ICYMI: Are The Tonys Broadway's Biggest Concert?

Tony nominations dropped last week, and if you work anywhere near Broadway, you felt it. But every year the same question comes up: how do you bring people who don't follow the industry closely into the moment?

That question sent us back to a conversation with Ruthie Fierberg from Broadway News, who made an argument we haven't stopped thinking about — that the Tonys are, functionally, Broadway's biggest concert, and that naming it that way could change who feels invited to watch.

• why the Tonys lose casual viewers who haven't seen the nominated shows
• what makes award show performance numbers uniquely accessible
• how framing shapes who feels like the audience is for them
• the question every fan-facing organization should be asking: who are you making it easy for, and who are you accidentally leaving at the door

Full conversation with Ruthie Fierberg: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2449648/episodes/17392620-broadway-s-press-corps-on-the-fans-who-keep-it-going

Transcript

Heather Gault: 0:00

Heather. This is, in case you missed it, I'm Heather from the producing team of fandom unpacked Tony nominations came out last week. And if you work anywhere near Broadway, or honestly, if you were just online at all, you probably felt it, because every year there's this moment where the industry lights up and everyone who loves theater is suddenly talking about the same thing, and every year, there's also the question of how you bring the people who don't follow it as closely into the conversation? Well, that question brought me back to a conversation we had with Ruthie fireberg from Broadway News last year. She had a take on the Tonys that I keep thinking about.

Unknown: 0:45

I think if we branded the Tonys as Broadway's biggest concert, because that's essentially what it is. It was so many performance numbers, we would get even higher numbers because, you know, I used to always watch the Oscars. I don't always watch them anymore, because I don't see any of these movies. I'm at the theater four to five nights a week. I don't know what any of these categories are, and it's not full of performances. So if we say, like, you know, the Tony Awards are Broadway's biggest concert, and then we're handing out, you know, eight awards, sure, right that then I don't have to have seen anything. So I think there's a there's a lot to think about and and luckily, we are going to hopefully grow from a place of growth in years to come,

Heather Gault: 1:33

with nominations out and the ceremony coming up that feels especially worth sitting with this week. So let me ask you, who are you already making it easy for, and who are you accidentally leaving at the door? Full conversation with Ruthie is linked in the description. I'm Heather. This has been fandom unpacked, in case you missed it.