Steven Zeitchik notes some notable omissions from the Tony Award nominations.
This is why I often argue that producers of awards shows are unfairly criticized when folks say their telecasts are boring or low-rated. The Tony Awards is, after all, a contest. People tune in to watch contests involving people they know and care about. It might have made for a more exciting show this year if the nominations had included Denzel Washington, Daniel Radcliffe, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and several others — or if, say, Woody Allen's show had gathered more nominations, leading to the possibility that Woody might show up. (Not likely, I know, but some people might still have tuned in so as not to miss the exciting moment if he did.)
I'm not saying that these people should have gotten nominations…merely that it's not the fault of the telecast's producers that they didn't and that the Tony Awards will be, as it usually is, largely a contest between shows and performers that most of America has never heard of. I am more interested in the theater than the average American and I don't even know who some of these people and shows are.
In the meantime, I have this question from Douglass Abramson…
If Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a Broadway premiere, according to the Tony website, how does it qualify for Best Revival of a Musical? I thought that all productions were considered original, for Tony nominations, if they were making their Broadway debut and that a production had to have been on Broadway before to qualify for the Best Revival awards. Did something change, or have I just not understood the qualifying process since the revival catagories were created?
The Tony Awards form a committee each year to decide what qualifies for what awards and to make judgment calls between new plays and revivals, lead roles and supporting roles, musical and plays, etc. They seem to favor past precedents over the actual written Tony rules but they made this determination, as I understand it, because Hedwig has had so many previous productions, including an off-Broadway one in 1998. The producers of the musical do not seem to be objecting.
More controversial is this one: Audra McDonald is currently starring in and getting raves for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, a one-woman show (one woman plus a three-piece band and a dog). In it, she plays Billie Holiday and sings around twelve of that legendary performer's best songs. You'd figure a dozen tunes would qualify it as a musical, right? Nope. They decided it was a play. Maybe I'd understand this if I'd seen the show. Anyway, it's an award show. It's not supposed to make a whole lot of sense.