The 2020 Tony Awards Is Certainly Interesting; Here's Why.

Source: Tony Awards.com

After a long journey of indefinite postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 74th Tony Awards has finally confirmed that the ceremony celebrating live theatre will indeed be held this year, albeit virtually. Nominations were announced on October 15, 2020, and some people are particularly irked about this situation—aside from the ten plays eligible, only four original musicals and play revivals are. There aren't even any musical revivals eligible, since none of them opened in time for Tony season. Among the many that didn't open in time are the revival of West Side Story and Caroline, or Change as well as the Broadway transfer of the British musical Six and the new musical Girl from the North Country.

After a heavily negative reception of having a sing-along Grease film air in place of the original ceremony date, the Tony Awards has once again met a slight backlash. Out of the four eligible musicals—Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Jagged Little Pill, and The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical—only three were given nominations, leaving The Lightning Thief in the dust. As an adaptation of one of the most successful and well-known fantasy young adult novel series, this musical has gained a cult following, especially with the fact that the musical stayed true to the original source material more so than the film adaptations did. A lot of enthused fans took this blow the hard way; this whole situation feels like a purposeful exclusion of the Percy Jackson musical since a usual roster of Tony nominations contains of four to five musicals for Best Musical, yet under very limited eligibility, The Lightning Thief was still left out.

Source: Playbill

On a brighter note, though, fans are delighted when long-time favorite Aaron Tveit (Next to Normal, Grease Live!) is finally nominated for his work in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The movie-based jukebox musical stars Tveit as Christian, earning him the long-awaited Tony nominee. A small blip, though, is the fact that albeit nominated as Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, he is competing against no one. This fact, though, doesn't secure him the award, since the regulation of needing more than 60% of the voting board is still in force.

The Tony Awards this year seems a bit forced with the global pandemic situation going on. A lot of people aren't happy with the decision not to just postpone the Tonys until COVID-19 ends, or just skip 2020 altogether and hold the 74th ceremony in 2021. This announcement, however, reiterates a single hope that a lot of people holds dear and are still holding dear to their hearts: Broadway will be back. Live theatre will be back.