And the Tony for Best Replacement Goes to... Nobody?!

Back in September 2005, the Tony Awards Administration responded to the cries of the industry as well as theater fans in general by announcing the creation of a brand-new Tony category: Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Recreated Role. But on May 16, 2006, when this year's Tony nominees were announced, it was revealed that no Broadway replacement would be receiving the award this year. Why not? After a bit of investigating, Broadway.com has learned there is really no clear-cut answer.

As previously detailed, the Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Recreated Role is not chosen by Tony voters, by instead by the Tony Awards Administration Committee, a group comprised of 24 members. If a committee member is involved in a production that has an actor under consideration, an alternate votes in his/her stead. Each year, the award could technically go to no one at all, one person or both a man and a woman. The winner must have a minimum of 16 votes from committee members to get the Tony. This year, the voting was done by secret ballot at a May 11 meeting, at which point no voter was told if a winner had been selected. The Administration Committee members did not know the outcome until the Tony nominations were announced on May 16.

"The award came out of when Reba McEntire entered Annie Get Your Gun," Administration Committee member James Freydberg explained. "She was extraordinary and there was no way to acknowledge that. So this award was a way to honor when someone comes in and gives one of the most amazing performances in years. What we found this year was that no one gave a performance of a quality we'd never seen before."

That is a suitable explanation, but some worry it may not represent the whole story. Current procedure dictates that every Broadway production can suggest up to two leading replacements who are contracted a minimum of six months and three Administration Committee members are dispatched to see each of the proposed performances. If the majority of those three deems the performance worthy, all 24 members of the Administration Committee are required to see the performance. Apparently only two replacement performers this past season, Fiddler on the Roof's Harvey Fierstein and Dirty Rotten Scoundrel's Jonathan Pryce, made the first cut. Many contacted by Broadway.com claim that the entire Administration Committee did not attend either show, seriously jeopardizing the performer's chance of obtaining 16 votes.

"The difficulty with this Tony is finding a procedure to [administer] it," another Administration Committee member, Emanuel Azenberg, said. "The category is really a three-year experiment. This is the first year and we'll work on it. I think the procedure will be made clearer in the next meeting."

Clarification of the category's fine print may indeed be needed, as it appears there is a misconception. "It's not just for a good replacement," Azenberg noted. "It's for someone who offers a whole new take." Yet numerous press agents contacted by Broadway.com said the productions they represent proposed anyone eligible, believing the Tony would go to whoever was simply the best replacement this year.

"The problem is the way the rule read—that anyone who came in as a replacement should be acknowledged," Freydberg concurred. "The category is worth taking a shot at because it is something good for an actor. It can bring someone of great talent to Broadway that might never come otherwise. But it needs to be looked at so everyone understands what we are really talking about. It was ridiculous the amount of people [that were] submitted this year."

Others on the committee didn't take issue with the amount of proposed candidates. "Each producer has a definition of what is special, so it's up for us to decide," Michael Price said. "I think it went well overall this year. There are a few creaky things which we are going to discuss. We just have to make a more concerted effort to get everyone to see [the candidates]. But it did what it was supposed to do—it sent us to the theater to see those performances."

Still there will always be those claiming foul because of the minimum vote requirement and the lack of full committee attendance. Did those things affect the chances of Fierstein and Pryce? Many involved are quick to say "no," but, it is impossible to ever really know.

The majority of Administration Committee members contacted, even those who were pleased by the process, believed select changes should be made before next year. A few suggested that, instead of an official category such as Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Recreated Role Tony Award, it's possible the industry would be better served by simply encouraging the Administration Committee to occasionally distribute special Tonys to deserving replacement actors.

Whatever happens next year or beyond, there will never be a 2006 recipient of the Tony for Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Recreated Role. There is more than one possible reason for that fact, but none will change it.