Evidently, it's awards week (and hashtags as blog titles too). Monday the #INSPY nominations dropped (a book award, which I serve as a judge for). Next came this year's #TonyAwards nominations. The shows range from modern dramas to animation-inspired musicals, not to mention the return of the Sound Design category. Looks like #TonyCanYouHearMe finally got an answer (and that's enough hashtags for this post).
Looking at this news got me thinking about the impact the Tonys has on local productions. For the past three years I've been compiling a database of shows produced in this state, as well as South Carolina and Virginia. I started it just to help me to keep up with professional opportunities, but it's grown into a greater data crunching tool.
For example, just how many shows that we see in this state were once a Tony winner or nominee? If you look at my Tony Awards summary, you can see that 395 licensed productions were produced in North Carolina last year.
The numbers are similar for 2015, which saw 396 licensed productions in the state.
It's not just old standards racking up the numbers either. In 2016, there were 28 Tony Award winning shows that licensed productions in the state. Of those, seven (25%) were given out since the year 2000. That fraction gets even bigger when considering nominees: out of 42 shows, 16 (38%) were nominated in the 2000s, with seven (16%) in the 2010s.
Keep in mind that all the numbers I quoted above are based on data I compiled: it's entirely possible there may be errors. But the data provides a neat starting point to a conversation. How many theatre companies produce Tony shows? How big a consideration is it for them as they plan their season? Will 2017 see a higher or lower percentage than years past? Are Tony-nominated artists more likely to be produced than others?
What do you think the impact is on the Tony Awards in your local theatre scene?
