In Honor of Tony Awards Week!

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​In honor of Tony Awards Week, some thoughts:

• Even if you are not a regular theater-goer, be glad the Tony Awards are telecast (and please watch if you can!), because the art of the stage has, for millennia, been a vital part of the history of civilization~without live storytelling, we would be lost as a species. We must celebrate this art form, particularly so that it will continue to speak on behalf of the often-voiceless in our society.

• The shows you see on the Tony Awards are only a small fraction of the shows, on Broadway, Off Broadway, touring, regional, kids in backyards that play out every day. The fact that a show is on Broadway does not automatically make it better or more to your liking than the one put on by your local theater company. This means that you are not handicapped because you don’t get to see Broadway shows. If you see theater at all, you understand the magic of the stage.

• A show that arrives on Broadway was not dropped there by a theater-obsessed stork, it has been YEARS in the making, and, unlike with a film, the work continues long after Opening Night, if the show is successful. The difference between a show making it to a Broadway theater is often merely the nature of the show (it may be better in a more intimate setting and not suitable for a Broadway house), the star-power of the cast, the deep pockets and risk-friendly producers who get on board, or the particular array of shows all aiming for Broadway that season. There is a finite number of Broadway theaters. Think of those commutes on freeways where three lanes all of a sudden merge into one, with a stream of cars coming in from the entrance ramp. Do not think of a show as less successful because it didn’t go to Broadway. But be glad for Broadway shows drawing audiences into theaters, and being visible, and inspiring young people to put on a show in their backyard. They may be on Broadway one day.

• It is absolutely true, because this is a live art form, that every single performance, including the one you will see, is absolutely unique; sometimes twice in a day. When you attend a show with your audience, your cast, your serendipity, you have been part of a once-in-a-lifetime event. And make no mistake, what you bring to that theater with you, your enthusiasm, willingness to be transported, gratefulness for the actors impacts that show and that experience. You will often hear actors at stage doors say “You guys were such a great audience,” or “Thank YOU for being a wonderful audience.” It really does make a difference.
  

 

• The performers you see on the Tony Awards get paid for performing 8X a week. Again, unlike with a film, the cast does not wrap up, take their paychecks and move on. Stage performers spend years punishing their bodies to tell us stories that may (and do) change the world.

• This season alone, there were stories inspired by history, by fantasy, by human suffering, by human triumph, by human foibles, by human kindness, by cultural evolution, by gut-bustingly funny circumstances, by the need to offer hope, by curiosity, by the simple wish to entertain. Never mind if it was a movie first…who cares? When it hits that stage to tell a story, it is on its own. It may be more successful at telling the story, less successful at telling the story, but it is telling a story in its own way…let it do its thing. 

• I like awards because they bring attention to the amazing work being done, but they won’t ever get it completely “right.” There are too many variables impacting the process. The Tony Awards are only one of the several revered awards a show could receive, and several of the shows you will see on the Tony Awards may have won multiple awards already, or none at all yet. And some of the shows that arrived on Broadway after being successful Off Broadway, were highly awarded during their Off Broadway runs, but may not get a Tony Award. 

• Broadway is not a synonym for “musical.” Musicals get the most attention, usually, but plays are powerhouses in terms of impact. If you think you don’t like musicals, that doesn’t mean you don’t like Broadway. The plays this season were/are amazing.

• Liking theater doesn’t make you “elitist” or “high brow.” Yes, being able to afford expensive Broadway tickets is a limiting factor, but again, stage-based, live storytelling is the most equalizing of art forms. Just stand up and tell a story. There, you have the first breath of theater. The kind of theater you like does not make you more intelligent, more savvy, more hip, more right…what it makes you is you. And that’s what theater is all about, telling each other about each other.

Go see a show. Go tell a story. Go be kind to one another.