The Tony Awards are coming this Sunday on CBS.
While this has been an excellent season on Broadway, the show — which begins at 8pm — is battling internal and external forces.
Let’s start with external and ratings. HBO is launching the second season of “House of the Dragon” at 9pm, and will repeat it when its over. Is there a cross over audience? Probably. “Dragon” and “Game of Thrones” are hugely popular. The possibility of the Tonys being crushed at least from 9 to 10pm is upsetting.
Then there are the internal issues. The Tony Awards were for years staged at Radio City Musical, where there is plenty of room — 5,000 seats. But union issues have increased the rental price so much that the Tonys had to go looking for a new home last year.
The show wound up at the United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights. The place was cavernous but not modern enough to accommodate anyone comfortably. Audience members in the orchestra section lost weight because it was so hot down there. Access to bathrooms and snacks was incredibly limited. The whole United Palace experience was one best forgotten.
So this year the Tonys are coming from the David Koch Theater in Lincoln Center. Capacity is about half of Radio City’s. All I’ve heard about it for weeks is producers, investors, guests of nominees all fighting for tickets. We may have to watch this from PJ Clarke’s across the plaza!
The party that follows — which used to be at the Plaza Hotel — is in the lobby of David Geffen Hall, formerly Avery Fisher Hall, which is also smaller than the previous venue. Luckily many shows head to their own parties, and that seems the case this Sunday.
There’s one other internal problem: not all the nominated musicals or plays with music will perform on the CBS broadcast. “Stereophonic,” a hybrid, is nominated for Best Play. It’s also nominated for Best Score, as the play –which may win — is loosely based on Fleetwood Mac. It has terrific songs and performers, yet they have not been invited to perform! The “Stereophonic” gang would have driven up ratings.
Will it all get resolved? Of course. And Broadway will close one season and get ready for a new one that also looks very promising.
