A Guide to the New Tony Category: Best Recreation of a Leading Role

The Tony Awards Administration Committee recently announced a new Tony category for Best Recreation of a Leading Role by an Actor/Actress, which is essentially an award for the best replacement performers. But many things remained unclear about the award when it was made public. The Administration Committee, according to a Tony spokesperson, did not stay in its meeting "long enough to hash out the wording or the specific rules." Since then, many key decisions have been made. Broadway.com has decided to provide a guide to the ins and outs of this new category. Read on and hopefully all your questions will be answered.

What is the official wording regarding the new category?

In order for a performer in a Recreated Role to be eligible for a Tony Award the actor or actress must not have appeared in the role when the production opened on Broadway. They must also be contracted in the role for a minimum of six months of public performances. Additionally, the producers may not submit more than two candidates per "Long-Running" Show for the Award including both Actor and Actress for any such season.

A "Long-Running" show includes all eligible Broadway theatre productions that have opened in a prior season, continues to be performed on a reasonably conventional playing schedule, and was eligible for nomination for a Tony Award for Best Play, Best Musical, Best Revival. Those eligible for Recreated Role must be playing a role that was eligible for Best Performance category by a Leading Actor or Leading Actress for the Tony Awards given for the season in which such production first opened.

Will Tony voters be voting on the winners?

No, this award is being decided solely by the Tony Awards Administration Committee which also chooses the recipients of Tony Honors and the Regional Theatre Tony Award. The group is comprised of 24 members--10 of whom are designated by the Wing, 10 by the League, and one each by the Dramatists Guild, Actors' Equity Association, United Scenic Artists and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. In what could be considered a conflict of interest, many of the members will be associated with productions featuring performers up for the award. For instance, Hairspray producer Margo Lion is on the committee and she could have a hand in deciding the worthiness of Hairspray leading man John Pinette.

How will the Tony Awards Administration Committee decide the winners?

Producers will send letters to Tony Awards Productions for which Elizabeth I. McCann is managing producer and Joey Parnes is coordinating producer submitting eligible actors for consideration. Members of Tony Awards Productions will then assign three people from the Tony Awards Administration Committee to see each recommended performance. If the majority of these three Administration Committee representatives deem the performance worthy of consideration, the entire Administration Committee will be required to see the performance. At the last administration committee meeting of the season, the members will vote. An actor/actress needs 16 or more votes in his/her favor to win the award.

Will the same three Administration Committee members see every performance?

No, the chosen three will vary from performance to performance.

Will there be nominees?

No, there will not be an announcement of nominees. Candidates will be known only to the members of the Tony Awards Administration Committee.

Will one or two of these awards be given out each year?

It depends. Due to the fact that 16 votes are required for a win, a number of scenarios could occur. It is possible that there will be an award distributed for Best Recreation of a Leading Role by an Actor and also Best Recreation of a Leading Role by an Actress in the same year. On the other hand, the Tony Administration Committee could decide that an actress is deserving but not an actor or vice versa. Additionally, there could be no award recipient announced.

When will the recipient of this award be announced?

The time and location of the announcement has yet to be finalized.

Can a person be eligible in more than one season for the same role? For example, if Howard McGillin does six months in The Phantom of the Opera this season and six months in the year 2010, can he be considered for the award both times?

Possibly. Each submission will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

The wording of the rule defines "long-running" to be a show that opened in a prior season. But what about people who take over in a new show prior to the Tony Awards? For instance, Robert Goulet stepped into 2005 Tony winner La Cage aux Folles before last season's Tony Awards. Would he possibly be eligible?

This is another case-by-case basis issue.

Will performers who started in a prior season Fiddler on the Roof's Harvey Fierstein, Avenue Q's Barrett Foa, Rent's Matt Caplan, etc. be eligible for this award?

Possibly. Again this is something that is at the discretion of the Tony Administration Committee. "They will be more open to those cases [this season] because it's the first year of the award," a Tony spokesperson noted.