Did The Light In The Piazza Have A Chance At Winning Best Musical?

[Soaring29]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 3:31am

I've been listening/singing a lot of the music lately, and I'm wondering if the show actually was competitive against Spamalot that year. It did win quite a few awards after all, most deservedly for Best Original Score. The production values of it were simply stunning and it's intensely emotional narrative makes it seem like could have been a shoo in in any other year. What happened?

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 4:26am

I remember being quite shocked myself when the award didn't go to The Light in the Piazza  (one of the greatest dramatic musicals of this century) or Spelling Bee  (one of the greatest musical comedies of this century).  I remember Spamalot getting a ridiculously large amount of undeserved hype at the time.  It probably had something to do with the starry cast.  At least, Victoria Clark and Dan Fogler were recognized for their brilliant work in their shows and even though I didn't love the Spamalot, Sara Ramirez definitely deserved her Tony.  

Actually, Spamalot seems to have kind of faded away.  I hear people talk about The Light in the Piazza much more and Spelling Bee is one of the most produced shows in the nation, so who really won here, right?

[Soaring29]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 4:32am

Yeah, Piazza will live on and Spelling Bee(which definitely has merit, but it's not something I'd listen to every day) will continue to live on. That leads me to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which I need to listen to again, but enjoyed some songs from the show. I feel that the show has faded away as well.  

[bct14972]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 5:17am

I maintain that this was one of the best years for the "Best Musical" award. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is one of my all time favorite shows and scores, and I would actually assume that it does similar numbers to High School/regional productions of Light or Spamalot, with Spelling Bee obviously outweighing all of them. Two years ago, my High School did Dirty Rotten and it is still talked about as a favorite.

There's some impeccable comedy lyric writing in it--I'd say that the score, as a whole, is funnier and more satisfying as a musical comedy score than Spelling Bee, although they both achieve different goals. "Oklahoma?", "All About Ruprecht" and "Ruffhausin' Mit Schuffhausen" all still make me laugh to this day.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 8:39am

If the question is did it have a chance: Sure. All shows that are nominated do. Was it anticipated to win? No, not really. To understand why, you'll have to put your personal opinion about the show (which I share) aside and look at it from a historical perspective.

Spamalot was the huge, and I mean HUGE, hit of the season. It had the highest grosses, it had generally the best reviews (including a rave from the NY Times), it had a company of actors that were well liked within the community led by theatrical legend Mike Nichols directing his first Broadway musical in decades and the most nominations of any musical that year.

While Piazza was certainly very well liked on here (with a few dissenters), its reviews were kind, but not enthusiastic (with Brantley essentially saying it had high hopes and reached them sometimes) and even at the subscriber based LCT, it was not selling well. 

What's interesting is that Piazza ended up having a much better outcome on Tony night than people expected. And Spamalot did a lot worse.

Yes, Spamalot won Best Musical, but it only won 3 Tony Awards total, which is far fewer than many Tony pundits predicted. There was an expectation of a sweep similar to The Producers with Spamalot, with many thinking Piazza was only a lock for Victoria Clark and probably orchestrations. There were many who were shocked that Piazza did as well as it did with its nominations and found it a fluke and thought voters would find the show dull and cold and would gravitate much more to the brassy Spamalot or endearing Spelling Bee. Instead, Piazza ended up surprising a lot of people by sweeping the design categories (many thought Chitty Chitty Bang Bang would win set design) as well as score and ending the night with the most Tony wins and a stellar performance.

It didn't win Musical and no one thought it would. But its success that night exceeded almost everyone's expectations, allowing it to run for over a year, have a national tour and a live broadcast on PBS. All things no one expected.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 8:40am

I don't think Piazza ever had an actual shot at Best Musical. Spamalot was THE hit of the season, both critically and commercially. 

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 10:33am

AC126748 said: "I don't think Piazza ever had an actual shot at Best Musical. Spamalot was THE hit of the season, both critically and commercially. 

 

"

Exactly. Anyone who followed that season would agree with this. It had the momentum like Mormon and Hamilton. 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 10:39am

No one was the least bit surprised Spamalot won. Piazza was never going to topple it for best musical. You can argue the merits of the two shows all you want, but Spamalot was the critical and commercial pick that year. 

That being said, what a year for new musicals: Spamalot, Piazza, Spelling Bee, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Talk about an embarrassment of riches. 

[JBC3]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 11:29am

Piazza not selling well? Nonsense.
The show extended multiple times and ran for more than 500 performances.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 11:48am

JBC3 said: "Piazza not selling well? Nonsense.
The show extended multiple times and ran for more than 500 performances."

Yes. Re-read my post, I acknowledge it ran for over a year and had a successful national tour...AFTER its success at the Tony Awards. All it takes is a review on Playbill Vault to see that it wasn't until the beginning of June that Piazza saw a significant rise in its grosses and seeing high capacity. The week before the nominations came out it played to 50% capacity. That is not selling well.

Updated On: 5/7/17 at 11:48 AM

[trentsketch]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 12:58pm

It's an interesting question to ask, for sure.

Spamalot had the most commercial success and buzz about it. Light in the Piazza had probably the most talked about performance of the season (Victoria Clark). Spelling Bee and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels had their fans, as well.

Spamalot was predicted to nearly sweep the awards and then didn't. All the nominated Best Musicals took him big prizes, and Light in the Piazza took all of the design (lighting, costume, scenic) and music categories (orchestrations, score). Spamalot lost to Spelling Bee for Book and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for Leading Actor. It was really quite an exciting ceremony to watch.

Looking at the nominations, all four Best Musical nominees were also up for Book, Score, and Direction. They all received multiple acting nominations. Spelling Bee had the least nominations just because it didn't factor into any of the design categories. 

At the time, it didn't feel like any show had a chance except for Spamalot. Looking back on it, The Light in the Piazza came pretty close. Spamalot was incredibly polished and a crowd pleaser; Light in the Piazza took a lot of risks that made for a more up and down kind of night. 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 1:53pm

Clark was magnificent, but the most talked about performance of that season was Norbert Leo Butz  in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, who won every award imaginable including the Drama League's performance of the year. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 2:13pm

One of my favorite Best Musical lineup of all time. All very different & expertly crafted. 

Updated On: 5/7/17 at 02:13 PM

[hork]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 3:14pm

I really don't like Spamalot or Scoundrels. Two of my favorite comedy movies turned into bland, misguided musicals. I've never seen Piazza, only listened to the cast album (which bored me silly, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything), but I wish it had won just on principle. Although Spelling Bee would have been my choice. 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 4:36pm

I remember that this was the year after Avenue Q stunned in the Best Musical category over Wicked. I don't know if it was a real thing, but I thought there was a negative stigma for a small musical to win again over the big show after the out-of-town voters felt duped (wasn't Spelling Bee the dark horse to win?), so Spamalot was expected to win.

But what an exciting ceremony it was to watch with all four nominees winning on the telecast (Score and Book categories were broadcast...a female bookwriter winning!), the Piazza surprises, and all four musicals taking home an acting prize each. It was fun to see it all unfold.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 7:50pm

Was Piazza's score win a surprise? I would think it would be the favorite, given it's beautiful sweeping melodies, but I could see if Clark was being considered it's only big win. 

 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 8:00pm

I think people were expecting either Spamalot or a makeup Tony for David Yazbek.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 5/7/17 at 8:03pm

Well, thank God it turned out differently!!