Tony Administrative Committee Makes Decisions on Spamalot and More
The typical rule of thumb for acting nominations is above-the-title billing means a person is considered in the leading category, while below-the-title billing equals consideration for awards as a featured performer. Still, every situation is different and each year producers petition for certain people to be considered in a particular way, or else the Tony committee makes up its own decisions. This year, Spamalot's Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria, all billed below the title, will be eligible for the Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award. Likewise Brooklyn Boy headliner Adam Arkin, who was billed below the title, will be eligible in the Best Actor in a Play category. Those billed above the title that will be considered in feature categories are Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' Joanna Gleason and Gregory Jbara and The Glass Menageries' Josh Lucas, Sarah Paulson and Christian Slater.
Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed will be eligible in the Special Theatrical Event category. That category also includes 700 Sundays, The Good Body, Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance!, Forever Tango, Laugh Whore and Whoopi, The 20th Anniversary Show.
While some of the songs in Spamalot were used in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the overwhelming majority of the tunes were written for the stage show. Thus, the musical is eligible for its score.
The only show to open between December 16, 2004 and March 31, 2005 that was not considered in this eligibility meeting was All Shook Up, which did not get its paperwork in on time and will be reviewed at the next meeting on May 5.