Group of Eight

The eight musicals running on Broadway that have won the Tony Award for best musical represent an eclectic mix of the modern American musical. Playbill has the article featuring information on all of these shows.

The June 10 Best Musical Tony Award winner will join seven previous winners still enjoying their original runs: The Phantom of the Opera (1988), Rent (1996), The Lion King (1998), Hairspray (2003), Avenue Q (2004), Monty Python’s Spamalot (2005) and Jersey Boys (2006). There had been eight winners until April, when the 2001 honoree, The Producers, closed — more than at any time in history. That means nearly a quarter of all Broadway theatres currently in use are housing Tony Award-winning musicals. (And that’s not counting this season’s major revivals of two more Tony-winning musicals, A Chorus Line and Les Misérables.) Talents associated with these productions share their thoughts about their shows winning the Tony Award.

I Gotcha/XHS Spring Cabaret

 From the 2007 Cabaret: “I Gotcha” from the Broadway musical FOSSE, originally conceived and designed by Bob Fosse for Liza Minnelli’s Emmy Award winning television special Liza with a Z aired in 1972. 

Tony Awards Fall-Out

The future doesn’t look so bright for any show except Spring Awakening in the aftermath of Sunday night’s Tony Awards. It is very frustrating that none of the public will have the opportunity to see Journey’s End, the winner of best revival for a play, or The Coast of Utopia-winner of the award for best play since these productions are already closed.
From the New York Times:

Just about everyone along Broadway knew that “Spring Awakening” would do well at Sunday night’s Tony Awards, but there was still some surprise heard at the after-parties: Few thought it would do quite as well as it did.

The eight wins — for best musical, book, score, direction and choreography, among other things — came, among other things, as a relief to the producers of the show, which began its Broadway life struggling for survival and has inched its way forward since then. Its huge roster of producers, which has become a running gag around Broadway, is a testament to just how hard it was to raise money for the show.

“We struggled; it was clear that we struggled,” said Ira Pittleman, one of its lead producers. “Even I thought it was too risky a proposition for Broadway.”

But as of early yesterday afternoon, according to the show’s producers, “Spring Awakening” had taken in more than $750,000 since the beginning of Sunday night’s broadcast; if things continue at this clip, the advance for the show could easily top $4.5 million by the end of the week.

The uptick of fortune for “Spring Awakening” stands out even more because few of the other awards given out on Tony night will make even a negligible impact on the immediate Broadway landscape.

Of the winners of the four top awards, two — “Journey’s End,” winner of the best play revival, and “The Coast of Utopia,” a record breaker for most awards won by a play, with seven — have already closed and have no current plans to tour. Another — “Company,” winner of best musical revival — has been in critical condition at the box office for weeks.

In fact, although this past season was crowded (at one point in late April, shows were playing in every theater but one), a sizable chunk of Broadway is going to be dark by the end of the summer.

“A Moon for the Misbegotten” and “Journey’s End” closed on Sunday; by the end of August, 10 more shows are scheduled to fold, including “The Pirate Queen,” ending its run on June 17 at a loss of at least $16 million.

Several shows with open-ended runs have been looking shaky. In addition to “Company,” August Wilson’s “Radio Golf,” nominated for best play, has been struggling. There have even been whispers about the fates of “Rent” and “Avenue Q,” given their moderate ticket sales, but Kevin McCollum, a lead producer on the two shows, insists that neither is leaving anytime soon.

Go to New York City! See a play or musical…..or two! This picture of the Tony -nominated Kander and Ebb show, Curtains, makes me want to see this show!