For decades, off-Broadway has complained that all the hoopla surrounding the Tony Awards leaves smaller theaters in the lurch. After all, the only shows considered for awards are those playing in Broadway theaters, and the big annual ceremony broadcast nationally on CBS-TV shows scenes and musical numbers from mainstem productions only. Once in a blue moon, a non-Broadway event might get some recognition (as when “The Fantasticks” was given a special Tony in 1991), but mostly, the Tonys disregarded everything below 41st Street and above 66th Street.

That now changes, just a little, because the Tony Administration Committee has ruled that the annual Regional Theater Tony can begin to include off-Broadway (and presumably off-off-Broadway) theaters in its consideration. The new rules take effect immediately and open the door for venues such as Playwrights Horizons, the Vineyard Theater and the Atlantic Theater Company to complete as regional theaters. Some exceptions do hold, though. The Roundabout, Lincoln Center Theater and Manhattan Theater Club can’t complete for the regional honor because they already have Broadway theaters. Also, any off or off-off-Broadway organization that transfers a show to Broadway can’t be considered for a regional Tony during that season. In his story for Playbill.com, Robert Simonson notes that it’s likely New York theaters won’t be allowed to win two years in a row, just to give the other states a chance.

As expected, reaction to the decision has been mixed. Regional theaters across the country find it worrisome because this is their only shot at national recognition on the Tonys, and now they have to compete against New York even in that one single category that was safely away from New York City. They also argue that the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle, the Lortels, the OBIES and the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards all cover off-Broadway pretty extensively, so it’s not as if smaller New York theaters are going begging for glittering prizes.

On the plus side, several off-Broadway houses do function just like regional theaters, and it’s been a shame that some of the best stage work being done in New York, year after year, isn’t recognized the way it could be. Also, this Tony ruling comes just a week after the Associated Press announced it would no longer cover off-Broadway as part of its entertainment newsgathering. The Tony decision could serve as a reminder to AP that just because a theater has fewer than 499 seats doesn’t make it unworthy of reportage.

On a personal note, the Regional Theater Tony Award, though administered by the Tonys, is almost always suggested by a vote from the American Theater Critics Association, of which this writer is a longtime member. When I lived and worked in New York as a theater critic, I always felt frustrated that the venues I was attending on a regular basis weren’t included in ATCA’s voting. Instead, I’d get a ballot of suggested regional theaters, with other ATCA members explaining in a paragraph or two why the particular theater they were championing deserved that year’s vote. Since ATCA members are spread out across the U.S. and certainly don’t travel to two dozen different regional theaters all year `round, most of the voters are choosing based on recommendations and research, rather than actually seeing the work of those theaters that year.

What also often happens is that ATCA will visit a city for its annual conference and see a few shows in that city (with the city’s chamber of commerce feting us with museum tickets and some meals). Of course, any nominated theater from that city will have a leg up on the others, not so much because ATCA members receive special treatment while visiting but simply because we’ve actually been able to see a show or two at that nominated venue. Because quite a few ATCA members are New York or Tri-State based, the new Tony ruling will at least ensure that nominated Manhattan venues will have been attended by more than a handful of our voters. And besides, as the American Theater Wing and the Theater League said in their joint statement this week, "New York has some of the most prestigious and creative theater groups in the country and we are thrilled to include the New York theater community in this category."

For more info:
https://www.playbill.com/news/article/179564-Change-in-Policy-Makes-New-York-Companies-Eligible-for-Regional-Tony-Award/pg3

- by David Lefkowitz