Production Categories

Well ... based on my post from the other day, I've gone ahead and grouped each production into the categories in which it will be eligible come Tony night.  All productions, with the exception of "Special Theatrical Events", are eligible for acting/design/directing/etc. awards, so I won't get into that right now.  I will have an update with another analysis like this one listing all actors and the categories in which they are eligible once all those decisions have been made.

A few notes about the categories I am creating here.  I am putting a few productions here into the "Special Theatrical Event" category.  This is a category that comes into and goes out of play seemingly at the whim of the American Theater Wing (the people who give out the Tony's, comparable to "The Academy" at the Oscars).  It was created for things that aren't easily definable as either a play or a musical, like Liza Minnelli's one woman performance piece last year at the Palace.  Shows in this category are only eligible in this category since, being neither plays nor musicals, don't have the same design/acting/directing structure as other shows.  I am not sure if the category is coming back this year, but if it does, we will know who can be in it!  Also, new musicals are eligible in the additional categories of Book (the script between the songs) and Score.  Other than that, all plays, musicals, and revivals compete in the same categories that one would expect.

So, without further ado, here are all the eligible productions of the 2009-2010 season, including those that have been announced but have yet to open.  Of course, if any of the announced shows don't open, they will simply be removed from the list.

New Play:
A Steady Rain
Superior Donuts
In the Next Room ... or the Vibrator Play
Race
A Behanding in Spokane
Time Stands Still
Next Fall
Looped
Enron
Lips Together, Teeth Apart


Play Revival:
Hamlet
The Royal Family
Oleanna
After Miss Julie
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Present Laughter
A View From the Bridge
Miracle Worker
Collected Stories
Lend Me a Tenor
Fences


New Musical (also eligible for book and score):
Memphis
Fela!
Adams Family
Million Dollar Quartet
Come Fly Away
American Idiot
Sondheim on Sondheim


Musical Revival:
Bye Bye Birdie
Finian's Rainbow
Ragtime
A Little Night Music
La Cage Aux Folles
Promises, Promises


Special Theatrical Event:
Burn the Foor
All About Me
Wishful Drinking


As I was typing this list, there is one other thing that occurred to me.  Though new musicals are eligible for nomination in the categories of book and score, there are three shows this year that break that rule.  The scores for "Come Fly Away", "American Idiot", and "Sondheim on Sondheim" will not be Tony eligible this year because their scores were not newly written for the theater for this production.  "Come Fly Away" takes its music from popular songs written for and/or recorded by Frank Sinatra during his long career, and the score for "American Idiot" comes to the stage from the 2004 studio album by Green Day.  Lastly, while "Sondheim on Sondheim" gets its music from one of the theater's most prolific composers, and the songs in this production are all taken from shows of his that were produced on Broadway, the songs in this show were not newly written for this show.  All three of these shows will, however, still be eligible as new musicals, and their books are eligible for nomination, as well.

As for my predictions, we will have to wait until more productions open for me to generate opinions about them.  I will post my thoughts tomorrow about the likelihood of all the productions so far, and will discuss the buzz on the upcoming ones, as well.