Nice Work... Press Release
Nice Work... Press Release
MusicalComedyMan
Broadway Star Joined: 12/29/03
#1Nice Work... Press Release
Posted: 11/14/11 at 6:07pmSo, how can a professional press agent put in a release that Matthew Broderick won 2 Tonys including the Producers... such a huge mistake! Doesn't anyone check those before they're released??
#2Nice Work... Press Release
Posted: 11/14/11 at 6:09pmYou sure it didn't say he "wanted" to win 2 Tonys?
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
bwayfan7000
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
#3Nice Work... Press Release
Posted: 11/14/11 at 7:30pm
They should let snarky BWW-ers write these press releases. I can see it now:
"Matthew Blahderick and Kelli O'verrated in: 'A Completely Unnecessary New Gershwin Musical', Opening: hopefully never, at the theatre that belonged to 'Funny Girl'"
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
#4Nice Work... Press Release
Posted: 11/14/11 at 11:46pm
The point is well-taken but I don't think it's a mistake or lack of checking -- rather, I think it's a purposeful effort to mention both his Tony wins and his most notable prior musical credits.
They don't say "Matthew Broderick, winner of two Tony awards for his performances in The Producers and H2$..." They say he is a two-time Tony winner and then list The Producers and H2$ in parentheses as prior credits. They do the same for Kelli O'Hara and Kathleen Marshall, except in their cases, they call Kelli a 3-time Tony nominee and Kathleen a 3-time Tony winner but only list two shows in parentheses for each of them. Of course, in their cases, the shows are actually the ones for which they won/were nominated respectively.
I agree 100% that it's arguably a bit misleading but no more so than the pull quotes we see every day for all manner of shows. And at the end of the day, I suspect very few members of the general ticketbuying public parse these nearly as closely as the small few of us. We notice it, we mention it, but the press agents aren't really writing these releases to make us happy. Like the compilation of pull quotes, they're writing to make the shows sound as exciting as possible to a much larger public and as long as they are not lying outright, saying that Matthew is a two-time Tony winner and saying that he was in The Producers and H2$ is technically accurate, even if presented in a manner which is ripe for misinterpretation (one that in fact, only a very few will even know is in fact a misinterpretation).
"No matter how much you want the part, never let 'em see you sweat." -- Old Dry Idea commercial
#5Nice Work... Press Release
Posted: 11/14/11 at 11:51pm
It doesn't seem uncommon.
E.g. http://www.playbillcruise.com/
Three-time Tony Award nominee
MARIN MAZZIE
(Next to Normal, Ragtime, Passion)
Might lead some to suggest she was nominated for NEXT TO NORMAL.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
MusicalComedyMan
Broadway Star Joined: 12/29/03
#6Nice Work... Press Release
Posted: 11/15/11 at 12:40amBUT he's a ONE TIME Tony award winner... theres the rub!
#7Nice Work... Press Release
Posted: 11/15/11 at 1:08amNo such rub. He won two -- for "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "How to Succeed..." -- and was nominated for a third ("The Producers").
"No matter how much you want the part, never let 'em see you sweat." -- Old Dry Idea commercial
