new songs in Schmigadoon that were written for the stage show. Looking at IBDB, there are 24 songs. Maybe this gets them close enough to the 50% rule to slide in to the Best Original Score race?

While a nomination for best score would be nice,  i'm just really  hoping for a Broadway Cast Recording

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "According to Cinco Paul on Twitter, there are 11 new songs in Schmigadoon that were written for the stage show. Looking at IBDB, there are 24 songs. Maybe this gets them close enough to the 50% rule to slide in to the Best Original Score race?"

It might come down to the Administration committeecounting literal bars of music, including new lyrics, and determining what "pile" things like dance music and incidental music belongs in.

Based on titles, I count 8, possibly 9, songs as new, out of a total 24 -though maybe he's including reprises?

The new songs:

1. Not That Kinda Gal
2. I'm Engaged
3. What's the Matter With Men?
4. Act 1 finale[??]
5. Baby Talk
6. I Thought I Was the Only One
7. When the Night Is Darkest
8. Melissa's Epiphany
9. Election Day

"

If he wrote that many new songs, I assume he looked into the rule and tried to make it exactly enough to be eligible. If they deem the score eligible, then voters won’t be thinking about which songs are new or old, they’ll just vote for it if they like the score as a whole. I’m convinced Alan Menken won his Tony largely on the strength of the original Newsies songs and not on the songs that actually made the score eligible. 
 

If this score is eligible, it would definitely have my vote. Some of the songs are really catchy, and some of it is quite funny. I also think his ability to write songs that clearly channel specific golden age musical songs while still sounding like an original song is impressive. 

''If he wrote that many new songs, I assume he looked into the rule and tried to make it exactly enough to be eligible.''

Rentaholic2, the same thought crossed my mind. Besides the 8 new songs or so, there might be revised choruses to the original songs from Apple TV. Why would Cinco Paul change that much material unless he were working toward Tony eligibility? Would he really miss the Tony cutoff by just a matter of a couple of songs? If I recall, the new stage version of ''Mary Poppins'' (2006 ) had enough new songs (and additional verses to the Sherman brothers' classic tunes) by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, that it was Tony-eligible for Original Score; however, the Tony nominators chose not to nominate it. Maybe that's what ''Schmigadoon!'' also faces: The Tonys need to determine if enough of the score IS new, and then whether or not to nominate it.

 ''I’m convinced Alan Menken won his Tony largely on the strength of the original Newsies songs and not on the songs that actually made the score eligible.''

That may be true, but let's face it: The original songs by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman were from a 1992 Disney flop movie, one of which even won a Razzie, so for most Broadway audiences and critics, these essentially were new songs.  Personally, I think the newer tunes, like ''Watch What Happens'' and ''Something to Believe In,'' are worthy additions. Also,  ''Newsies'' marked Menken's first Tony win after three other nominations; it recognized a beloved songwriter whose roots began in the theater.

For the record, ''Newsies'' is one of the rare hybrid scores to win a Tony: a mix of pre-existing songs and new ones. (1974's ''Gigi'' might be the other.) In 2010, there were only two eligible book musicals with new scores: ''Memphis'' and ''The Addams Family.'' So the Tonys filled out the category with the songs from ''Enron'' and music from ''Fences,'' both plays. In 2012, the Tonys nominated two musicals for Score: ''Newsies'' and ''Bonnie & Clyde.'' And filled out the category with songs from two plays: ''One Man, Two Guvnors'' and ''Peter and the Starcatcher.'' Notably, the Tony nominators snubbed the scores of three book musicals: ''Lysistrata Jones,'' ''Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' and ''Leap of Faith'' (which got a sole Tony nod for Best Musical!).

And speaking of hybrid scores, doesn't ''The Lost Boys'' include some older songs by the Rescues that have been rewritten or repurposed for the new musical?

Updated On: 4/26/26 at 01:22 PM

Kad said: "2010 was a bleak year. I recall rooting for the fun rockabilly score from One Man, Two Guv'nors to win."

That was 2012.

''Is SCHMIG expected to make it to Tony's? Seems like the reviews didn't translate to ticket sales''

Way too early to tell. I can recall shows like ''Memphis'' (10/18/09 ) and ''Spring Awakening'' (12/10/06 ) that opened in mid- or late fall. They struggled through the winter and spring, and it was only after they won Best Musical at the Tonys, that their sales finally took off. That happened more recently with ''Maybe Happy Ending'' (11/12/24 ), which got off to a slow start.