As noted by OldTheaterGuy below, The Band's Visit is not eligible for most of this year's awards. It was eligible last year for everything except the Tonys. If there's anything else it wasn't eligible for last year, I'm not thinking of it.
While the Drama Critics Circle is by no means always a predictor of the Tonys, I think it's worth comparing last year's best musical results with this year's.
Last year, The Band's Visit won best musical with one of the most lopsided victories in the history of the award. It received 16 votes, with the rest of the votes divided among Groundhog Day, which received two votes, and with one vote each going to War Paint, Hadestown, Ride the Cyclone and Bandstand.
This year, the Circle ended up giving no award for best musical. They did a vote for best musical, but when no musical received a majority on the first ballot, it was decided not to proceed to a weighted ballot and to simply give no award. For the record, on the first ballot, the votes were spread thus: Jerry Springer—The Opera (four), KPOP (three), The Boy Who Danced on Air (two), and one each for Bella: An American Tall Tale, Mean Girls, Miss You Like Hell, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story and SpongeBob SquarePants, and there were three abstentions. |
