Why did Kinky Boots get all of the awards it did?- Page 2

[mikem]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 11:58pm

To try to answer the question somewhat, in many awards, there is momentum for a certain show that ends up winning many categories, even though it might or might not have done so if one were looking at each category isolated from the others. This year, that happened to Kinky Boots. Last year, it happened with Once. I'm guessing that it will happen with some show this upcoming June as well.

In terms of score, there was discussion at the time that Minchin's lyrics may be too clever for their own good. The wordplay is much easier to appreciate with repeated listenings or with reading the lyrics, neither of which the typical audience member can do. And the muddled sound design for Matilda didn't help the intelligibility of the lyrics in the theater.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 12:10am

This thread should be deleted. Original Poster should append his Original Post to any of a number of identical posts made over the past few months.

However, by doing so, Original Poster would realize how un-original his Original Post was.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 1:59am

To quote Jeanne Tesori in SHOW BUSINESS-"you never know what's going to stick with people-it's timing, and alchemy and the emotional temperature of the audience when the show opens. You just have to throw the spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks."

Kinky Boots won for many reasons, some of which are emotional and intangible. It's not an equation.

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 3:04am

"I think that the Tony awards should select voters based on cognitive ability to prevent this mistake from happening in future."

I recall that Matilda's adherents made similar comments about awards voters during the campaign. I wonder if it helped?

The show's been at TKTS for a while now. Perhaps it would help to take out ads telling ticket buyers they're dumb too.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 3:38am

The problem I have with Matilda is that outside of Naughty, When I Grow Up, The Hammer, Revolting Children, & The Smell of Rebellion I don't really want to listen to anything on the OBCR. The rest is just boring to me. Unlike Kinky Boots where the only song I avoid is Take What You Got.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 3:38am

The problem I have with Matilda is that outside of Naughty, When I Grow Up, The Hammer, Revolting Children, & The Smell of Rebellion I don't really want to listen to anything on the OBCR. The rest is just boring to me. Unlike Kinky Boots where the only song I avoid is Take What You Got.

[Caring Soul]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 4:29am

Mediocrity is the new black.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 6:48am

^ I don't think that statement is fair. I found last season to be a bit lackluster (aside from Pippin which I adored). I LIKED many shows, but that's not saying much.

In any awards season, they recognize the best OF that season, even if the best isn't outstanding. No one is going to cancel the Tonys because of a mediocre season.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 4:46pm

I saw Matilda for a second time 2 weeks ago (on an invite). Had no real desire to pay to see it again but wasn't going to turn down an invite and thought I might like it more the second time around. I got to see more as I was in the balcony the first time and mid orch. the second. I did enjoy it a bit more and still feel it should have gotten best choreography. But of the two shows, I still like Kinky Boots better. JMO

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 12:05am

"No one is going to cancel the Tonys because of a mediocre season."

That's certainly true. Look at 1995 when Sunset Boulevard won Best Book and Score by default (no other nominees), Best Musical was between two shows (Sunset and Smokey Joe's Cafe) and Rebecca Luker and Glenn Close were in a head to head battle for Best Actress (they didn't even bother tossing Megan Mullally a pity nomination for How to Succeed just to try to fill out the category a bit).

[PatrickDennis92]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 12:22am

So... No one is really going to answer this? Ok. Matilda lost a lot of awards because it can't tour. It's too expensive with all those kids. That's the primary reason.

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 1:45am

While I do think MATILDA is a much superior show in terms of theatre (the Tonys are so bi-polar), I place some blame on MATILDA's producers for not waging a more aggressive campaign.

MATILDA came in with so much hype and buzz - and they left it that way. They never built on it. KINKY came in with low hype and buzz and they turned it into a mountain by Tony time.

With that said though, the Tonys are bi-polar. They award art one year and commercial fluff the next. I will echo the person who said months ago that they didn't see how it was possible for KINKY to win but NEWSIES lose. Out of the four, ONCE and MATILDA are far better artistic works of theatre, but the other two shows are extremely good examples of commercial theatre. They just aren't consistent whatsoever and it is frustrating.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 7:20am

Or maybe the committee just liked Kinky Boots more and voted for it. The "best" (whatever that means) artistic movies don't usually win Oscars, no musician is going to ever say that Tchaikovsky is a better musician than say Shostakovich but 9 times out of 10, we are going to hear Tchaikovsky music because it's popular and appealing...and maybe less complicated...but overall more enjoyable.

I can analyze KB and Matilda til the cows come home and while I can intellectually agree that Matilda has some strengths and maybe should have won more individual awards, I wholeheartedly would have voted for KB because emotionally I loved it more. It rang more true to me, was more relevant and more pleasing for many reasons...to me. That's all I can do - say how I feel. That's what the judges did.

I don't think the Tony's should necessarily be won by intellectual weigh-in's. The committee is going to vote for what they liked and enjoyed more...and I don't think that's wrong. Marketing sure - it might have altered the voting - or might not have. We'll never know. I don't buy that Matilda didn't win because they may not tour. I don't think that was decided one way or the other when the Tony's were voted on. It won because a lot of voters loved it. And most people that I personally know who saw both shows would have voted for KB too. It's not the producers fault. Matilda just lost.

I don't mean to beat a dead horse either but it's still somewhat insulting to those of us who would have preferred KB to be continually told by some that our opinion is faulty and less intelligent or there had to be some extenuating explanations as to why Matlida lost. More voters liked Kinky Boots. Enough.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 10:33am

MATILDA came in with so much hype and buzz - and they left it that way. They never built on it. KINKY came in with low hype and buzz and they turned it into a mountain by Tony time.

Yeah, exactly what I'm thinking. Someone said the voters even difn't like Matilda that much.

So... No one is really going to answer this? Ok. Matilda lost a lot of awards because it can't tour. It's too expensive with all those kids. That's the primary reason.

I seriously doubt. Why would a tout affect the chances of winning?

I like and respect everyone's opinions here :)

[PatrickDennis92]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 12:03pm

Because of who the voters are. It's all those Broadway Across America people-- they often vote for shows that tour more easily because they have a vested interest. Tony Awards sell tickets. I'm not saying they'd outright pick a show that was horrible because it was cheaper to tour, but in this case it was a close call. My very strong opinion is that because you can't easily tour with tons of kids for cost reasons, that was enough to tip the scale in this case.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 12:14pm

We won't know which show is better until time validates or invalidates one of them. Two Gentlemen of Verona was a fun, loose, multiculturally-empowering post-hippie lovefest that FELT REALLY GOOD, and it beat Follies. Flash forward, nobody gives a crap about Verona anymore and Follies is a legend.

Will Matilda fall out of the canon and Kinky Boots stay? Or vice versa? Or neither? Time will tell.

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 1:15pm

"My very strong opinion is that because you can't easily tour with tons of kids for cost reasons, that was enough to tip the scale in this case."

Billy Elliot did just that-and seemed to succeed.

[Jane2]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 1:44pm

"Jordan Catalano - you're a real piece of work. People can't express opinions without you acting like they're an idiot?"

Oh come on, brand newbie. If you're going to make a post which is a challenge to understand because of poor grammar and vocabulary, then you deserve a little annoyance in return. Some of us don't speak that language, and don't have the inclination to spend time trying to figure it out.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 2:07pm

Jane, don't waste your time.

[hannahr18]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 3:27pm

How on earth do I have bad grammar and vocabulary? In the last sentence I was mocking Jordan, who was mocking the creator of this thread. There's no need to be so rude, and as for the "newbie" comment, I am sorry that I don't waste my time trolling message boards and making rude comments. You are not entitled just because you're probably triple my age. I've had my account for less than 3 days, and I already know why people avoid these boards like the plague.

[PatrickDennis92]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 3:45pm

dreaming, I'm not disagreeing with you that Billy Eliott seemed to succeed. It did seem that way.

[suestorm]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 4:08pm

Hannah, youre new so you probably dont realize that this board is very cruel to new members.its an ongoing problem. There are a few old bitter geezers here who dont understand text-language, slang or abbreviating and sit in their basements and think they own the boards. but the majority of the people are good and sometimes the insults are funny and done with love as i think was jordans case. if youve seen the movie MEANGIRLS, well thats a bit the way it is. Dont let it get you down. The silent majority of members know who those bullies are and just roll their eyes.

Updated On: 9/30/13 at 04:08 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 4:12pm

I would be incredibly surprised if Matilda doesn't tour. Annie, Oliver and Billy Elliot have all toured. So will Matilda. I think the whole "tour" vote is an outdated talking point that may have been a trend for a few seasons, but didn't prove to hold much water (remember Passion?). Does anyone truly think Once won because it had more touring market appeal than Newsies?

Now, I did know an out-of-town producer who was a Tony voter and he did not vote based on tour potential. He voted purely on his own personal taste which was VERY mainstream middle-of-the-road fare. AND he voted on scores for which he received the free promo CDs, not necessarily because he had actually seen the shows.

[Jane2]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 4:37pm

"How on earth do I have bad grammar and vocabulary? In the last sentence I was mocking Jordan, who was mocking the creator of this thread."

Um, I wasn't referring to you. That was about the OP, but I guess that's a reading comprehension issue.


" There's no need to be so rude, and as for the "newbie" comment, I am sorry that I don't waste my time trolling message boards and making rude comments. You are not entitled just because you're probably triple my age. "

No need to be so rude.

"""
I've had my account for less than 3 days, and I already know why people avoid these boards like the plague."

Well, then I guess we won't hear from you again.

[PatrickDennis92]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 4:38pm

Matilda will absolutely tour. But it won't tour as long or to as many places because it's so expensive. I'm not saying Kinky Boots was horrible, but won anyway because of the touring aspect. I'm saying Kinky Boots, with a Tony for Best Musical, will make a lot of money on tour. Matilda, without that same Tony, will also make a lot of money on tour. Kinky Boots, without the Tony, would have made far less on tour. But Kinky Boots is also good, it's by well known and well liked authors, has the Roth power stamp all over it, and it was relatively timely subject matter. Those are all good reasons why it won, but, in my personal opinion, the touring difficulties with Matilda is a major reason certain voters, charged with the task of choosing between two, chose Kinky Boots.

Updated On: 9/30/13 at 04:38 PM