Who Votes For the Tony Awards?

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 5/30/04 at 9:32pm

I know they are people on some kind of "Tony Commitee" but who are these people, what are there backgrounds and how are they chosen to be the jury? :)

[Dawg]

Posted: 5/30/04 at 10:42pm

Apparently half-75% of the Tony voters are out-of-town presenters who never even see the shows, generally they vote for whatever is the most commercially viable to tour to their theatre in Parkersburgh, WV. The rest of the Tony voters are made up of people like Paul Wontorek who is apparently more concerned with announcing he's a Tony voter on Broadway.com than he actually is in making appropriate decisions.

[NuggetMonkeys]

Posted: 5/30/04 at 10:50pm

The American Theatre Wing.
-d.b.j-

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/30/04 at 11:36pm

Wow, I thought I was cynical. NO, half to 75% are NOT "out-of-town presenters who never even see the shows." Jed Bernstein of the League put the number at less than 10% in a letter in Today's Times. That sounds a bit low to me, but I still wouldn't put the out of town vote at more than 20 - 30% (and the VAST majority of them see all of the shows -- remember they're rich and, besides every Tony voter gets a pair of comp tickets to every nominated show).

The 700+ Tony voters consist of former winners in the various categories, members of all of the unions (Equity, stagehands, costumes, lights, etc....). Here's the exact language you can find at Tonyawards.com:

"When the Tony Awards were established in 1947, voting was limited to members of the board of the American Theatre Wing and of entertainment industry performer and craft unions. In 1954, voting eligibility was expanded to include other theatre professionals, and today there are approximately 700 eligible voters, a number that fluctuates slightly from year to year. These include the board of directors and designated members of the advisory committee of the American Theatre Wing; members of the governing boards of Actors' Equity Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, United Scenic Artists, American Federation of Musicians Local 802, and the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers; those persons whose names appear on the first night press list; members of the Theatrical Council of the Casting Society of America; and active members of the League of American Theatres and Producers.

Voters are expected to attend all nominated productions; or at least to refrain form voting in any category in which they have not seen all of the nominees. Ties occur from time to time. For example in 1960, Fiorello and The Sound of Music shared top honors in the Best Musical category, and so this volume includes songs from both shows.

Voting by secret ballot takes place in the weeks before the June awards ceremony. Strict precautions are taken to assure that no one, save a limited number of representatives from the accounting firm that manages the voting, knows the name of the winners until they are announced on the Tony telecast.

Nominations are determined by the Tony Awards Nominating Committee. This rotating group of up to 30 theatre professionals is selected by the Tony Awards Administration Committee. Nominators serve for overlapping three-year terms. They are asked to see every new Broadway production and then meet on the Sunday evening following the Tony eligibility deadline. They determine the nominations based on secret ballots supervised by an accounting firm. The results are announced early the following morning."

[junglered]

Posted: 5/30/04 at 11:54pm

Many thanks are owed to you for a most eloquent and accurate explanation of the Tony Award voting process, Margo. You are indeed an asset to the BWW family.

[NuggetMonkeys]

Posted: 5/30/04 at 11:59pm

wahoo.
-d.b.j-

[Dawg]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 12:01am

Come now, do you really think that there are 700+ people who see every musical and play that is nominated in a season? And do you also believe that the "VAST majority" is only going to vote if they see all the nominees? Of the 20+ voters I know personally, I don't know one who has seen all the nominated shows. And I highly doubt in a season where the validity and even necessity of the Tony Awards is being questioned so publicly, that the head of the League is going to advertise the fact that a majority of the voters are out of town presenters. Although, I do appreciate your thorough cut and paste from the Tony Awards website. :) sorry, having a bitter evening apparently.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 12:30am

Apparently.

I know press reps for most of the shows and according to them, they have been BESEEGED by ticket requests from Tony voters in the last couple of weeks since the nominations came out. Yes indeed, despite what you may believe "THE VAST MAJORITY" of Tony voters actually see every one of the nominated shows before they cast their ballots.

I'm not sure how long you've been around the Broadway scene or how intimately you know the nuts and bolts of the Tony Awards, but there is always an annual "invasion" by the road folks during the month of May that everyone here is very aware of. Most of the road voters are theatre owners and producers who are in NY frequently throughout the year anyway, but even the handful of those who are not, come in in May for the dozens of fancy luncheons, dinners, cocktail parties etc... thrown for them that happen in the weeks leading up to the Tonys. It's a big annual vacation for most of them that few of them ever miss (rich folks love all of the free stuff they get showered with at this time of the year -- for example, every nominated show will typically throw a big glamorous party for the Tony voters, hosted by the cast who will typically perform and schmooze for the them).

Sorry to burst your bubble, but nearly every Tony voter is in town as we speak seeing the nominated shows. Yes, it screws over shows like "Big River" and "Retreat from Moscow" and "Match" that have already closed, but dems the breaks.

Now, will they actually vote for their favorite(s) or will they votes for the show(s) that they think will make them the most money in the next several years???...... THAT's the question...............

Updated On: 5/31/04 at 12:30 AM

[Dawg]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 10:29am

See, I feel like the question is how many of them actually do see all the shows? You said yourself, many probably didn't see BIG RIVER, MATCH and shows like TABOO which are all up for awards, some major. Shouldn't voting be excluded to those people who have a basis to vote from?

I would like to call upon the American Theatre Wing to report exactly what percentage of their voters (who actively voted in this year's Tony's) actually saw all the nominated shows.

And we obviously have just heard different things as far as percentages of out-of-town presenters who are Tony voters-that's something I first heard nearly ten years ago from someone who was an out-of-town presenter/voter. From what I also hear it's the week after the nominations are announced that the out of towners are here-even if they are here a full week-that allows them to see 8 shows, maybe 9. Outside of that, it's close to impossible-I highly doubt that these people take a month off of their schedule to come to NYC to see all the nominated shows.

And then yes, the next question is do they vote for artistic merit or financial? Although I think we all know the answer to that question...

[Plum]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 12:10pm

Yes, we do. It varies. There is no hard and fast rule, whatever the aggrieved fans of Urinetown might think. Yes, the votes will lean towards the money, always, but some years there are other factors to take into account. Passion, anyone? Updated On: 5/31/04 at 12:10 PM

[Dawg]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 11:26am

Dawg appreciates Michael Riedel exposing TonyGate in today's column. The numbers he reported are disappointing, not shocking, but certainly disappointing.


35% of Tony Voters have seen FROZEN
Half the Tony Voters didn't see BIG RIVER

A top press agent estimates that, on average, only 50 percent of the 735 Tony voters bother to see all the nominated plays.

For musicals, the average is about 70 percent, he says.

It's interesting that "PASSION" was brought up in this thread...that was 10 years ago this year-How much longer do we have to wait for a show with real artistic merit to win best musical?

I hope that Riedel's column will incur some change. The only way people outside the industry are going to take it seriously, is if the people within the industry start doing the same.

NO SEE-UMS BUG EM

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 1:15pm

damn eye-opening article

[Plum]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 1:59pm

I agree- that was a good column by Riedel, for a change. He makes a good gadfly. :)

But let's face it, one column doesn't widespread outrage make. Maybe if he hammers on this the way he hammers on leading ladies every year, something will get done. Maybe.