Tony Voting Question

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 8/14/19 at 9:51am

Do voters have to see a show in person, or does watching a video count? For short runs, shows that open/close early in the season, and shows in small theaters, if it is not possible to see a show live, can producers send out DVDs to voters for their review? Live is always better, but it is always possible? 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/14/19 at 10:04am

nope. live only. 

[jagman1062]

Posted: 8/14/19 at 12:56pm

Tony voters have to attend a live performance.  Producers provide seats to Tony voters so that they can see the show.  I believe a recent change to Tony rules is that voters must have seen all the nominees in a category to vote in that category.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 8/14/19 at 1:25pm

Voters must see the show live. This is the major reason why it is difficult for closed productions to win a Tony Award. (Though it should be noted that there is a separate group of Nominators who are required to see every single show).

This past season, the Tonys instituted an online portal where voters had to log the dates they saw each Broadway performance. Then the system would generate a personalized ballot containing only the categories where a voter had seen all the nominees. (IE: If a voter missed Choir Boy and had no logged attendance, their ballot would not have included Best Play, Lead Actor in a Play, Choreography, or Sound Design of a Play). This system was implemented to cut down on voters who would vote in categories despite not seeing every nominee (in which case they were supposed to abstain, but this was based on an honor system and the rule was frequently ignored). 

Updated On: 8/14/19 at 01:25 PM

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/14/19 at 4:41pm

I believe a recent change to Tony rules is that voters must have seen all the nominees in a category to vote in that category.

 

As the previous poster said, that has always been the rule, but only recently did they implement a system that allowed them to actually enforce that rule.

 

A few years ago, after SCOTTSBORO BOYS closed so early in the season and then received a bunch of nominations, the producers invited Tony voters to scheduled viewings of the archival recording at the Performing Arts Library. I assume that would have counted and voters who attended one of the library viewings would have been allowed to vote. But that was before the new system, so nothing would have stopped voters from voting in those categories anyway. If that situation happened again, I honestly don't know if it would be allowed under the new system, but I hope so, as it is a way for closed shows to have a chance. Of course seeing the show live is always better, but a tape is better than nothing.

[jagman1062]

Posted: 8/14/19 at 9:13pm

Yero my Hero said: "I believe a recent change to Tony rules is that voters must have seen all the nominees in a category to vote in that category.



As the previous poster said, that has always been the rule, but only recently did they implement a system that allowed them to actually enforce that rule.



A few years ago, after SCOTTSBORO BOYS closed so early in the season and then received a bunch of nominations, the producers invited Tony voters to scheduled viewings of the archival recording at the Performing Arts Library. I assume that would have counted and voters who attended one of the library viewings would have been allowed to vote. But that was before the new system, so nothing would have stopped voters from voting in those categories anyway. If that situation happened again, I honestly don't know if it would be allowed under the new system, but I hope so, as it is a way for closed shows to have a chance. Of course seeing the show live is always better, but a tape is better than nothing."

Yes, my bad wording.  The rules were that voters had to see all the shows in a category to be eligible to vote in that category and not enforced very well, but it wasn't until this year that a mechanism was put in place to enforce that rule.  I only wonder if there's a way to verify that voters actually saw a show when the log in and report that they they saw the show as a previous poster indicated. If voters received bar coded tickets that were scanned when entering and exiting the theater, their presence can be recorded and cross-referenced with their self-reports of having attended a show.  Today's technology can track attendance easily.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/16/19 at 7:24pm

I believe they have to upload a picture of their tickets or Playbill, or something like that. It's not a perfect system, but it's better than the honors system they had before.