Theatre Thursday :: the Tony Awards and women, part six.

This week, regarding directors of musicals.

Nominations
1973: Vinnette Carroll, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
1978: Elizabeth Swados, Runaways
1984: Vivian Matalon, The Tap Dance Kid
1985: Barbara Damashek, Quilters
1990: Susan H. Schulman, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
1991: Graciella Danielle, Once on This Island
1991: Eleanor Reissa, Those Were the Days
1997: Julie Taymor, Juan Darien
2000: Susan Stroman, Contact
2000: Susan Stroman, The Music Man
2000: Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Swing!
2003: Twyla Tharp, Movin’ Out
2004: Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
2006: Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game
2009: Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages
2009: Diane Paulus, Hair
2010: Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ragtime
2011: Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
2011: Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys
2012: Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
2012: Diane Paulus, Porgy and Bess

Wins
1998: Julie Taymor, The Lion King
2013: Diane Paulus, Pippin

24 out of 222 nominees (or 10.8%) have been women.

A horrifying 2 out of 57 winners (3%) have been women.

4 women (Julie Taymor, Susan Stroman, Kathleen Marshall, and Diane Paulus) have been nominated multiple times, Susan Stroman twice in the same year in one instance.

3 years (2000, 2011, 2012) have had multiple female nominees.

2 nominees (Elizabeth Swados and Barbara Damashek) also wrote the pieces they directed.

–your fangirl heroine.

Theatre Thursday :: the Tony Awards and women, part four.

This week, scenic design; as with last week, only 1960, 1961, and 2005+ have a distinction for musicals and plays.

Nominations
1971: Sally Jacobs, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1975: Tanya Moiseiwitsch, The Misanthrope
1988: Eiko Ishioka, M. Butterfly
1990: Alexandra Byrne, Some Americans Abroad
1997: (G. W. Mercer and) Julie Taymor, Juan Darien
2001: Heidi Ettinger, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
2006: Klara Zieglerova, Jersey Boys
2007: (musical) Christine Jones, Spring Awakening
2007: (musical) Anna Louizos, High Fidelity
2008: (musical) Anna Louizos, In the Heights
2010: (musical) Marina Draghici, Fela!
2011: (musical) Donyale Werle, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
2013: (musical) Anna Louizos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Wins
1985: Heidi Landemann, Big River
1988: Maria Björnson, The Phantom of the Opera
1991: Heidi Landemann, The Secret Garden
2003: Catherine Martin, La bohème
2010: (musical) Christine Jones, American Idiot

18 out of 295 nominees (or 6%) have been women.

3 years (1988, 2007, 2010) have had multiple female nominees.

Five nominees (1975’s Tanya Moiseiwitsch, 1988’s Eiko Ishioka, 1988’s Maria Björnson, 2003’s Catherine Martin, 2010’s Marina Draghici) were also nominated for costume design regarding the same production.  One of said nominees, Maria Björnson, won in both categories.

Three nominees (Christine Jones, Anna Louizos, Heidi Landemann) have been nominated multiple times.  One of them, Heidi Landemann, has won multiple times.

–your fangirl heroine.

Theatre Thursday :: the Tony Awards and women, part one

This week regarding writers and composers of musicals.

This year’s Tony Awards had many female winners, and that shouldn’t really be the momentous thing it was, it should just be normal.  But unfortunately, that’s the way it’s been so far, so I thought I would go through and look to see what the percentages were of women winning/being nominated for Tonys.

So.  First, scores.

Nominations
1966: (Cy Coleman [music] and) Dorothy Fields (lyrics), Sweet Charity
1968: (Elmer Bernstein [music] and) Carolyn Leigh (lyrics), How Now, Dow Jones
1973: Micki Grant (music and lyrics), Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
1974: (Cy Coleman [music] and) Dorothy Fields (lyrics), Seesaw
1975: (Gene Curty,) Nitra Scharfman (and Chuck Strand) (music & lyrics), The Lieutenant
1978: Elizabeth Swados (music and lyrics), Runaways
1978: (Craig Carnelia, Stephen Schwartz,) Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, (James Taylor and) Susan Birkenhead (music & lyrics), Working
1983: (Larry Grossman [music],) Betty Comden (and Adolph Green [lyrics]), A Doll’s Life
1985: Barbara Damashek (music and lyrics), Quilters
1991: Lucy Simon (music) and Marsha Norman (lyrics), The Secret Garden
1992: (Janusz Stokłosa [music],) Agata Miklaszewska, Maryna Miklaszewska and Mary Bracken Phillips (lyrics), Metro
1996: (Daryl Waters and Zane Mark [music].) Ann Duquesnay (music & lyrics), (George C. Wolfe and Reg E. Gaines [lyrics]), Bring In ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk
1998: (Elton John and Hans Zimmer [music], Tim Rice and) Julie Taymor (lyrics), (Lebo M, Mark Mancina and Jay Rifkin [music & lyrics]), The Lion King
1999: Jeanine Tesori (music), Twelfth Night
2002:  Jeanine Tesori (music) (and Dick Scanlan [lyrics]), Thoroughly Modern Millie
2004: Jeanine Tesori (music) (and Tony Kushner [lyrics]), Caroline, or Change
2008: (Stew [music & lyrics] and) Heidi Rodewald (music), Passing Strange
2009: Jeanine Tesori (music) (and David Lindsay-Abaire [[yrics]), Shrek the Musical
2010: (Adam Cork [music] and) Lucy Prebble (lyrics), Enron
2013: (Trey Anastasio [music] and) Amanda Green (music & lyrics), Hands on a Hardbody

Wins
1968: (Jule Styne [music],) Betty Comden (and Adolph Green [lyrics]), Hallelujah, Baby!
1978: (Cy Coleman [music],) Betty Comden (and Adolph Green [lyrics]), On the Twentieth Century
2013: Cyndi Lauper (music and lyrics), Kinky Boots

23 out of 194 total nominated scores (according to the Wikipedia list), or 11.8%, have been in part composed by a woman.

3 out of 53 winners, or 5.6%, have been in part composed by a woman.

5 out of 194, or 2.5%, have been entirely composed by a woman or women.

This year’s win for Cyndi Lauper was the first time a woman won this award all by herself.

Two years (1978 and 2013) had multiple female nominees.

Now, books of musicals.

Nominations
1965: Beverly Cross, Half a Sixpence
1973: Micki Grant, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
1974: (Robert Nemiroff and) Charlotte Zaltzberg, Raisin
1975: (Gene Curty,) Nitra Scharfman, (and Chuck Strand), The Liutentant
1977: Elisabeth Hauptmann (and Michael Feingold), Happy End
1978: Betty Comden (and Adolph Green), On the Twentieth Century
1978: Elizabeth Swados, Runaways
1981: Mary Kyte, Tintypes
1983: Betty Comden (and Adolph Green), A Doll’s Life
1984: Sybille Pearson, Baby
1985: Fay Kanin, Grind
1985: Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, Quilters
1986: Betty Comden (and Adolph Green), Singin’ in the Rain
1986: Jane Iredale, Wind in the Willows
1991: Lynn Ahrens, Once on this Island
1994: Linda Woolverton, Beauty and the Beast
1996: Graciela Daniele, (Jim Lewis and Michael John LaChiusa), Chronicle of a Death Foretold
1998: (Roger Allers and) Irene Mecchi, The Lion King
1998: Nan Knighton, The Scarlet Pimpernel
1999: (Charles Bevel,) Lita Gaithers, (Randal Myler, Ron Taylor and Dan Wheetman), It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues
1999: Pam Gems, Marlene
2001: Linda Klein (and Lonny Price), A Class Act
2002: Catherine Johnson, Mamma Mia!
2004: Winnie Holzman, Wicked
2006: Marsha Norman, The Color Purple
2007: Heather Hach, Legally Blonde
2008: Quiara Alegría Hudes, In the Heights

Wins
1949: (Samuel and) Bella Spewack, Kiss Me Kate
1991: Marsha Norman, The Secret Garden
2005: Rachel Sheinkin, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

30 out of 139 total nominated books, or 21.5%, have been in part written by a woman.

3 out of 48 winners, or 6.25%, have been in part written by a woman.

Two of the three winners were written solely by a woman.

Five years (1978, 1985, 1986, 1998, and 1999) had multiple female nominees.

Five women or groups including women have been nominated for both score and book, but none have won.

–your fangirl heroine.

Theatre Thursday :: you know it’s gone too far when they’re making fun of it in Laser Cats.

Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark didn’t have to be such a giant train wreck.  I like Julie Taymor’s work, usually – or at least enough to acknowledge that it’s good at being what it is.  I love several members of the cast, including Jennifer Damiano (late of Spring Awakening and Next to Normal) and T.V. Carpio (late of Across the Universe) and Gideon Glick (late of Spring Awakening and Speech & Debate) and Alice Lee (also late of Spring Awakening; here singing Sara Bareilles’ “Morningside”) and as long as we’re listing off Spring alums there’s replacement Adult Man Ken Marks, too.  Jenn Damiano is one of those people I look at and go “wǒ de tiān a,* you’re younger than me and yet watch you be so insanely awesome.”  T.V. Carpio was, y’know, that Cute Asian Lesbian With A Nice Voice Although Not Much Character Development.  Gideon Glick I’ve loved always and he’s just adorable and huggable and awww.

SO WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE??

Honestly, poor T.V. Carpio is playing the villain that apparently has to stop her rampage to go shoe shopping.  What in the world.  And if any of them are next on the casualty list, I will cry.  I want them to have happy successful careers and continue to bring their awesome to cast recordings I’ll actually buy.

You can’t help but think that any Broadway musical that has this as a notice
*Please note: Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark will close on April 17, 2011 for a brief hiatus. All performances from April 19, 2011 to May 11, 2011 have been canceled. Preview performances will resume on May 12, 2011.
is doomed, though.

And then there’s that “Laser Cats” video.  Now, “Laser Cats” as a general rule does make fun of things that deserve it.  How else to explain the fifth installment, mocking all things James Cameron?

It’s not that I thought it was a terrible idea to begin.  Certainly I was skeptical (as I am about most things Spider-Man nowadays; the first installment was pretty okay, the second was cheesy, the third was ridiculous, and I’m really hoping that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone make the reboot worth watching but I’m not crossing fingers) but I don’t entirely think comic book musicals are a terrible idea.  They’ve never worked before, sure (heard of the 1960s show It’s a Bird!  It’s a Plane!  It’s Superman!? Nobody else had either) but that doesn’t mean they could.  Maybe.  Very possibly.  …maybe not superhero comic books.

Okay, maybe no comic books should be musicals.  I was just going through my mental list of comic books I’m into and coming up with, y’know, nothing.  Unless you count Buffy and Dr. Horrible which existed prior to the comic books and Buffy just had one musical episode and it’s not like the musicals are off the comics or the comics include singing or something (that would just be weird).  I want to believe it could work someday, being a fan of both mediums, but I just… can’t.

I hope the world realizes this before more people die in a spidey-harness.

 

–your fangirl heroine.

 

*roughly “dear God in heaven” in Chinese.  Remember what I said about not being able to stop myself from needing Fireflyslang in regular conversation?  Sometimes English just isn’t powerful enough.