The 74th Annual Tony Awards (2021) - News & Discussion Thread — Page 2

I would recommend that everybody making predictions give themselves a refresher on these:

https://www.tonyawards.com/news/tony-awards-eligibility-for-2020-part-1/

https://www.tonyawards.com/news/tony-awards-eligibility-for-2020-part-2/



And remember that if an actor is above the title, they are considered leading UNLESS mentioned otherwise in those 2 links above. And the same is true for the reverse: if an actor is below the title, they are automatically featured UNLESS deemed leading in one of the links above.

To figure out whether an actor was above the title in the program, go to the "program" section for each show and look at the title page:

https://www.playbill.com/seasons?year=2019

No clue if this is even being discussed as a possibility, but I wonder if there's consideration to combining plays and musicals this year. Just have Best Production, Best Revival, Best Actor, Best Actress, etc. with no distinction. That would essentially give us about the same number of contenders that we would normally have for each category and would solve problems such as only having West Side Story eligible for musical revival (still no clue what they'll do about score though....would really cringe at the thought of Lightning Thief winning by default).

JBroadway said: "Danny Burstein is eligible in the featured category. Leading actor will hopefully go to Isaac Powell, assuming the production is eligible. IMO, no one else in that category is deserving of a Tony, but I guess it'll have to go to Aaron Tveit."

Came here to say something similar. I almost don't want them to do the Tony Awards like this with such a short season, to avoid defaulting to Tveit. He was basically sleepwalking the night I saw MR, and I'd rather see a fuller lead actor category.

HeyMrMusic said: "People have always said that the Tony Awards are a big commercial for Broadway. Well, we need that right now if Broadway is to come back. Even if this is simply symbolic, I welcome it. There have been less-than-stellar seasons in the past. At least this season has a really good excuse."

The part that I wonder about this is that it's always a big commercial for Broadway in part because shows pay to perform and therefore advertise themselves. But if everything is still shut down, are shows going to put up the money to perform? Are the Tonys going to let them perform for free? That's one of the big questions about this.

Mr. Wormwood said: "I wonder if there's any chance there's a permanent change in the season and the Tonys going to fall. Especially if new shows are opening in late spring to early summer in 2021 (I know that's a big if)"



To be honest, I don't understand why the Tony season is on the schedule it is. It doesn't make sense with the way theatre seasons are actually constructed. Non-profit theatres (which make up the majority of theatre in NY, and probably the world) officially start their new seasons in the fall, and commercial theatre tends to follow suit, in the sense that we see a wave of openings in the fall, not the summer.

By all other metrics, Summer openings come at the end of a theatre season, not the beginning. But the Tonys rule it otherwise because of their schedule, and many casual theatre fans, who only pay attention to Broadway, think that's the be-all-end-all ruling of what "season" things occur in.

Updated On: 8/21/20 at 12:09 PM

No idea what to fully expect but absolutely love this. There are worthy winners for everything. I guess the only acting category in musicals that is by default for the most part is if Aaron wins for Moulin Rouge (only other eligible is Chris McCarrell for Lightning Thief). Adrienne and Danny have been close to locks for their respective categories even when we did have a full season (yes Sharon would've also been close to a lock). Lauren was also the frontrunner alongside Patti so I don't really get the fuss. This is just all good news.

Yes, the nominations might not be the most exciting but who cares! Throw people a bone in this mess of a year. More than anything happy to get closure on these shows.

Det95 said: "Once Broadway reopens and voters can see shows again I hope the committee will make an exception, and allow the shows that opened this season but we’re deemed ineligible for these Tony’s to compete next time. It would really be a shame if those shows aren’t given their due due to the shutdown."



I'm sure they would allow them to compete next year. I think it's unlikely that the committee would disqualify them simply on the basis of timing. I would guess that the only way shows like West Side Story and Girl From the North Country get disqualified entirely (I.e not eligible in ANY season), is if they end up not re-opening (which is a possibility).

Genuine question for those who are familiar with the voting process: if, say, only some of the voters managed to see a show, is there any chance they could change rules so those shows are still eligible, but only the voters who saw it can vote in that category?

JBroadway said: "Det95 said: "Once Broadway reopens and voters can see shows again I hope the committee will make an exception, and allow the shows that opened this season but we’re deemed ineligible for these Tony’s to compete next time. It would really be a shame if those shows aren’t given their due due to the shutdown."



I'm sure they would allow them to compete next year. I think it's unlikely that the committee would disqualify them simply on the basis of timing. I would guess that the only way shows like West Side Story and Girl From the North Country get disqualified entirely (I.e not eligible in ANY season), is if they end up not re-opening (which is a possibility).

Genuine question for those who are familiar with the voting process: if, say, only some of the voters managed to see a show, is there any chance they could change rules so those shows are still eligible, but only the voters who saw it can vote in that category?"

Given that 1984 a few seasons ago was deemed ineligible because one member of the nominating committee didn’t see the show (At least that’s how I’m remembering that) I don’t think that’s likely. Please do correct me if I’m wrong.

uncageg said: "I am a bit confused. Why would "Girl From the North Country" not be eligible because it opened too close to the shutdown? Are they possibly using a date prior to their opening as a cut off date for eligibility?"

I think the issue is not enough nominators seeing the shows that opened too close to the shutdown.

JBroadway said: "Genuine question for those who are familiar with the voting process: if, say, only some of the voters managed to see a show, is there any chance they could change rules so those shows are still eligible, but only the voters who saw it can vote in that category?"

I don't think rules would need to be changed. As it is now, only those who have seen every show in a category can vote in that category (although that rule is for the most part self-policed.) So they could leave it as-is and say only those who saw everything can vote. But the Tony Awards Administration Committee has the power to change or create new rules too.