I would guess that Avenue Q would have been, and was, helped enormously by its surprise Tony win(s).
Some shows are just too niche, too dark or weird or whatever to sell to enough people going to Broadway shows to be able to keep the doors open. Passion and A Strange Loop are very much those shows. Most Best Musical winners are not. Even the smaller, more niche ones usually make it past 300, because almost none of them are are hard to sell as Passion and A Strange Loop.
I'm not saying a Tony win can take a show that 80% of Broadway audiences wouldn't have found appealing and turn it into one that they... but I think it does take a show where 5 out of 10 ticket buyers would be interested in and it makes sure those 5/10 people buy tickets, and it makes 2-3 more interested. That can make a huge difference.
Passion and Strange Loop were at 3/10 at best, maybe less. And their Tonys got them to a 4 or 5.
I mean I'm just throwing this out, who knows. |
