This year, big screen A-listers like Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, and Robin Williams took their acting chops to the Great White Way, continuing the trend of Hollywood stars taking over the Broadway stage. However, amidst their buzzed about, critically-acclaimed performances, they failed to snag any Tony nominations. This comes as a surprise since last year Hollywood star’s weren’t just nominated for Tony’s, but most of them ended up taking home the trophy.
Scarlett Johansson, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Denzel Washington won a Tony Award for their performances, which outraged many Broadway veterans who felt the value of the award diminished due to the ‘Tinsletown Effect,’ wrote Suzy Evans of Backstage.com. One such veteran, Hunter Foster, started a Facebook group titled, “Give the Tony’s Back to Broadway!” in an effort to raise the issue on a broader scale, Evans reported. Others claim that Hollywood stars land roles because of their name recognition rather than their talent.
Experts think the snub is a direct result of the backlash from last year’s Tony Awards, but Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, disagrees.
“If you look at the shows, most of the people who got good reviews are nominated,” St. Martin said. “People whose reviews were not as good, either for the show or the individual, perhaps are not.”
In the current economic climate, Broadway has struggled to keep ticket sales high, and as a result theater vet’s feel productions try to stay popular by casting a ‘big name’ in a lead role. Scarlett Johansson spoke about the controversy and said, “I have worked my ass off to get to where I am, so I understand that struggle. If somebody is cast because they are a name but they’re not right for the job, well, it’s very frustrating.”
Michael Riedel, a theater columnist for The New York Post, believes Hollywood star’s aren’t just a bonus for a Broadway show, but a necessity.
“If you didn’t have these celebrities, a lot of these shows wouldn’t be produced,” Riedel wrote. “All of these shows have people in them who are not movie stars and they’re all working.”
Whatever the reason, this year’s Tony Awards, which airs on June 12, will be significantly less star-studded than last year. But don’t worry, a few Hollywood A-listers managed to surpass the snub. Al Pacino is nominated for his role in “Merchant of Venice,” and John Larroquette is nominated for his musical debut in “How to Succeed in Business.”
