And the Tony Almost Went to…

[Jeffrey Kare Joined: Jan 23rd, 2013 Topics: 274 Posts: 4673 View Predictions]

#1203521196

While I’m sure a lot of you theater buffs did your best to find a substitute for this year’s Tony Awards which were suppose to take place last night, I’ve got something for you all. Today, we’ll be taking a look back at what ended up being a hotly contested race from 2004 as well as a deep dive into all 5 nominees from that year.

Tonys Flashback: Best Lead Actress in a Musical (2004)

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[Jeffrey Kare Joined: Jan 23rd, 2013 Topics: 274 Posts: 4673 View Predictions]

#1203583424

Dominique Deveraux wrote:

Let me know when you’ve done one for Dreamgirls.

I’ve finally done one. This has to be my most ambitious feature in this series yet.

And the Tony Almost Went to…DREAMGIRLS

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[Awardsfan1990 Joined: Mar 28th, 2015 Topics: 215 Posts: 8179 View Predictions]

#1203584596

Ah yes, the most infamous Best Musical upset win in Tony history. This race should honestly be told in either a documentary or feature film, because it is so fascinating. One has to wonder, though, if both of these shows were coming out for this first time today in 2020, and if Nine’s behind-the-scenes problems had been exposed to the public through social media before it even opened, would Dreamgirls have pulled through and ultimately won? I’m going to venture a guess and say yes, because awards voters these days in any awards body don’t like to give top honors to productions that had numerous behind-the-scenes problems.

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[Jeffrey Kare Joined: Jan 23rd, 2013 Topics: 274 Posts: 4673 View Predictions]

#1203584747

Then again, if the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls were to open today, I wonder if the show would get punished a bit for having a (mostly) all-white creative team putting together a musical centered on black people. Though with that being said, if the movie versions of both Dreamgirls and Nine were released in the same year, it would’ve been so ironic to watch the winner flop on the big screen at the same time as the runner-up succeeds.

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[Awardsfan1990 Joined: Mar 28th, 2015 Topics: 215 Posts: 8179 View Predictions]

#1203585719

Though, to be fair, Nine wouldn’t be immune from criticism either. If they tried to promote the show the way they did in 1982 with giant pinup posters of the female characters, I imagine some feminist groups would have publicly criticized this and called it sexist. They would probably accuse the whole show of being sexist since it primarily depicts women’s sexuality from a male perspective.

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[Jeffrey Kare Joined: Jan 23rd, 2013 Topics: 274 Posts: 4673 View Predictions]

#1203585758

I was actually listening to a podcast about the musical Nine earlier today. When it was recorded, the gender-swapped revival of Company was taking place in London, and everyone on the show mentioned that they don’t think a gender-swapped version of Nine with a woman front and center in a cast of mostly men would work.

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