On Tuesday the American Theatre Wing announced the 2008 Tony Award nominees. A Tony is the highest honor given to Broadway shows and performers, basically like an Oscar for the movies’ less powerful but more pretentious sibling. The fight for professional acknowledgment can be a contentious battle, especially among moneymaking musical extravaganzas. Certainly tourists will see shows that seem fun, regardless of accolades (i.e. certain Disney productions), but having “Best Musical” on a marquee does suggest higher ticket sales and the best bragging rights around.
This year’s fight for the the honor of Best Musical has been an interesting one. In years past, there has been an obvious winner, one new show that appeals to all the major demographics: the gays, the tweens, the theatre students, American tourists, foreign tourists, and older New Yorkers who can afford to see Broadway plays. I’m talking about musicals whose cast recordings are sold all over the world and whose songs become the trendy ones sung at auditions. Last year the Best Musical award went to Spring Awakening, the year before that it was Jersey Boys, in 2005 it was Spamalot, and in ’04 Avenue Q heroically beat out Wicked. You see where this is going — these are collectively adored new musicals that have taken their rightful place as this decade’s best.
But this year the winner isn’t so visible. The four shows that are up for Best Musical are all completely different and pretty innovative in individual ways, especially when it comes to their music. The two most musically impressive nominees are Passing Strange and In the Heights, which both began as off-Broadway endeavors with little budgets and big hearts; they were both picked up for Broadway runs last fall.
Passing Strange is the mostly autobiographical story of Stew, who’s the narrator of the show; he’s also the frontman of a band called the Negro Problem, who are the musicians onstage in the play. Passing Strange is musically unique to its traditional Broadway successors; it’s really more of a rock show than a musical theatre score, with a rock band instead of an orchestra. And Passing Strange remains true to itself, it never sells out with an obvious money song, written to appease audience members looking for something they know. (For Theatre is Easy’s review of Passing Strange, click here.)
In the Heights is a narrative story about growing up in Washington Heights, a racially diverse and relatively poor neighborhood in upper Manhattan. Much of the music is hip-hop influenced with an urban feel. In The Heights incorporates a genre of music never before used on a Broadway stage, and sort of implies what is possible for the future of musical theatre. It takes a musical risk for the sake of accurate story telling (these kids are urban after all), although it should be noted that there are also some songs that resonate as more expected musical theatre, and for that it’s possible that the show may have more staying power. (For Theatre is Easy’s review of In The Heights, click here.)
I was under the impression that Cry-Baby wasn’t critically well-received, so I was a bit surprised when I found out it was nominated for Best Musical. The music was written by Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger, and he does his best to bring his pop-rock song writing know-how to the stage. Based on the John Waters film of the same name, Cry-Baby delivers the 1950s in all their cheesy glory. Like last year’s Spring Awakening, with music written by rocker Duncan Sheik, Cry-Baby uses Schlesinger’s knowledge of writing an upbeat pop song and adapts it for the stage. It’s somewhat successful since Schlesinger can write a catchy hook, but I’m a big fan of Fountains of Wayne and I expected Cry-Baby to include music that resonated a little more. (Read the Theatre is Easy review of Cry-Baby here.)
Xanadu is also up for Best Musical, although not for Best Score. Based on the critically-panned movie of the same name and with music by ‘70s super-group ELO, Xanadu might just be campy enough to win the biggest Tony of them all. But since the music is not what makes this show so endearing, it’s not going to transform modern mucial theatre, and it’s hard to warrant its place in a category with Passing Strange and In the Heights, both shows that take a musical risk for the sake of art.
So, I guess it’s anyone’s game, although Passing Strange and In the Heights both deserve respect for their innovative and appropriate scores. Both of these shows epitomize how incorporating music that is relevent to the story being told heightens the theatrical experience. A play about urban life should include urban music, and a play about a rock band should rock. By taking risks and maintaining their integrity, both of these shows set the bar at what modern musical theatre should attempt to be. Find out what happens when the Tony Awards air Sunday, June 15, at 8 PM on CBS.
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