As we did LAST ARTICLE, again 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 awards and do not pretend to be predictions of future results. This news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including timely product development, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K and most recent Form 10-Qs. Oh, and I know |<--this much->| about statistics.

An Organizational Chart

• As we noted last year, the Drama Desk still likes things no one else likes (Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, plus nineteen nominated shows that appear on no other major list).
• The Drama League (at 5 noms) and the Outer Critics Circle (The Dazzle's one win and 3 other noms) like things even the Drama Desk doesn't, although to be fair we point out that the awards they did give were to shows that were also successful on another list.

Organizational Ranking by Generousity Level

1. The New York Drama Critics Circle only reveals winners: this year only 1 award/1 nominee. Percentage of nominees receiving awards: 100%. Chances of a (revealed) nominee winning an award: 100%.
2. The Outer Critics Circle: 20 awards/79 nominees. Percentage of nominees receiving awards: 25.3% (down from 27.5% last year). Chances of a single nominee winning an award: 1.3% (unchanged).
3. The Tony's: 21 awards/90 nominees. Percentage of nominees receiving awards: 23.3% (up from 22.9%). Chances of a single nominee winning an award: 1.1% (unchanged).
4. The Drama Desk: 25 awards/126 nominees. Percentage of nominees receiving awards: 19.8% (up from 17.5%, but way below 2000's 26%). Chances of a single nominee winning an award: 0.8% (up from 0.7%).
5. The Drama League: 3 awards/21 nominees. Percentage of nominees receiving awards: 14.3% (way down from 23.8%). Chances of a single nominee winning an award: 4.8% (unchanged).

So, as with last year, not including the NY Drama Critics Circle for which we only get to hear about the winners, if you were nominated for a Drama League you were more likely to win than if you were nominated for an Outer Critics Circle, in which you were more likely to win than if nominated for a Tony, in which you were more likely to win than if nominated for a Drama Desk.

• In total there were 70 awards given to 317 nominees. Percentage of nominees receiving awards: 22.1% (down from 22.5%). If you were nominated in any single category by any organization your chances of winning were 0.3% (unchanged).
• Chance of any particular show winning an award: 17.4%.

Alphabetical distribution of show titles:

Shows Beginning with Letter:	No. of Shows	No. of Nomi- nations	No. of Wins	Avg. Noms per Show	Avg. Wins per Show	Rank by Avg. Nomi- nations	'00/'01 Ranks by Avg. Nomi- nations	Rank by Avg. Wins	'00/'01 Ranks by Avg. Wins
A	--	--	--	--	--	--	7/5	--	7/-
B	--	--	--	--	--	--	14/10	--	-/8
C	3	17	1	5.7	0.3	7	6/9	13	2/-
D	3	7	1	2.3	0.3	14	2/16	13	3/-
E	3	9	1	3	0.3	13	14/17	13	-/-
F	4	16	6	4	1.5	11	14/1	8	8/4
G	3	12	5	4	1.7	11	12/-	7	11/-
H	2	3	0	1.5	0	17	-/-	--	-/-
I	1	24	5	24	5	2	14/2	3	11/1
J	--	--	--	--	--	--	12/8	--	11/7
K	1	1	0	1	0	18	1/3	--	1/3
L	1	8	2	8	2	5	19/14	4	-/-
M	7	47	7	6.7	1	6	3/14	10	4/6
N	2	10	3	5	1.5	9	-/17	8	-/-
O	1	26	8	26	8	1	19/11	1	-/4
P	3	16	6	5.3	2	8	11/4	4	11/2
Q	1	1	0	1	0	18	-/-	--	-/-
R	1	2	0	2	0	16	8/6	--	5/-
S	7	35	3	5	0.4	9	10/12	12	15/-
T	7	58	13	8.3	1.9	4	9/13	6	-/-
U	1	17	7	17	7	3	4/7	2	8/-
V	1	1	0	1	0	18	14/-	--	8/-
W	3	7	2	2.3	0.7	14	5/-	11	6/-
X	--	--	--	--	--	--	-/-	--	-/-
Y	--	--	--	--	--	--	19/-	--	-/-
Z	--	--	--	--	--	--	-/-	--	-/-
	55	317	70	5.8	1.3

• While this year's distribution was a virtual dead heat (A-M's 28 shows to N-Z's 27), the lower half managed 173 nominations (54.6%) to the upper's 144 (45.4%). The awards went in a similar distribution (N-Z: 60%; A-M: 40%)
  Conclusion: Start your show with a letter from either half of the alphabet; it doesn't seem to make a difference (wheareas last year's conclusion was "All rules go out the window if you open your show the same season as The Producers").
• There were no shows beginning with letters from the extreme ends of the alphabet (A-B and X-Z).
  Conclusion: Pick an extreme if you'd like to stand alone ("hi-ho, the derry-o").
• There was a three-way tie for most nominations at 7 each for "M," "S," and "T." These three, as you would expect, also picked up the most nominations (at 47, 35, and 58 respectively). Their average nominations per show, however, (at 6.7, 5, and 8.3) was only middling, and their average wins per show (at a paltry 1, .4, and 1.9) was below average.
  Conclusion: Joining the crowd is no guarantee of success.
• The letters "I," "O," and "U" were part of a 6-way tie for least number of shows beginning with a particular letter, but they managed to clean up win, place, and show in both average nominations (2nd, 1st, and 3rd, respectively) and average wins (3rd, 1st, and 2nd).
  Conclusion: Pick a letter that no one else is using. Then you have two choices if you want to make it big: 1. Revive a show by a composer whose first and last names start with the same letters (e.g., Richard Rodgers or Stephen Sondheim), or 2. Pick a title with an excretionary content.
• Whereas last year, if we had shifted 42nd Street out of "F" and into a numbered slot our conclusions would have differed noticeably, this year if we had shifted 36 Views out of "T" and into a numbered slot there would have been little change.
  Conclusion: You might consider starting your title with a number, but only for award years ending in the number 1.
• Question remaining:
  What would it have meant to have shows beginning with the letters "A," "B," "J," or "X" through "Z"?

Our congratulations are extended to all the players. Win or lose, remember it's all just one big crap shoot!

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. 1

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!