Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony.....

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 1:55pm

Seven Drama Desk awards for The Drowsy Chaperone. That's a pretty solid win, isn't it. Kinda makes one think the Tony Awards aren't necessarily going to be a big celebration in New Jersey everyone had predicted, huh?

Just positing an idea....

(and rubbing it in with salt)....

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 1:58pm

"Jersey" did well at the Outer Critics Circle Awards.
The only surprise that I saw was the 'Best Musical' prize.
Noone really expected "Jersey" to take any technical awards, just for acting and for the show itself.
Why would you start a thread just to rub salt into a wound?

[Craig]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 2:00pm

Oh.. I didn't realize that you HAD to celebrate a show you favor by knocking another. I thought you could just enjoy the success the show you favor is having. I'm glad you taught me that valuable lesson

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 2:01pm

Drowsy deserved the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical and I'm glad it won!

[JerseyScoundrel]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 2:03pm

The fact that John won the award means that the show will benefit from the ceremony hands down.

[Calvin]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 2:11pm

Are you suggesting that The Wedding Singer isn't going to win best musical? Hold your tongue!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 2:15pm

While I'm happy that Drowsy did so well at the Drama Desks, I wouldn't call it a lock for the Best Musical Tony just yet. Jersey Boys is clearly going to be a HUGE hit on the road when it starts touring and that's gonna be a big selling point to many of the voters (roughly 25% are from out of town and are involved in presenting Broadway tours). Drowsy because of its title is going to be something of a harder sell around the country -- though it certainly may do well.

Drowsy is definitely going to pick up several Tonys, but I, for one, won't be shocked if Jersey Boys takes home the main prize.

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 2:47pm

Craig is feisty today.

Jersey Boys and Drowsy are still up in the air for Best Musical. I give the edge to Drowsy as of now, although I would no be suprised either way.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 3:07pm

I don't know if I'd call Craig feisty, as much as 'dead right.'

[Craig]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 3:24pm

Thanks Princeton. I don't live in a bubble nor do I think that people will always be kind. But I never understood the idea that to make something or someone else "better" it meant having to make something or someone else look worse. Never understood it in live, business or on message boards.

And one can certainly make arguments for favoring one over another and their preference. But when a post is made with spite that's so blatant ("rubbing in the salt") I just have to sigh.

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 3:29pm

No, I completely agree with Craig. I was commenting on the fact that he is putting his opinion right on the line today and not really sugar coating anything. I hope you didnt think I was insulting you or anything. I just found it amusing.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 3:35pm

Although i don't want Jersey Boys to win, i think it was a better musical than Drowsy. And it will be a huge hit on the road. It should win, it was the biggest hit of the season and it didn't need Tony nominations to get there. If The Color Purple wins, that would make Oprah the queen of the theatre as well as the queen of TV and that is too much!!! The Wedding Singer is my favorite and i think it's going to be a hit if it tours, but probably it won't win, unfortunatly. The latter is the only one of the 4 shows that didn't make me check my watch every 10 minutes.

[WiiCKED x3]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 3:40pm

I think JB was better than TDC.
In my opionion.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 4:06pm

Well, since people have mentioned the rubbing salt comment, I'll elaborate.

I was just jokingly, in many ways, reacting to some of the comments that I saw posted about The Drowsy Chaperone before the show opened. There were some fans who thought the show was wonderful. I suspect they had actually seen the show either in Los Angeles or in previews. There were others who simply shat on the show before they saw it, or made rude comments about the longevity of the show before the reviews came in. And mainly, of those who put the show down, there were the defensive fans of The Jersey Boys who seen to think that JB is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I saw the show and I must admit it is moving and the choreography is quite good. The young chap playing Frankie Vallie is a wonderful talent. But still, is it the best musical of the year?

I find Margo's rationale fascinating. The sad fact that the Jersey Boys could win because a group of out-of-town theater bookers will vote for the show they can best sell is appalling.

The Tonys, perhaps more than the Oscars or the Emmys (and certainly The Globes) are supposed to be a recognition of artistic excellence; of accomplishment, guts and creativity. On those grounds alone, DC is on a different level than JB.

Chaperone is cut from whole cloth as a single work of creativity. Each song was written for this show, each line was crafted for this show. The authors and composers started out with nothing, blank paper and sheet music. What they created is totally unique. It had never been seen before it appeared on the stage behind The Rivoli Bar in Toronto and it grew larger and more successful with every incarnation. The producers saw the show in Toronto and envisioned a Broadway show and their vision and investment has paid off.

Jersey Boys is a clever idea, but hardly original. Whether you call it a jukebox musical or not, there is not one song in the show that was written by a composer who sat down and said "I'm going to write a score called "The Jersey Boys." Every song was tried and tested as individual units. The story of Frankie Vallie and The Four Seasons is an amazing journey through adversity but again, there is a huge difference between telling a story and creating a story.

The other contenders, The Color Purple and The Wedding Singer are also adaptations, this time of fiction instead of life, but I still posit that neither required quite as much bravery as The Drowsy Chaperone. One had the backing of the biggest Hollywood Studio. The other had Opera Winfrey, a goddess in her own rights. I am not certain that the producers and creators of either show, or, for that matter, Jersey Boys, spent as many sleepless nights as the creators of Chaperone who, to parpahrase John Hancock, braved the waters of Broadway on a skiff made of paper.

So that's my rationale. That's why I am feeling some hope (which may very well, as Margo said) be dashed in a few weeks. And that's why I said nay-nay-nay-nay-nay, but just in fun.

I actually like and admire everyone who posts here.

Well, except... oh never mind. That's for another post.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 4:21pm

Very well put allofmylife!
And I agree wholeheartedly.

I hope DROWSY is appreciated for the Clever Original Wonderful New Musical that it is.

Good luck to all the nominees!

Posted: 5/22/06 at 4:37pm

I heart allmylife and TDC!

[GreatWhiteWay]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 4:59pm

If The Color Purple wins, that would make Oprah the queen of the theatre

Hardly.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 5:06pm

Just because a show is a completely original work from scratch does not make it award worthy. If that were true, IN MY LIFE would have been nominated and that's absurd.

Now, don't think I am poo-pooing TDC. I saw it and I loved it.

But I still feel JERSEY BOYS is a far more moving piece of theatre with an excellent cast that deliver towering performances.

That makes it award-worthy.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 5:14pm

I am probably wrong. But I just have this nagging feeling that The Color Purple might surprise us all and take the Tony for Best Musical if Drowsy doesn't.

[courtnyj]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 7:03pm

I understand your "feeling" uncageg. The Tony race for Best Musical is looking more and more like a toss up. I was disappointed by Jersey Boys...probably because I had too high of expectations. And I actually enjoyed The Wedding Singer and The Color Purple again probably because I had such low expectations...but I digress. My point is there is no "lock" for Best Musical. I've no doubt The Drowsy Chaperone will take home quite a few awards...but Best Musical? (even though it'd be my pick) I think the winner will be the surprise of the night a la "Crash" at the Academy Awards.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 7:40pm

Drowsy Chaperone Best Musical? Yes. If you go strictly by past winners, certainly. It delivers all original material. Totally created for Broadway. There have been only four previous winners which used material not writen directly for the Broadway stage: 1954's "Kismet", 1978's "Ain't Misbehavin'", 1981's "42nd Street",2000's "Contact". Ignoring "Contact" which won in an incredibly lean year, two of the other three are much more solid book shows and that leaves Misbehavin'. So I guess there is a precident, but it's pretty slim. Basically, the Best Musical should by tradition be built from the ground up. (Okay there are a few adaptations of other musicals like "Crazy for You" and "Me and My Girl" and the two dance shows "Fossee" and "Jerome Robbins' Broadway" but again, they all have strong ties to musical theater.)

Damn it, if "Ain't Misbehavin': wasn't on the list, I couldsay a jukebox show has NEVER won a Tony. Okay, missed by THAAAAAT much....

[NickHyper]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 8:18pm

I recently saw both shows. In fact, back to back. This past Saturday night I saw Jersey Boys and the next day on Sunday I was lucky enough to win the Drowsy Chaperone lottery and I loved both shows. I have to say that I understand most people's points here. The Drowsy Chaperone might be able to receive some more credit for being a completely original show, but that alone doesn't make it better. Obviously we are all stating our opinions, and that's what awards like these are anyways, it's the personal opinions of a group of people.

Both shows, in my personal opinion :), are amazing. Jersey Boys was high energy with an intriguing story, great acting, phenomenal singing, and just about everything you could want from an entertaining night out at the theatre. The thing is, so was the Drowsy Chaperone. For me it comes down to one thing since I thought both show were amazing. I left Jersey Boys with a much different feeling than I did leaving TDC. I left with an electric feeling that I have really only felt maybe about twice before when seeing a show. Again, I think both shows are Tony worthy, and I don't feel that the "completely original" thing puts much weight on the situation at all. But hey, I respect the fact that some of you do :)

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 8:27pm

allofmylife: Don't forget that the lyrics for CATS were not written for the stage show. They were written as poems by T.S. Elliot.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:20pm

wonderfulwizard11, I missed that one. In fact, it's the only example like that on the list of winners since 1949. I acknowledge that MOST of the Tony winners for best musical are adaptations of successful books or plays or movies, so I make no point about the libretto. However, since it's a MUSICAL, I place heavy emphasis on the originality of the music (although again, there's "Thoroughly Modern Millie", which interpolated songs by other composers so the paridgm isn't rigid).

If Jersey Boys wins, I will have no bitter feelings. As NickHyper said, you can't bottle the thrill when you walk out of the theater after that show. It is certainly well-produced (which I guess many would say is the point of the Tony Award).

I guess we win either way....

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:26pm

Drowsy Chaperone Best Musical? Yes.

Again, I'm not blasting THE DROWSY CHAPERONE. I loved it.

But saying that TDC should automatically win Best Musical because it's all original material crafted especially for the stage is absurd. If the material is not up to par...then it's not award-worthy.

I love TDC.

But JERSEY BOYS is a superbly crafted show that has a VERY wide appeal. It's the kind of show that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The kind of people that will go see TDC are the savvy theatregoers with a knowledge of the era of musicals that TDC strives to spoof. It's a wonderful show, don't get me wrong.

But this is also show "business" and business-wise JERSEY BOYS is a supreme package. It's an astounding show with a wide appeal.

This is a no-brainer.

Updated On: 5/22/06 at 10:26 PM