So now that we’ve had some time to think about these Tony nominations, I’ll be taking a look at the nominations and see what they are telling us. Today, let’s look at Best Musical.
The biggest shock had to be Rock of Ages being nominated over 9 to 5 in the Best Musical Category. This has significance on many levels. 9 to 5 opened right before the Tony Award cut off for nomination, leaving voters little time to forget the lackluster reviews the show received. Rock of Ages had the advantage of a successful (and recent) Off-Broadway run that showed that audiences and critics alike supported the show. The production also received rave reviews for the Broadway incarnation.
Another issue that can’t be avoided is the fact that Rock of Ages has introduced a new type of musical: a musical that features an original story with a “pasticho” of popular music. In this case, the content of the book dictates that the musical language be songs from the 1980s. Is this a new trend in the musical theatre? Will writers be looking towards songs by various authors to tell their musical stories? Who knows? We’ll see what the Tony Committee says in June.
Many were shocked when they first saw the list and saw that Billy Elliot had 15 nominations. This tied the record (with The Producers) for most nominations for a single production. Billy Elliot, despite sold out audiences and great reviews, has stayed pretty much under the radar since it started performances in October. The musical itself is a standard film to stage adaptation with a book by a newcomer and a score by Elton John. What are these nominations telling us? Is Billy Elliot really Producers good or is the show gaining from the fact that this is a weaker year for the musical? Have we elevated this piece to be the savior for this year? I don’t think so.
This is because there’s another musical that, in my opinion, will come away with the top prize this year: Next to Normal. After engagements at Second Stage and Arena Stage, Next to Normal seems to have hit Broadway at the right time. The Best Musical category contains two film to stage adaptations and one hybrid of a jukebox musical with a familiar story. Next to Normal gives voters the only option if they wanted to vote on the fact that this is the only original book musical. Given the category’s recent history, this seems to be where the trend is leading. Over the past five years, there has been one film to stage adaptation that won Best Musical, Spamalot. Even with that win, Spamalot only won two other awards (director and featured actress) with The Light in the Piazza winning six that year. Other than that, we’ve had two original musicals (Avenue Q and In the Heights), one jukebox musical (Jersey Boys) and one play adaptation (Spring Awakening). Each of these musicals has made signature contributions to the musical theatre form. Next to Normal would fit this pattern fittingly.
Over the next few weeks I’ll discuss the other musical categories so make sure to check back for more! Thanks for reading!
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I really would like to listen to Rock of Ages, which I have not yet, but I really hope this music borrowing doesn't become to much of a trend... There have been MANY musicals that use stories from all types of media - but I feel like musicals are just being made to sell tickets more and more. Movies seem to be the main medium from which to make a musical nowadays... and I hope that the music itself doesn't start to be overly borrowed from established artists! Sondheim is a blessing to the theatre community but where is the next big composer!? I hope musicals don't get caught up in using unoriginal music for their scores! Hey I know there are many talented composers working out there, I just get worried that the next 30 musicals wont use original music... sorry bit of a rant there, just wanted to share my thoughts :) I'm sure I'm overgeneralizing way too much -Tyler
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Tyler!
ReplyDeleteI of course love a good original musical like most musical theatre enthusiasts, but at the same time I think it is important to consider jukebox and other types of musicals in the same conversation. Audiences crave this type of familiarity and my theory is that if an audience member enjoys a Rock of Ages, they will be interested to see what other musical stories are being told. Over the past few years, with pieces like Jersey Boys, we've seen that a well crafted jukebox musical can add as much to the form as most book musicals. I would grab a ticket and see for yourself. Thanks for the comment!