Hello Readers! It’s Co-editor Gail. This week I want to talk once again about one of my greatest passions, Theatre! But this time it is unfortunately some unfortunate theatre news. If you are not aware, there has been much controversy in the Broadway industry and community in the past few months. Most recently, it is the decision that was made for the Tony Awards this year.
In non-pandemic times, the Tony Awards in its entirety would usually be on television in early June. But as I am sure you are aware; Broadway has been shut down for over a year now and is only now starting to prepare to reopen. So, despite nominations coming out last October, there was no usual ceremony last June. Nor will there be one this June.
Instead, a decision was made to in September, split the Tony’s into a four-hour event across two different platforms:
The majority of the actual awards will be streamed on exclusively Paramount+
Afterward there will be a concert event entitled “Broadway’s Back” on CBS.
Putting any of the Tony’s behind a paywall and reducing Broadways most important night to simply a televised “concert” is horrible for so many reasons. It is a slap in the face to the artists of Broadway who have been out of work for over a year as well as to fans who have watched both Broadway and their local theaters struggling throughout the pandemic. It is especially insulting considering every other major entertainment awards show has managed to create a full television broadcast for their industry.
The part the I think is the most upsetting however, is that the Tony’s are basically the one event every year where folks, especially children, get exposed to theatre when otherwise they may never have access.
Yes, this year the musical numbers will still be on regular television, but kids from less fortunate circumstances whose families cannot afford a streaming service should also be able to see the awards get accepted. While certainly not perfect, the Tony Awards tend to have more diverse nominees, especially in recent years. Representation matters and kids of all backgrounds deserve to see people who look and or identify like them be honored for excellence in their field so those kids can aspire to be there themselves one day.
As Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote and Neil Patrick Harris sang at the 2013 Tony Awards:
“There’s a kid in the middle of nowhere who’s sitting there, living for Tony performances singin’ and flippin’ along with the Pippins and Wickeds and Kinkys, Matildas and Mormonses
So we might reassure that kid and do something to spur that kid
‘Cause I promise you all of us up here tonight
We were that kid and now we’re bigger”.
For a recent example, at the last Tony Awards before the pandemic, actress Ali Stroker won the Tony for best featured actress in a musical for the role of Ado Annie in the recent revival of Oklahoma!. Ali Stroker is a disabled actress and made history that night as the first wheelchair user to ever win a Tony. From her speech, you can tell she was aware of the impact her win would have on disabled kids watching:
“This award is for every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena — you are”.
This year, there is potential for another trailblazing win. Actor Karen Olivo (she/they) is nominated for best actress in a musical for their role as Satine in Moulin Rouge!. A role they recently resigned from in protest calling for the Broadway industry to do better following allegations of abuse and intimidation perpetrated by producer Scott Rudin (and was then was a significant figure in the resulting March On Broadway). In an Instagram video, Olivo explained their decision:
“I could easily go back to a show and make a lot of money, (…) Building a better industry is more important than putting money in my pockets (…) I don’t need to be on a stage I need to be out here…I value humanity more; I want a theatre industry that matches my integrity (…) social justice is actually more important than being a sparkling diamond.”.
Olivo is a nonbinary person of color, and should they win the Tony, they would be the first openly nonbinary person to do so. This wouldn’t only be groundbreaking; it would also be interesting to see how Olivo would use the platform of that win for social justice whether that means a rousing speech or not accepting it at all à la Marlon Brando. Either way it would be an historic moment.
But if it does happen, only those who can afford the Paramount+ paywall will get to see it happen live.
What really makes this entire situation sting for me personally, is that I believe it is only a symptom of a great problem in our culture.
We have this idea in our culture, that everything needs to be an exclusive. Everybody needs to be the first or one of the chosen few. It’s not just streaming services, it’s lots of things.
It’s weird ridiculous cash grabs from major corporations like Peeps Pepsi,
it’s colleges and universities bragging about their rejection rate,
it’s the fact that most online publications won’t accept previously published work (Crow Name does specifically because Meagan and I both hate that it’s such a rarity).
I’m not saying that all these things are necessarily being done maliciously or without reason. It’s just this problem in our culture we have to work on. Once in a lifetime opportunities do happen and can create wonderful memories, but that doesn’t mean that we should be actively and purposefully gatekeeping art, education and other experiences from each other.
Especially because those who suffer the most from this philosophy are always the same: those who are poor, people of color, women, the LGBTQIA+ community, fat folks, and the disabled.
And who benefits? The rich and powerful of course.
Our goal should be a society that is as INCLUSIVE as possible so that one day the achievements we currently see as remarkable, will be commonplace.
Gail Bello is a poet and playwright from Waltham, Massachusetts. She graduated in 2019 with a BFA in Creative Writing and a minor in Theatre from The University of Maine at Farmington. Find her previous publications at https://thaumaturgedramaturge.wordpress.com and follow her on Twitter @AquajadeGail