Pasadena Playhouse wins the Tony Award for regional theater excellence, becoming only the second Los Angeles institution to earn the honor and continuing its triumphant streak after years of turbulence.
The “Tonys bump” is particularly influential among tourists, many of whom plan their visits to New York City around the shows they plan to watch. “We see who wins, and then we immediately buy our tickets for our trip in the winter, six months in advance,” said Taylor Wyatt, a stay-at-home mom from just outside Orlando, Fla., who has traveled to New York with her mother annually for 18 years.
The benefit isn’t limited to the marquee awards for best play, musical, and revivals, either — especially for productions with limited runs. When actors Glenda Jackson and Laurie Metcalf both won for 2018’s “Three Tall Women,” Johnson, also a producer on that show, saw “a nice boost.” People received a clear message, he said: “These are the performances of the year, and you have three more weeks to see them.
The importance of the Tony platform is reflected in the productions’ own investment in it. According to the Tony Awards Management Committee’s Sanders, who produced “The Color Purple” musical revival that received 4 Although this year’s Tonys will reportedly feature both the awarding of prizes and the performance of numbers from nominated shows, the prospect of its cancellation — and the backdrop of declining ratings for awards shows across the board — has raised the question: Is Broadwayreliant on the awards to spark interest and ticket sales? And in the age of streaming, time-shifting and social media, is focusing so much marketing muscle on a single night of live broadcast TV a sustainable long-term...