How was this eligible for best original score considering there was the 1975 film adaptation?
The rules were different then.
The Tonys had extremely lenient rules back then. It's an insane win.
Other similarly crazy Best Score nominations or wins include:
Adding to Ermengarde's list, T.S. Eliot also won Best Book for Cats which is wild. That award should have gone to Trevor Nunn and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
And, for State Fair, the Tonys also decided that only the songs Driving at Night, You Never Had It So Good, When I Go Out Walking With My Baby and Boys and Girls Like You and Me were eligible for consideration. The voters had to just ignore the majority of the score (not that it had a chance of winning over Rent). The following season they instituted the rule that as long as 50% of the score is new, the whole thing is eligible for consideration. Scores containing less than 50% new material are ineligible.
theatreguy said: "And, for State Fair, the Tonys also decided thatonly the songs Driving at Night, You Never Had It So Good, When I Go Out Walking With My Baby and Boys and Girls Like You and Me were eligible for consideration. The voters had to just ignore the majority of the score (not that it had a chance of winning over Rent). The following season they instituted the rule that as long as 50% of the score is new, the whole thing is eligible for consideration. Scores containing less than 50% new material are ineligible."
The "50% new" rule has always been a little odd, because there's no way to enforce it. And then on shows like Beauty, Mermaid, and Aladdin, Howard Ashman was nominated, when he had no role in the new material. Now, I don't think anyone's mad about Howard having posthumous nominations, but it's weird that he would be included on the nomination roster when technically the nominators were not allowed to consider his work.
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theatreguy said: "Adding to Ermengarde's list, T.S. Eliot also won Best Book for Cats which is wild. That award should have gone to Trevor Nunn and Andrew Lloyd Webber."
Actually, that award SHOULD have gone to literally anything other than Cats. But yes, if they were awarding that abomination of a show, Trevor Nunn and ALW should have been the recipients.
To be fair, a huge chunk of the 1975 lyrics did not make it to the musical. Nor did the songs specifically written for the film.
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