That’s the question Broadway fans have been asking for months.
Broadway closed down on March 12, 2020, and originally canceled performances until mid-April. Soon it became apparent that the closure was going to last much longer. Now performances are canceled until at least June of this year, and the thought around the Rialto is the date for Broadway to reopen will be pushed back until September 2021.
Back in October 2020, nominees were announced for the 74th Annual Tony Awards. Eighteen Broadway productions were deemed eligible that had opened in the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 theatre season. There were also two opening productions that were deemed ineligible since they had not yet been able to accommodate Tony voters: A revival of “West Side Story” and the musical “The Girl from the North Country;” both shows will be considered for next season.
The Best Revival of a Musical category was eliminated for this shortened season because the musical revivals of “Company” and “Caroline or Change” had not yet opened and “West Side Story,” as mentioned, was deemed ineligible. These were the only three musical revivals that were scheduled for this season.
In the Best Actor in a Musical category, only one eligible actor, Aaron Tveit for his performance in “Moulin Rouge,” was nominated. Even though he is the only actor nominated, Tveit has not yet won the Tony. According to the rules, 60 percent of the Tony voters have to vote for him in order for him to actually win.
The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, which together present the Tony Awards, originally announced that the awards would be presented in December of 2020, but December turned into January with no further announcement. Broadway fans began wondering if the Tony Awards were going to be presented at all. However as of Friday Jan. 29, the two organizations finally released a statement saying that Tony voters would be voting electronically between March 1 and March 15, and the Tony Awards would be presented “in coordination with the reopening of Broadway.”
We shall see.
