Referring back to the Great-Big
Summary Chart of the Major Awards of the 2001-2002 Season
we attempt to draw conclusions, some rather pointless, some not.
All conclusions are based on this year's five major awards (Drama
Desk, Drama League, NY Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle,Tony
Awards) and do not pretend to be predictions of future results.
Cluster Bomb
In keeping with years past, this year nominations went out
to 55 different shows (57 in 2001, 59 in 1999 and 54 in 1998;
in 2000 invitations were sent to a whopping 67!). Most of these
went to a core group of six: Urinetown (with 17 nominations,
or 5.4% of the total nominations), Morning's at Seven (19
noms, 6%), Sweet Smell of Success (23 noms, 7.3%), Into
the Woods (24 noms, or 7.6%), Oklahoma (26 noms, 8.2%),
and Thoroughly Modern Millie (32 noms, 10%). Of these only
Thoroughly Modern Millie was a clear leader in wins, with
12 or 17% of the total awards given. Of the others, only a few
managed to reap as many wins as the middling pack: Morning's
(1 win), Sweet Smell (3), Woods (5), and Oklahoma!
(8), vs. Fortune's Fool (6 wins out of 9 noms), The
Goat or Who is Sylvia? (5 for 9), The Last 5 Years (2
for 8), Metamorphosis (6 for 9), Noises Off (3 for
8), Private Lives (6 for 14), tick, tick... BOOM! (1
for 8) and Urinetown! (7 for 17). (For what it's worth,
if Urinetown! had played had been eligible for the awards
this year that its off-Broadway incarnation was nominated for
last year, its total nominations would have ballooned to 26, but
its total wins would have remained the same (7).)
Lords of the Revivals
Slightly less than half of the nominated shows (24, or 43.6%)
were revivals (or adaptations/translations of older plays). These
shows garnered slightly more than half of the nominations (165,
or 52%), and slightly more than half of the awards (39, or 55.7%).
Of the 165 nominations received by these 24 revivals, 97 of them
went to just 5 shows: The Crucible (14), Into the Woods
(24), Morning's at Seven (19), Oklahoma! (26)
and Private Lives (14). Of the 39 total wins awarded to
revivals, 31 (or 79.5%) went to only 5 as well, but two of them
did not even appear in that "most-nominated-revival"
group: Fortune's Fool (6), Into the Woods (5), Metamorphoses
(6), Oklahoma! (8), and Private Lives (6). This
accounts for 44.3% of the total number of awards given!
All in the Title
- The Tony "Q" Curse is broken! In the two previous
years you could not expect to win a Tony if your title
began with a letter further along in the alphabet than "Q."
This year had 10 post-Q wins (distributed between Sweet Smell
of Success, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Urinetown!).
- An adjective in your title will only help you win if you're
a Thoroughly Modern Coward: The Last 5 Years (8
noms, 2 wins), The Phantom Lady (1 nom, 0 wins),
Private Lives (14 noms, 6 wins), Reefer
Madness (2 noms, 0 wins), The Spitfire Grill
(4 noms, 0 wins), The Sweet Smell of Success (23
noms, 3 wins), Thief River (1 nom, 0 wins), Thoroughly
Modern Millie (32 noms, 12 wins), Topdog/Underdog
(7 noms, 0 wins).
- Look, I've said it over and over again: Animals in your title
will kill you. The Elephant Man (5 noms), The
Seagull (2), To You, The Birdie! (1),
Topdog/Underdog (7), and The Voice of
the Turtle (1), could not manage a single win. Yes,
The Goat or Who is Sylvia? went 5 for 9, but that
title is waaayyy screwed up with a character name (see below)
and punctuation (see further below).
- Being bossy won't help. Thou Shalt Not (4 noms), Morning's
at Seven (19), and To You, The Birdie! (1) managed
only a single win.
- A number in your title is not very helpful. Of 36 Views
(5 noms), Four (1), The Last 5
Years (8), Morning's at Seven (19), Summer
of '42 (1), only The Last 5 Years and Morning's
at Seven managed and wins (2 and 1, respectively).
- Location, location, location? If you're going to use a location
in your title better use a specific place name. And make it in
America. Preferably somewhere in the mid-West. Oklahoma! went
8 for 26. Franz Kafka's The Castle isn't in America (3
noms, no wins), nor is Homebody/Kabul (1 nom, no wins).
Streets of New York is on the East coast (1 nom, no wins).The
Spitfire Grill is west of the Mississippi, but it moved and
it isn't a proper place name (4 noms, no wins). The rule is broken,
however, by Into the Woods (24 noms, 5 wins) and Urinetown!
(17 noms, 7 wins) which aren't real place name or in the
American mid-West (or are they?).
- A character name in the title is not so helpful. Cressida
Among the Greeks (1 nom), Cymbeline
(2), Elaine Stritch: At Liberty (3 noms,
and don't tell me she's not a character), Everett Beekin
(1), Franny's Way (3), Hedda
Gabler (2), Major Barbara (4) only managed
one win (Elaine's). The Goat or Who is Sylvia? doesn't
count (see "Animals" above and "Punctuation"
below), nor does Thoroughly Modern Millie (see
"Adjectives" above).
- The Ladies beat the Men! The Phantom Lady (1 nom,
no wins) and The Women (4 noms, 2 wins) beat The Elephant
Man (5 noms, no wins) and The Man Who Had All the Luck
(2 noms, no wins). Although the men managed 7 nominations
to the women's 5 (yeah, men!).
- Scary creatures don't win awards. The Elephant Man (5
noms), The Golem (1), Monster (1), and The Phantom
Lady (1) pulled no awards.
- Don't be so loud, it won't help much. tick, tick... BOOM!
got 1 award in 8 nominations, and Noises Off got 3
out of 8.
- Telling us what planet you're on doesn't win points, especially
if it's the same one we usually live on. Wonder of the World
got 2 nominations; World of Mirth got 1. Neither won.
- Leave food out of it. The Spitfire Grill's 4 nominations
and Swimming with Watermelon's 1 did not garner any wins.
But, hmmmm, do they cook The Goat?
- Points for punctuation? The Goat or Who is Sylvia?,
Oklahoma!, and Urinetown! had a combined 20 wins.
But Mamma Mia!, Morning's at Seven, Summer of
'42 , To You, The Birdie! and tick, tick... BOOM! had
only 2 wins between 'em.
To be continued...
Our congratulations are extended to all the players. Win or
lose, remember it's not brain surgery!
Click here for Part I - The Acting
Categories.
Click here for Part II - The Creative,
Show and Technical Categories.
Click here for Part III - Everything
Else That Didn't Fit.
Click here for Part IV - Out-of Town.
Click here for Part V - Beginning
of the End
Big Chart
Fun With Math
Jumping to Conclusions -
Pt. 2
If masochism runs in your genes, you may also browse awards
of years' past:
1997 Awards charts
1998 Awards charts
1999 Awards charts
2000 Awards charts
2001
Awards charts
C U @ the Theatre!
Originally published at Suite101.com
Theatre,
4/16 - 8/27/02