May 13, 2008
2008 Tony Award Nominees Announced
The 2008 Tony Award nominees were just announced, and looking over the list we’ve got to admit that it was a pretty good year for Broadway, at least in terms of quality. The phenomenal rock musical Passing Strange picked up seven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Lead Actor (Stew, pictured). Also competing in the Best Musical category are the tepidly received Cry-Baby, the harmless Xanadu, and the underdog Latino musical In the Heights.
The rapturously received (though not by Gothamist) August: Osage County picked up five nominations on the way to its inevitable apotheosis as a Hollywood movie. It squares off for the Best Play Tony against Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer, and the fast and funny The 39 Steps.
The riveting revival of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming received three nominations – Ian McShane was passed over for Best Leading Actor, but the real magic in that production came from Eve Best and Raúl Esparza, who both received nominations. Sunday in the Park with George faces stiff competition in the Best Revival of a Musical category from South Pacific and Gypsy; Grease doesn't stand a chance.
The nominations and awards are the last hope for a critically acclaimed show like Passing Strange, which has been playing to less than 50% capacity. As the Playgoer recently pointed out, this past season has been a rough one for Broadway, and it’s hard to blame it all on the stagehands’ strike; currently 18 of the 37 shows on Broadway are less than 70% full. According to Crain’s, overall attendance has dropped 3.5%.
The 2008 Tony Awards ceremony will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 15th, and hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. Stephen Sondheim will be honored with a lifetime achievement award during the event, which will be broadcast on CBS.
Photo of Stew courtesy Carol Rosegg.
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How is 'In the Heights' leading with 13 nominations and considered an underdog?
All Gothamist readers should go out and see In the Heights and Passing Strange.
There's no reason these great shows should be struggling to maintain "average" audience numbers. Seems to me that it's a marketing thing: the people who would love these shows are often "too cool" for mainstream broadway (if only these were "indy shows" not "broadways plays") and, conversely, these don't fit inside the typical box that people (often tourists) want to get from a "broadway" experience.
These shows are really fantastic are they deserve a long and successful run. Hopefully these nominations give some them some traction, at least with that second group.
Great news!
BKBOY: I'm sure the shows are great, but tickets are so utterly and ridiculously expensive, who can afford to go? Europeans and Wall Street bankers perhaps, but otherwise, they're pricing people out.
and European bankers.
even standing tickets are $20.
Well, I won't argue that Broadway prices are out of control. I will, however, argue that you haven't even looked for these tickets and are just making a blanket statement. So congratulations on that. The nice thing about the fact that these shows aren't at capacity is that there are plenty of ways to get cheap(er)tickets.
For Passing Strange, go to www.broadwaybox.com, they have "Balcony seats only $30 Fri. & Sat. at 8, $21.50 every other performance" I bought those $20 balcony seats and b/c they didn't sell enough, they moved us up to great mezzanine seats! If you don't think $21.50 is a deal for a great show (vs. $11.75 for a friggin movie!) then what can I say?
For In the Heights, the latest #s are between 65%-70% capacity. That means in those "day of" ticket lines, you can get 50% off tickets pretty much any day you choose. Again, not saying it is cheap but saying only wall street bankers etc etc can afford it just means you really aren't that interested.
To quote the LA Times Review of Teri Hatcher in Cabaret: "Eh."
That's how I feel about these noms. It was a pretty lackluster year with the exception of August Osage County (not a perfect piece of theater but well-acted and thoroughly entertaining.)
I haven't seen Passing Strange yet but they might as well hand the award to In the Heights; a show which, in a good year, wouldn't (and shouldn't) have made the transfer from off B'way to B'way.
Yes, the top ticket price of $100 - $120 is ridiculous. But there are priced for the tourists, the bankers, foreigners, Long Islanders, etc... There are plenty of places to get discounts. As BKBoy mentioned broadwaybox.com is great. Try also theatermania.com, TDF (if you work in the industry), pre-show rush tix, or even TKTS. With TKTS the trick is to go a half hour before curtain and beat the lines.
No Laura Linney? Are they crazy?
Congratulations to 'In the Heights' for 13 nominations! I was hoping Mandy Gonzalez would get a nod for leading actress. She was fabulous as Nina.
I second all the comments that Passing Strange and In the Heights are both AWESOME--you really will be missing out if you don't catch them.
If you are going to hit up the TKTS Booth, I'd recommend going to South Street. They never have any lines, and you can also buy matinee tickets there a day in advance.
As for TDF member tickets, we currently have Passing Strange for $35.50, Sunday in the Park for $35.50, and August: Osage for $31.50 (among tons of other shows). And TDF membership isn't just for industry people--you can join if you fall into any of the following categories: full-time students, full-time teachers, union members, seniors (62 or over), civil service employees, staff members of not-for-profit organizations, performing arts professionals, members of the armed forces or clergy! It's really a fantastic deal.