HOME ALL THAT CHAT ATC WEST COAST SHOPPIN' RUSH BOARD FAQS

LOGIN REGISTER SEARCH THREADED MODE

not logged in

Threaded Order | Chronological Order

re: how can you skip 1972

Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 06:45 pm EST 01/16/14
In reply to: how can you skip 1972 - dramedy 06:29 pm EST 01/16/14

'72 was a very competitive year. The intelligentsia and Sondheim fans loved Follies (so did I!), but it was a long-running flop and the Tony doesn't often go to commercially unsuccessful shows. Grease and Two Gentlemen from Verona were very popular smash hits so there were 3 very legitimate contenders.


reply to this message |
Follies

Posted by: Chazwaza 07:03 pm EST 01/16/14
In reply to: re: how can you skip 1972 - BroadwayTonyJ 06:45 pm EST 01/16/14

I dunno... I think when you have Best Director(s), Best Choreography, Best Score, Best Actress, Best Costume and Scenic and Lighting design (and nominated for Best Book, another Best Actress, Best Featured Actor)... you stand a good chance at people thinking it's the Best Musical.

It also won the Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical... but of 1971. Follies had already been open over a YEAR when the 1972 Tony Awards happened.

I think if it had Sondheim/Prince had done Follies first instead of Company, and Follies opened when it could compete for the 1971 Tony, it would have won, not only because it would have beat the competition that year, but also because it wouldn't have had a chance to be a failure at the box office... if it had opened right before the Tony nomination cut off, and only been running a few months when the Tonys happened, it might very well have won.
And I think if it had opened in November of 1971 instead of April 1971, it very well could have won because it wouldn't have had a year to perform at the box office.

This raises another interesting question about timing...


reply to this message |
Coupla points for Verona

Posted by: thtrgoer 10:17 pm EST 01/16/14
In reply to: Follies - Chazwaza 07:03 pm EST 01/16/14

At the time, it was welcomed as a joyous + effective celebration of racial diversity. Normally that would count for a lot on this board, but time has gone by, the original prdctn is not that well-remembered (I was too young to see it), and the show committed the original sin of beating Follies. It's like the Jews rejecting Jesus 3 times when Pontius Pilate asked them, in terms of traditionally never-to-be-forgiven things. :)

Also, with the show being so well-liked at the time, it actually could plausibly have won Best Score and possibly other awards that it didn't win. It should be considered that some of Follies' awards may have received many votes as consolation prizes by voters who knew they were voting for Verona as best musical.


reply to this message | reply to first message


All That Chat is intended for the discussion of theatre news and opinion
subject to the terms and conditions of the Terms of Service. (Please take all off-topic discussion to private email.)

Please direct technical questions/comments to webmaster@talkinbroadway.com and policy questions to TBAdmin@talkinbroadway.com.

[ Home | On the Rialto | The Siegel Column | Cabaret | Tony Awards | Book Reviews | Great White Wayback Machine ]
[ Broadway Reviews | Barbara and Scott: The Two of Clubs | Sound Advice | Restaurant Revue | Off Broadway | Funding Talkin' Broadway ]
[ Broadway 101 | Spotlight On | Talkin' Broadway | On the Boards | Regional | Talk to Us! | Search Talkin' Broadway ]

Terms of Service
[ © 1997 - 2014 www.TalkinBroadway.com, Inc. ]

Time to render: 0.084551 seconds.