The Tony Nominations: Torn Between Two Feelings, Feelin’ Like a Fool

Is it maturity or disillusionment? When I was a kid, starting when I was about 12 or so and continuing on for years, the annual announcement of the Tony nominations was the second-holiest day of the year for me, right behind the Tony Awards ceremony itself each June. But in recent years, including all the years I served as associate editor and then national theater editor of the trade publication and website Back Stage, and attending the announcement of the nominations on a regular basis, I found myself increasingly less obsessed — ambivalent, almost — about the Tonys. What changed? Was it maturity or disillusionment?

This is not to say that I don’t care, mind you. I love being a Tony voter, and there’s something about watching a group of superlatively talented and worthy theater artists being nominated or winning that makes me turn the waterworks on full. Here are three of my favorite moments: the late, great Michael Jeter, who won a Tony for the musical Grand Hotel nearly 20 years ago; Rita Moreno, who won for The Ritz more than 30 years ago; and John Gallagher, Jr., who more recently won a Tony for Spring Awakening. Watch these and tell me if something inside of you doesn’t become at at least a little misty:

So I’m not without heart, right?

At the same time, I do not believe Broadway is the center of the national theatrical universe. Of course, the Broadway community would like the rest of the nation to believe that it is — such are the prerogatives of a largely commercial industry that too often allows artistic achievement to be trumped by the bottom line. As a critic, I think perhaps it is a sign of maturity to accept this situation as inevitable as well as a sign of disillusionment. After all, in an ideal world, Broadway would be the best theater in the nation.

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