The Tony Awards can proceed with their show on Sunday, June 11th. It can be broadcast on CBS thanks to a waiver from the Writers Guild, which is on strike.
In an agreement reported overnight, the WGA said it was fine and not so fine. It’s unclear how or if the Tonys will be able to stage numbers from musicals, or if anyone in another labor union will do the work, whether an actor or a crew member.
The Tonys could produce a show in which they present the winners of this year’s awards, interspersed with clips from past shows, or pre-recorded clips from the past year’s shows.
The most important part of this is that the Tonys are announced so that the winners can use that imprimatur to promote themselves. A lot of shows are struggling to stay in business. All of Broadway is hoping the Tonys seal of approval will help them.
But you never know. In the week following the Tony nominations there wasn’t a big box office bump. The musical, “Some Like it Hot,” jumped by $100,000, but didn’t come close to previous high week from March 19th. All the plays are having a bad time, too,
The Broadway League hasn’t said yet. but we can only hope the big after party at the Plaza will take place. The Broadway community needs to be able to celebrate the season, which was a very good one whether or not the typical kind of broadcast occurs.
