Love/Hate: 2021 Tony Awards
After waiting for over a year for (still) unknown reasons, theatre fans finally saw the Tony Awards handed out in a split telecast between CBS and its streaming network Paramount+.
There were definitely some highs and lows of the evening, some expected – others definitely not. So let’s dive in.
LOVE: The telecast on Paramount+ and CBS
This one surprised me. I wasn’t thrilled when I heard the ceremony would be split into this weird half awards show/half concert on two different broadcast entities. But to be honest, when looking at the final product, it worked for me.
The telecast on the streaming service didn’t feel rushed, felt more focused on the awards, and even felt like there was more time given to winners for speeches. On the other end, the concert put an emphasis on performances themselves along with some awards sprinkled in. I kind of dug it. If this is the future of the telecast, things could be improved but it wasn’t the disaster I thought it would be.
HATE: ‘Slave Play’ get shut out
This is going to be a major topic of discussion about this year’s ceremony. The fact that the most nominated play in Tony history, not winning a single award is a head-scratcher and downright infuriating when you consider how this happened.
Was it going to win 12? No. In fact, I had it only winning four on my ballot. We can debate the coin flip between The Inheritance and this for Best Play, but I absolutely thought Clint Ramos(Scenic Design), Dede Ayite(Costumes), and Joaquina Kalukango (Best Actress in a Leading Role) should have been going home with trophies.
I also think its shutout should also be a catalyst for the American Theatre Wing to bring back the award for Best Author of a Play. They retired the category back in 1965. But just as Best Book for a musical or Best Screenplay for film awards, this seems like a worthy area for adjudication. Plus, I think if the award did exist for this year, you could make the case that The Inheritance should have won that while Slave Play would take home Best Play.
But Slave Play getting shut out should absolutely start the conversation of who votes on these awards going forward. While the demographics of Tony voters is getting more diverse, it’s still overwhelmingly old and white. A show like The Inheritance is Tony-bait in the highest order, Slave Play was more of a risk.
So how does this change? I don’t really know the answer. The American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League need to keep their commitment to diversifying the Tony voter pool.
Also, if the pool wasn’t chock full of old white people, doesn’t necessarily mean Slave Play would have won anything, but I’m willing to bet it would have certainly won something.
LOVE: Danny Burstein getting his due
After seven nominations, Danny Burstein finally got his long-deserved day in the sun. Even though he was the front-runner heading into the night, I was nervous that he would be overlooked again. But when his name was announced, I burst into tears. His win was the epitome of bittersweet – a wonderful man finally getting his due but without the wife who had accompanied him to all those previous ceremonies when he was nominated. We all would have loved to have had Rebecca Luker be by his side when he took that walk to the podium but we also know that she saw it somewhere.
HATE: ‘A Christmas Carol’ dominating the technical awards
Hot Take: I think certain special engagement types of productions like ‘A Christmas Carol’ shouldn’t even be eligible for Tony Awards.
But more than that the domination by this production is downright confusing, especially when you consider there was much more brilliant work that was ignored. From Clint Ramos to Dede Ayite to Heather Gilbert, I was just so lost on how this show won as much as it did. The only category I thought it would win was Best Score. This leads me into another “hate”…
HATE: No musicals nominated for Best Score
For the first time, and hopefully last, the award for Best Musical went to a play. In fact, it didn’t matter which show won – it was going to a play. Because none of the eligible new musicals had an original score. Many of the 2019 shows that would’ve been nominated, didn’t get a chance to open, which is why I doubt something like this will happen again anytime soon. No offense to Christopher Nightingale but he wouldn’t have even been nominated had it not been for a pandemic shutdown.
LOVE: Aaron Tveit wins
It would have been the shock of the year if Aaron Tveit, the only nominee for Best Actor in a Leading Role of a Musical, didn’t earn enough votes to take home the award. Thankfully, Tony voters(as daft as they are) didn’t subscribe too much into chaos and gave Tveit his award. And let’s be clear, even if there were 5 other nominees, Tveit was my front-runner from the beginning. He absolutely deserved this. I will admit that I did laugh when he, in his very white suit, mentioned how privileged he is, and I would have liked to have seen him mention Karen Olivo as well, but this was a much-deserved win. Especially when you consider his inexcusable snub for Next to Normal.
LOVE: Jennifer Holliday. Enough Said.
By far, the performance highlight of the night was Jennifer Holiday coming out to perform her signature song “And I am telling you” from Dreamgirls. After this performance, I had to ask, “if you’re singing and your head doesn’t look like it’s about to explode with power, are you really singing?“ What a great moment.
LOVE: Jagged Little Pill not winning Best Musical
Not for nothing, but with the recent news over alleged misconduct which is resulting in two separate investigations, if this won it would have been at the very least, awkward. The moderately better Moulin Rouge! solved that problem.
LOVE: Matthew Loez winning Best Play
What shouldn’t get lost in the Slave Play shutout conversation is just how great The Inheritance is and the achievement it is to see Matthew Lopez’s work be recognized. If this was any other year, there wouldn’t even be a debate over The Inheritance winning.