This is turning into pretty good theater.
The 2019-2020 Broadway season never really happened, remember? It stopped on March 13th because of the pandemic. A few shows had opened, mostly mediocre. The really good ones were either in previews or just about to start them. They never launched.
Broadway shut down before “Company,” “Girl from the North Country,” “Sing Street,” and so on went into limbo.
Six months later, the Tony Awards decided to announce nominees drawn from the 16 mostly mediocre shows, like “Moulin Rouge” and “Tina: The Musical.” Good performances, not great shows.
There was only nominee for Best Actor in a Musical. Aaron Tveit, of “Moulin Rouge,” come on down!
On New Year’s Eve, I wrote that we closed the year without winners or a ceremony.
Now, it seems, there will be voting for those nominations between March 1st and March 15th. And then? Who knows?
I do feel sorry for the producers, and everyone else who has lost livelihoods, and for Adrienne Warren, who deserved an award for playing Tina Turner. But the Tony Awards appear to be adrift. There’s no clear idea of what to do, and no one’s doing it. Will they announce winners from this vote? Will anyone care?
So far, this is a musical closing out of town.
