| re: Roger Bart | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 06:12 pm EDT 05/01/24 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:43 pm EDT 05/01/24 | |
| In reply to: re: Roger Bart - OJaffee 01:11 pm EDT 05/01/24 | |
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| I think it really comes down to how long since it premiered in NYC, and if it's been available for regional/school/amateur licensing, and probably how much it's been produced since the NYC premiere. Appropriate premiered 10 years ago, and has been produced many times, including a major West Coast premiere at Mark Taper in LA and major London premiere at Donmar. I don't think Here Lies Love was even available to license since it closed off-broadway. I also don't think I've heard of a production of Mary Jane since the NYC premiere, but there may have been. I have mixed feelings on all this. Unless something has become a real staple, I think if it has never competed for Tonys before it should be eligible. While I don't think it's fair for any new musical to compete against a beloved hit musical that's popular to produce on all levels and also had a notable film, like Little Shop... which had 15+ years to build a reputation and relationship with audiences before it even plays on Broadway, vs a new musical with a new score that's unfamiliar to everyone when they see it on Broadway. I'm not sure where something like Assassins or Hedwig should fall. I think both were produced and popular enough by the time they got to Broadway to be considered "classics", however it pains me the authors were never eligible for Tony recognition with a nom or a win. However, how sad if they failed to get a nom or lost to something lesser the year the happened to run, and how unfair for new shows/scores/books to lose because of the possibly inevitable wins for the writing of these often produced popular shows that have been out there for 10+ years, with productions and cast albums etc. I shudder to think of Assassins losing to Avenue Q for score or book, and I'd hate to think Ave Q (or the more rightful winner of Score and Book, Caroline or Change) losing so Assassins could win them. Little Shop's broadway premiere was the same year... so it would have left Little Shop, Assassins, Ave Q, Wicked, Caroline, and Taboo competing for slots for Best Score and Book. Eeek. I mean Taboo would have been out, but I'd hate to think Caroline would have too to make room. (Boy from Oz got the Book slot that Taboo didn't get, which would have course also been cut) I also hate to think that Hedwig and Violet might have competed against each other for Score and only one win, and if either had one, Bridges and Gentle's Guide wouldn't have gotten their writing awards. Mary Jane won the Obie and NYCC and was nominated for Drama Desk in 2018, that season Best Play went to Harry Potter - i think it's unlikely Mary Jane would have beaten it. Though it was a fairly weak season for new plays (Junk, The Children, Farinelli and the King, Latin History For Morons), who knows. Had it moved later and opened in eligibility for 2019 Tonys, it would have been up against winner The Ferryman, which it wouldn't have had a chance against, and other nominees Gary, Choir Boy, Ink, and What the Constitution Means to Me (the big other hit play that year, Sorkin's Mockingbird, wasn't nominated). Appropriate opened in 2014, and as far as I can tell got zero nominations at the Drama Desk (in 2015 or 2015, wherever it was eligible), Obie was given to Will Eno for The Open House, but Jenkins did get a citation for Best New American Play for Appropriate and An Octoroon), and NYCC went either to The Night Alive or Between Riverside and Crazy (another compelling issue of New vs Revival when it finally came to Broadway). The Tony went to All the Way, other nominees were Casa Valentina, Act One, Mothers and Sons, and Outside Mulligar. Appropriate would absolutely have gotten in for a nom, but who knows if it would have won. If it came in later and was eligible in the 2015 Tonys, it would have been up against the winner Curious Incident, and other nominees Disgraced, Hand to God, and Wolf Hall -- a pretty damn good year, with Constellations and The Audience eligible but not nominated. So it's tough. I think a classics rule is fair. Appropriate is pushing the limit for me. But I do get it. And i don't think it's in the same category as Here Lies Love and Mary Jane, which haven't been produceable and/or had a robust life since NYC premieres. |
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