DC Metro Theater Arts: Today at noon on YouTube, nominations for this year’s 74th annual Tony Awards were announced to honor outstanding achievements in the 2019-20 Broadway season, cut short by the precautionary closure of all theaters on March 12, as necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the number of shows eligible for 2020 Tony consideration was limited to the eighteen that had opened and could accommodate nominators and voters to adjudicate prior to the shutdown
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I have a lot of nostalgia for watching awards shows with my mom, so I honestly believe I'm the only person invested in awards show right now. I always look forward to Tony season so I can root for the shows I've seen. It's hard to deny, though, that this was a weird Tony season. I fully expected hem to just wait until next year, because the time lost in 2020 and the only time shows would be open before June in 2021 would equal about a year. Instead, they went forward with the awards, leaving many BIPOC led shows to be ineligible because very few voters even saw them, and only having one best actor in a musical nominee. Only four musicals were eligible for the whole year and one of them The Lightning Thief wasn't even given one nomination. It's all very strange and I think going forward with it is a bad idea. That being said, The Inheritance was one of the only new shows I saw this year and I'm hoping it'll get some Tonys.
I wish that the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing would have hit the pause button on the Tony Awards. Broadway is closed through May of 2021. Because of the change this season, shows that would have normally been eligible have been cut out. This includes a number of BIPOC shows. In this era of BLM and MeToo, it does a huge disservice to the hard work of BIPOC artists and creators to cut them out of contention for Theatre’s most prestigious award. This is an unusual time for sure but that does not mean that we should ignore the talents of artists because of a pandemic. I personally feel that this is an attempt by both the League and the Wing to shut out BIPOC creators and actors and to make their shows less relevant. Yes, Slave Play garnered 12 nominations, but what about all of the other shows and people? You can’t tell me that Arron Tveit is the only lead male in a musical who acted this season.
Tony award season always has its drama. Every year, I always rant about how the design awards happen over the commercials. Yeah it is not ideal to have that credit diminished, but more than that, I think it is a poor message to the potential designers of the world. In an unsurprising move, the Tony Nominations Committee also refused to give credit to The Lightning Thief musical. While I understand that it is not a typical Broadway production, it is shocking that with such a sparsely eligible season, the musical got zero nominations. The company has been working just as hard as others for years, and they do deserve some credit, especially as one of the only eligible original musicals. I think they should have at least been nominated for best original score, even if they did not win. Both separately and when considering The Lightning Thief musical, it is interesting to note that Aaron Tveit was the only person nominated for Best Actor in a musical. I do hope he wins. I also find it interesting that in such a progressive industry, the best performance categories are still limited to the gender binary. This season again brings up the trend that there are very few musicals being staged based off of entirely original content. Fortunately, the plays this season and prior have been better with that. At the same time, there were so many shows that due to Covid-19, got looked over or were ineligible which is definitely a bummer. Overall, Broadway and the Tony Awards are enjoyable but also have a long way to go and improve. It is also interesting to note that a date has not yet been announced for the awards, nor does the article mention the delivery modality. The performances are one of my favorite parts of the awards show, so I hope that these can be emulated even in a digital world.
-Ariel Bernhard
I will be the first to admit that I don't really know that much about plays and musicals both current and not. However, I usually have a general idea of what is current and I usually know most of the nominations. But while reading this article and looking over the list of nominations I realize that I knew nearly none of them, I don't know if I am just generally out of touch or if they weren't as publicized because of COVID. I have mixed opinions about the Tonys and awards shows in general. I feel as if they don't fully represent the industry and are just a commercialized biased celebration of mainstream theater. They are definitely entertaining to watch especially as someone in the theater industry but I don't think it is a real loss in any way that they are in a slightly different format this year compared to years previous.
I was quite surprised to see the Tony Awards trending the other day on twitter and thought I would be seeing news of cancelation, not nominations. But like most things these days, I'm not that surprised. Reading this and from things that I've read about not having the Tony's I can't help think about if they did decide to postpone, what would happen to the shows nominated for this year's event? Would they still be eligible next year, or would this season just be a wash? I don't personally think it would be fair to the shows that happened this year to compete with shows that potentially reopen next year. But also, wouldn't there be no Tony's next year if Broadway stays closed until May? That would be two years with no Tony awards and while I don't really see the down side of that, I think that it would be met with backlash.
I was very surprised to see the Tony Awards continuing with the awards show. I was expecting the awards to be canceled especially since there has only been a handful of shows able to perform this year. I wonder if this year's show is happening to honor the handful of shows that have had the opportunity to perform so that the next year's award show does not get as complicated and messy. I do wish that the tony's were just postponed this year as this pandemic is still going on and the Broadway League should focus on getting theatre back up and running safely as well as provide relief to the thousands of theaters that have shut down around the country. I also think that the shows that win awards aren't truly being told that they were one of the best of their category in that year but rather that they won this prestigious award by default. I do hope that the design categories actually get highlighted this year as there are less categories available to be shown compared to previous years. I also can't help but notice the leagues choice to focus on the Tony's rather than the backlash the industry has been facing about diversity and equity. To me that shows that this industry is very content with the atmosphere that has been created and would rather push issues to the side.
The Tony Awards feel a little forced this year, but I hope that they can be a genuine celebration of theatre. They have the opportunity to make the Tonys an uplifting and inspiring production for everybody at home, struggling to keep theatre alive.
However, there is also a lot changing in our world, and the Tony's have the opportunity to step up and speak out. Maybe they shouldn't be all about glitz and glam, and putting on a facade that everything is okay, when its not. If they made a statement about racism in the industry, or if they promoted equity and diversity, I feel like they could make a big impact.
As another Award show comes around the corner, I am reminded by how long we have been living in this COVID nightmare and it just reminds us of the passing of time in this new world. This has been a very tumultuous year for Broadway and the entire entertainment industry, and the Tony awards are going to very grim. One question I have on the top of my mind is “Will there be no 2021 Tony award season” because Broadway will have been dark for a year this coming March. I am very disappointed that the Tony’s set the cutoff date for nomination consideration at February 19, 2020 and did not consider some productions that were already playing, such as West Side Story. Imagine working on a production for months and even years just to not be nominated for your work because of the horrible situation at hand. I am very happy for the designers that got nominated for best Scenic Design, I really hope the award goes to fellow BIPOC designer Clint Ramos.
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