Why Did Spring Awakening Perform at The Tonys?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:00pm

Still curious what the point of that was? And who backed it and produced it? To get the whole cast, pay them, etc. Just seemed so strange.

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:03pm

With the advent of new media, streaming and socials, “original casts” are becoming not just the original cast of a show, but a media entity unto themselves. The more shows are recorded, or even bootlegged, the more the moment becomes the product. Is that a bad thing? Honestly I don’t think it has to be.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:03pm

RippedMan said: "Still curious what the point of that was? And who backed it and produced it? To get the whole cast, pay them, etc. Just seemed so strange."

Lea Michele produced that segment and funded the entire thing.  It is known that when she learned FUNNY GIRL would not be performing, she contacted the Tony Awards Committee and got this performance going.  

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:18pm

RippedMan said: "Still curious what the point of that was? And who backed it and produced it? To get the whole cast, pay them, etc. Just seemed so strange."

Capitalize on a moment. And also Skylar Astin will be on a new CBS show this fall, good cross-promotion.

[Songofpurplesummer2]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:22pm

It was magical in every way. It's very interesting how the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening had to fundraise to preform and said they would not be able to without fans help and this happened out of nowhere but I guess they help promote the Documentary/Anniversary. Brian Charles Johnson's Vocals are truly heaven sent. Lea looked and sounded  incredible and it was so nice to see Krysta and Jennifer. It's funny how Skyler went on crazy riffs during the reunion at The Imperial and kept it very simple at the Tony's. 

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:31pm

Because if they had chosen the 25th anniversary best musical winner instead of the 15th, it would have been Titanic, and NOBODY needs to see that.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:31pm

It’s incredible the absolute 180 Lea Michele’s image has taken this past year/year and a half. It felt like yesterday when glee cast members were coming out with horror stories about her and now she’s back to being broadways favorite. She has a damn good publicist.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:38pm

everythingtaboo said: "RippedMan said: "Still curious what the point of that was? And who backed it and produced it? To get the whole cast, pay them, etc. Just seemed so strange."

Capitalize on a moment. And also Skylar Astin will be on a new CBS show this fall, good cross-promotion."

ding ding ding. i'm almost sure CBS had plenty to do with this-- they had Skylar come out to present with his co-star in this new sitcom, advertised it heavily, and then had him sing this big number. I am not complaining--it was the musical highlight of the evening, sadly-- but this doesnt happen by accident.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:41pm

But did Skylar mention the show? It just seems so random to promote a documentary that came out awhile ago. It all just baffling to me. 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 4:45pm

Is she back to being Broadway’s favorite? It seems like the few events she has popped up at the response is how did she get here and why?

I think they had the best performance of the night, but I really missed seeing the signing of the Deaf West production. 
 

I guess I need to look up Skylar’s show because I haven’t heard anything about it. Did they have a commercial during the Tonys?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:00pm

As a whole, this years Tony Awards for me were “meh” at best but my God, that “Spring Awakening” segment was one of the best things I’ve ever seen on any Tony broadcast. Perfect in every way. I never even questioned why it was done, I was just thankful it was. 

[ddenoff2]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:02pm

As discussed elsewhere, CBS made millions from Murder She Wrote yet this airtime wasn't used for Ms Lansbury's homage. 

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:03pm

Songofpurplesummer2 said: "It was magical in every way. It's very interesting how the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening had to fundraise to preform and said they would not be able to without fans help and this happened out of nowhere but I guess they help promote the Documentary/Anniversary. Brian Charles Johnson's Vocals are truly heaven sent. Lea looked and sounded incredible and it was so nice to see Krysta and Jennifer. It's funny how Skyler went on crazy riffs during the reunion at The Imperial and kept it very simple at the Tony's."

Not really. When that was shot/performed last Fall, Skylar (not Skyler) wasn't doing eight shows a week as Seymour. He had to keep it conservative at the Tonys for good reason. 

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:15pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "RippedMan said: "Still curious what the point of that was? And who backed it and produced it? To get the whole cast, pay them, etc. Just seemed so strange."

Lea Michele produced that segment and funded the entire thing. It is known that when she learned FUNNY GIRL would not be performing, she contacted the Tony Awards Committee and got this performance going."

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:30pm

Songofpurplesummer2 said: "It's very interesting how the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening had to fundraise to preform and said they would not be able to without fans help”

I don’t think either situation really has anything to with the other. All the performances pay for the airtime; so whoever has the money has the money, and whoever doesn’t, doesn’t. There was no discrimination against the Deaf West production. 

Not to mention, the whole “fundraising” thing for Deaf West was just another one of Ken Davenport’s exploitative stunts. They had access to the the money to pay for the performance, they just didn’t WANT to pay for it, so he played on the sympathies and blind dedication of the fan base to try to avoid taking the loss. 

 

 

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:33pm

There was a bit of a "reuniting" thing going on throughout the evening so I didn't see anything odd about it. They have done this before.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:35pm

I guess that's true. I just know it was costly so just wondering who paid for it and why? I can't imagine they'd get any money in return. HBO bought the doc or did they produce it? 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:36pm

So Help Me Todd is the new show. Sklyar plays a black sheep P.I. I am going to give it a try because Marcia Gay Harden plays his lawyer mom. Geena Davis was originally cast but bowed out. 

[Kad]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:46pm

Well, better a reunion of the original cast of a best musical winner- many of whom have gone on to have pretty illustrious careers- than a performance by a cruise ship production. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 5:48pm

If they were doing the reunion angle, I would have liked them to do it a few more times to make it a thing. It just felt like "oh okay so that happened." I enjoyed it, but just felt odd. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 6:00pm

ALSO, even though we didn’t get a great look at her in this, Damiano has transformed into a stunning statuesque bombshell. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/14/22 at 6:15pm

Damiano is a gem. We need that voice back on Broadway. I'll stand by that American Psycho was a great production. 

[Ke3]

Posted: 6/15/22 at 2:22am

Alexander Lamar said: "Is she back to being Broadway’s favorite? It seems like the few events she has popped up at the response is how did she get here and why?"

I don't know if she's back to being a "favorite", but the conversation surrounding her is quickly heading back to "she's difficult, but boy she can sing". I also do think it's 100% what she's aiming for. She's essentially eschewed Broadway except for that one glee era tony performance, and suddenly she's back like she's never left. She's famous enough that a producer wouldn't hesitate to take a chance on her selling tickets. So within the next year or so I think we'll see an announcement.

[ijest22]

Posted: 6/15/22 at 10:25am

Ke3 said: "Alexander Lamar said: "Is she back to being Broadway’s favorite? It seems like the few events she has popped up at the response is how did she get here and why?"

I don't know if she's back to being a "favorite", but the conversation surrounding her is quickly heading back to "she's difficult, but boy she can sing". I also do think it's 100% what she's aiming for. She's essentially eschewed Broadway except for that one glee era tony performance, and suddenly she's back like she's never left. She's famous enough that a producer wouldn't hesitate to take a chance on her selling tickets. So within the next year or so I think we'll see an announcement."

I think they would make a lot of money if they could coax her into Funny Girl

 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 6/15/22 at 10:34am

They performed because they are promoting the new HBO documentary "Spring Awakening: Those You've Known". Are Tony performances expensive? Sure. But its part of their Emmy campaign strategy (Emmy nomination voting begins tomorrow). HBO spends millions campaigning their Emmy contenders, this would be a drop in the bucket for them. Plus, even if the funds didn't come directly from HBO, the producers of the doc (which includes Groff and Pritchard among others) can certainly afford it