Does anyone understand what the intent is behind "Those actors eligible must be playing in roles that were eligible in the Best Performance category in the season the show first opened"? The only people whom I can think of who aren't eligible in a Best Performance category are the Special Theatrical Event folks, and I think it is unlikely that any replacements in such a show would get nominated anyway (especially since there are no currently running shows that were Special Theatrical Events). Can someone shed some light as to why they would feel the need to mention this?
And I agree the whole six-months of public performances rule, while necessary, is going to be very hard to interpret. Does the person have to start the six-month contract during the eligibility year, but be on for six months prior to the nominations? That would rule out most replacements for shows that opened the previous spring. If they don't have to be on for six months already, what happens if the show unexpectedly closes or the person unexpectedly is unable to continue performing (as has happened to Joel Grey and James Earl Jones in recent years)? Does the winner have to give back the Tony? If the person has to have completed the six months already (and could very well be done by the time nominations come around), then how many of the voters will have bothered to see a potentially eligible replacement performance in a show that is otherwise ineligible? The only such performances I can imagine most voters bothering to see would be the "celebrity" performances. It is also ironic that someone like Michael Ball (who is performing from Oct to March in WiW) can win a Tony for a performance contract that would make him ineligible as a replacement.
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