Thanks a lot, Tony

Followup

Just because I don't write a whole blog post about them doesn't mean that stories don't keep going on. Apparently, people keep existing, even though you're not paying attention to them. To that end, here are some quick followups on things we've talked about before: (1) I spent two weeks in a row talking about how the budget battle at the Minnesota state capitol was affecting us. After those fights between the Senate and the House about whether or not the Minnesota Film and TV Board's Snowbate program works or not, the Snowbate program finally helped nab us another major studio production.

In addition, the Legacy Bill, which allocates all that arts council money you've come to know and love, has been tied up waiting for a special session. Minnesota Citizens for the Arts would like your help in pushing legislators to get it done.

(2) Last week we were discussing more of the changeovers at big institutions. Another one dropped right after that post went to press, which is really annoying. The world should be on my publishing schedule. At any rate, the Jerome Foundation, the local foundation that gives all its money to visual and performing arts, just announced Ben Cameron as their new boss and overlord. (3) I vaguely remember sharing an article about why playwrights proliferate in Minnesota, and now I can't find it again to reference it. For those completist readers out there who read ever article I link to and mention, have fun finding it. For the rest of you, here's the followup: the Playwrights' Center announced their new Core Writers and Many Voices fellow

So, about those awards…

I hate to be that theater guy who says "I don't watch the Tony Awards," but here we go: I don't watch the Tony Awards. Frankly, if I didn't have to write a column about theater every week, I probably wouldn't pay much attention to them. But, here I am. I took the gig, and I accepted the risks.

"But you're in theater!" you might say. "You have to love the Tonys! Look at all the awards! Look at all the pretty dresses! There's even a few Minnesotans who got to vote for them!" (I'm guessing you mean "vote for the awards," not "vote for the pretty dresses".)

As you may have guessed from some of my previous comments, I don't think much of them. Besides my usual philosophical ravings about how our slavish devotion to them hamstrings our abilities to make our own great theater scenes, I leave it to Mike Hale's review in the New York Times of this year's award ceremony to explain why I avoid them: "the Tony Awards broadcast on CBS on Sunday night resembled many an expensive musical: a big, bland, well-tooled entertainment machine."

But I'm in a good mood today. Summer is here. The sun is shining. And I haven't even been drinking this evening as I write this. And, I'm starting to be convinced (a little bit) by people like Jonathan Mandell, whose piece in HowlRound last week made me start to realize that maybe Broadway and the Tony Awards aren't quite as stale as I had imagined. My god. What is going on with me? The next thing you know, I'll be advocating for building more absurdly large, alienating and expensive arts buildings.

So, how did the scales fall from my eyes? What happened to make me start to see things anew?

Fun Home happened. A musical adaptation of a graphic memoir about a lesbian coming to terms with the probable suicide of her closeted father that was adapted and scored by women walked away from the Tonys with an armload of little gold statues, even nabbing the coveted Best Musical prize. In an industry that has had serious problems letting women make their mark, it was finally (as the LA Times put it) "a big night for women in theater".

Charles McNulty's review of the awards makes note of this, saying that this year's awards show a new maturity for Broadway and its little gold statue ceremony. Looking at the winners, the nominations, and the more diverse, new and surprising work that's coming to Broadway (despite the fact that investing in a Broadway show is still a shockingly easy way to lose money), maybe he's right. As he says:

"In a year of record Broadway grosses ($1.36 billion), it's heartening to see commercial imperatives take a back seat. But then perhaps Broadway is beginning to recognize how reliant it is on nonprofit theater in the U.S. and nationally subsidized theater in Britain. These are the laboratories that produce not only a good chunk of the Great White Way's hoard of gold but, more important for the art form's longevity, its cultural cachet."

It's hard for me to pin down when and where this all started happening, but I'd hold up Oskar Eustis and his guidance of the Public Theater as an example. This non-profit off-Broadway company puts a lot of effort into developing high-quality new work from unexpected voices, and that has translated into critical and commercial success with transfer to Broadway. You might recognize one of those "critical and commercial successes". It's called Fun Home. And next year at this time, we'll probably be talking about another Public-derived show that's sweeping the Tonys off their pretty little feet: Hamilton. (You know, the hip-hop musical about one of our Founding Fathers)

Longtime readers are probably thinking, "Wow. That was unexpectedly positive." Yes, even I am surprised. So, let me get in the obligatory cynical stab at the end: sure, it was great that women finally had their night to sweep the Tonys, but if you were watching the broadcast, you didn't get to see that. This year, for the first time, women took home not only the Best Book and Best Score awards, but also awards for direction, costumes, lighting and scenic design, and the Academy, in their infinite wisdom, shoved all of these "Creative Arts" awards in during the commercial breaks.

History was made. You just didn't get to witness it.

But at least we got to enjoy a live performance from Finding Neverland, a show that has never even been nominated for a Tony, for the second year in a row. Thanks, Tony Awards.

Suddenly summer

Once it finally stopped raining, the weather in the Twin Cities has become beautiful. Here I am being unexpectedly positive again, but I think this is going to be a great summer.

And why not spend that summer seeing some theater. But don't go to your usual haunts. Get outdoors and partake in some good old fashioned theater in the park. You have a plethora of options. Or, why not get the hell out of the cities and go see the rest of the state? There's theater happening all over the place out there.