NY Drama Critics' Circle Names No Best Musical

[Jessetenny]

This is the first time this has happened since 2004. I wonder why they didn't award it to Spongebob or Mean Girls. I know people say they are garbage, I found them both incredibly fun, and a great night of theatre. 


EDIT: It was 2010, thanks for the correction.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Brilliant move. Aside from The Band's Visit (which won this award last year), this has really been a horrific season for new musicals. Good on them.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

I agree with this decision.

[evic]

The category would be filled if they had a "worst" musical this season.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

BTW, this is not the first time it has happened since 2004. There was no Best Musical winner in 2009-2010 either and it happened right after the 2003-2004 season in the 2004-2005 season. I thought the 2003-2004 omission and 2004-2005 was sort of strange because I felt those were strong years collectively. Maybe no one show stuck out to those critics.

[Sauja]

I confess I would have given it to SpongeBob, but I truly didn’t find anything else this season award-worthy. Hoping that The Band’s Visit cleans up at the Tony’s. It really should have at least been tied for the most nominations since its costumes were vastly superior to the usually brilliant Ann Roth’s uncharacteristically hideous work on Carousel.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Here's the breakdown of the first ballot before they decided to not award anything:

 

Hilton Als (proxy): The Boy Who Danced on Air
David Cote (proxy): Jerry Springer—The Opera
Joe Dziemianowicz: abstain
Michael Feingold: Bella: An American Tall Tale
Adam Feldman: Jerry Springer—The Opera
David Finkle: abstain 
Sara Holdren: KPOP
Charles Isherwood (proxy): abstain
Christopher Kelly: SpongeBob SquarePants
David Rooney: abstain
Frank Scheck (proxy): KPOP
Barbara Schuler: KPOP
Helen Shaw: Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story
David Sheward: Mean Girls
Marilyn Stasio: SpongeBob SquarePants
Zachary Stewart: The Boy Who Danced on Air 
Terry Teachout (proxy): Miss You Like Hell
Elisabeth Vincentelli: Jerry Springer—The Opera
Matt Windman: Jerry Springer—The Opera

http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_thisyears.html#bestmusicalfirst

[Sunny11]

Oh, Burn. 

[Sunny11]

Edit double post.

[adamgreer]

Can you blame them?

[Jessetenny]

I would have given it to Spongebob, KPOP or Mean Girls

[Elegance101]

If it were exclusively Broadway, I would maybe get it. But they could've awarded an Off-Broadway show on that list. There were some really good Off-Broadway musicals.

[Sauja]

Elegance101 said: "If it were exclusively Broadway, I would maybe get it. But they could've awarded an Off-Broadway show on that list. There were some really good Off-Broadway musicals."

Were there? I’m not being facetious. I didn’t see KPOP or Old Stock or The Boy Who Danced on Air, but my impression was that none of them were especially well received. And as far as Bella, Hundred Days, and Miss You Like Hell...I didn’t think much of any of them. Obviously, we may just disagree about the ones I saw, but I’m wondering if I’m misremembering the reception of the first three I mentioned:

[GeorgeandDot]

I also agree with this decision.

[RippedMan]

I thought Jerry Springer was awesome but then that terrible second act dragged it down. KPOP might have been a fun experience, but was it a good musical? And the others I didn’t know existed. And the clip from Miss You Like Hell thar they play on Broadway World is just awful.

[Jarethan]

What a pathetic season this was for original works on Broadway.  I looked at the Drama Critics website to see what won best play, because I could not imagine anything from this Broadway season actually winning the award.  Not only was I right, but sadly so.  They listed the first four vote getters and not one was from Broadway.  So sad!

[Someday]

Was Hadestown eligible, or was that a prior cycle?

[IdinaBellFoster]

I actually think this was a strange decision considering they also include Off-Broadway. Looking at that list they could’ve gone with KPOP or JERRY SPRINGER.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Jerry Springer and KPOP were the most chosen musicals in the first round voting. However, even the ones that picked them must not have cared enough about them to want to move on to the next round and name an actual winner.

[haterobics]

KPOP would have been a good choice. It was ambitious and tried to do something different...

[RippedMan]

But was it a good musical? 

[haterobics]

The problem is that it was more of a play with music, since the songs were just the songs the different groups sang. 

[Wick3]

I loved K-POP! Ashley Park's performance was amazing; though I thought she was more featured than leading. It's a different type of show and I agree with haterobics that it's more a play with music than an actual musical. All the songs they sing are the k-pop songs. There's a lot of drama though within it and I thought the theatrical experience was definitely unique.

From my point of view, why have nominations if they're not going to pick the best musical out of those nominations?

[RippedMan]

But I think you just talked yourself into it. Sounds like it wasn't actually a very good musical. The songs didn't enhance the plot. They were just there. So, now, I can see why they didn't pick it. 

And they nominate the show based on their votes. So, as you can tell by the article, people voted for certain shows. But to deem any of them BEST musical, I guess they didn't think so. Of all of them, I'd say Jerry Springer only because it's technically a marvel of operatic writing. But I think the show should be 90mins. The second act is awful and the jokes wear thin. 

[BroadwayRox3588]

They just couldn't bring themselves to say SpongeBob was the best. I'm not even being salty, it's just facts. This seems to be true with a lot of people.