I think it's worth noting for that Tonys year that it was still relatively new then for a movie musical put on stage to have a *mostly* original score, but not entirely, and still be taken seriously as competing against a fully original score. Urinetown was original in many ways, including that all the songs were written for the show and by the composer and lyricist credited as for "score by" ... Millie is like probably 90% original, but the big wonderful memorable title song is taken from the movie. I think that impacted how a lot of people felt about voting for it to win as a complete original score over another good original score that is completely original.
It's also important to note that the big smash musical that year was Mamma Mia, but it was obviously not highly regarded as a quality musical, and I think voters didn't want to give it that validation either. And Sweet Smell of Success was highly anticipated due to the writers, but was a critical and box office disappointment, so that didn't have a shot. So it was just between Urinetown, a show that started at the Fringe and is called URINE town, and Millie. |
