Michael in the bathroom Tony’s parody

[Dkinny23]

Do I dare start this conversation.... lol

Ive already seen some chatter here about that performance - very weird they used a song from a current show that had one nomination and didnt even give credit to the person who created it. I get its a parody and not necessarily needed, but struck me as a little odd.

Anyway, thats not the point of starting this thread. It was actually to ask a semi-unrelated question than to share my opinion: how does it work monetarily that they used that song as a parody? Did they have to pay for the right to use the song or the other way around? Did BMC have to pay in order to have their song played - albeit with different words - on television? Was just curious how that worked. I would assume if BMC paid for the sort of advertising there would have been mention of it, but since there wasnt it leads me to believe that wasnt the case.

Either way, I was happy to hear SOME sort of BMC representation, even if it was just through a parody. Thought it was hilarious and they did a good job with it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Better than the original.

[GeorgeandDot]

For being such a godawful piece of "theatre," it's lucky that the Tonys did more than just pass gass in its general direction. With the grosses that its got, it's lucky to get any sort of recognition.

[Jordan Catalano]

It made me laugh that there was never even any mention of the show they were parodying.

[bwaywrldmember6853]

George Salazar is certainly not happy about it on Twitter

[dearalanaaaa]

I'm usually pretty in support of George Salazar, but that reaction being posted on video was in such poor taste. Sure he can dislike it, but the truth is he's just salty he didn't get a nomination for featured actor or for his show. What a shame, he seemed like a good guy.

I thought the number was lovely, and really have a spotlight to Josh Groban and Sara Barielles.

[bwaywrldmember6853]

Totally agree...I feel like the entire cast / creative’s (specifically producer Tepper) true colors have come out out since nominations. If George was nominated he would’ve probably loved the parody

[Pose2]

Im surprised they didn't even give BMC or George a heads up they were doing it. I understand his reaction but it was a bit immature.  

[TooTiredForThis]

The fact that the sketch was done with nothing to credit the work to source was unprofessional as all get out and everyone should've known better. And seeing as how it didn't only use what it needed to or didn't really say much about the source it's not really protected by parody law. 

And I don't even like BMC.

[getupngo]

Parodies are covered under fair use, so they don’t pay

[JuneJune]

I don't really use twitter, and I tried to navigate it just now but I'm hopeless, haha. Can someone explain what this video on George Salazar's twitter is?

[TooTiredForThis]

Parodies actually have requirements under the law to count as fair use, limiting how much one can use to what is necessary to make the point, and must make commentary on its source.

Sadly we have like 3 generations who have their parody education from Weird Al, who gets permission for his releases, and when he doesn't, may release them not for profit. The case that this was parody and not theft would... not be strong.

[Pose2]

A pretty clear slam of the show. Strange. 

[Marlothom]

is the reaction from George the ad of him drinking a Pepsi? Did it get torn down? 

I am a lawyer - this was parody.  

[SmoothLover]

I thought it was cute but I am sure Aunt Bea in Bruno, Nebraska wondered what the heck was going on. It was a bit of in the know humor.

[dramamama611]

They owed nothing to George. He has no ownership of the song. I would be interested to know if the production or Iconis knew anything.

I thought it was pretty funny, actually, but then again, I loathed the show (Bmc). I did kind of expect a shot of Joe at the end of it.

[Marianne2]

According to Entertainment Weekly, Joe Iconis actually helped to write the parody. So, if that is true, nobody should be complaining or being a sore loser over it. And if Joe didn't want to do it, he should have said no.

https://ew.com/tony-awards/best-moments-2019/

[herewegoabc]

Interesting that Iconis apparently helped revise the lyrics. I thought by his and his wife's reactions on Instagram that they seemed surprised (in a fun/shocked way).

I don't really think Salazar did anything bad. I guess I can see that it could be construed as petty, but it just didn't seem like that big of a deal to me. All I saw was the video of him drinking Pepsi (in a sort of tea-sipping way, I guess) and then retweeting a couple of people who basically wondered where he was (which... whatever- true, they don't owe him anything) and just pointed out that there was no credit to the show, which... fair.

It would have been nice to shout out the show or at least flash to a shot of Iconis at the end.

All in all, though, I thought it was one of the funnier moments of last night's show.

[John Adams]

The parody on the Tonys was hardly anything new (although I DID like it very much!) This was posted on YouTube in April:

...and imitation IS the most sincere form of flattery. The choice to parody the song shows how interesting (and popular) the song, and Salazar's performance of it is. If so many people didn't have that song tucked away somewhere in their brains, the parody would have been completely lost - but it wasn't.

[givesmevoice]

How exactly where they supposed to give a shout out to the show they were spoofing? “Hey, this is a parody of a number from Be More Chill!”

I’ve also never been a fan of Jen Tepper (the whole “follow your dreams and make it happen for you!” falls flat for me, a peer of hers, who had to following the paying jobs to continue surviving after graduating college right into a recession), so I’m not really surprised to see how bitter she’s been since the Tony nominations came out.

[dexter3]

I thought the parody was actually really funny and awesome. The whole ceremony had the funniest bits from Tony Awards in recent memories.

People being offended that they didn't credit it is wack. Like, come on...I mean they technically had 4 celebrities singing a song from the show. How often does that happen? 

Feels a lot like sour grapes...which I completely understand...the show got 1 nom and very little tony attention. Also, how many other ONE NOMINATION SHOWS get 5 minutes of airtime in any capacity? Chill out, BMC stans.

[dearalanaaaa]

And next cast member to complain is... the star of the weakest song in the show!
https://twitter.com/jasonsweettooth/status/1137904142846967808?s=21
if Joe iconis agreed to let it sit and wrote it, maybe he didn't tell the cast. They seem relatively upset over a small spoof/parody.

[JBroadway]

I'll be honest - as much as I despise BMC, and as much as I would be highly entertained by an all-out controversy around this, I don't think there's much here. 

Williams and Salazar's tweets don't seems all that salty to me. A little sassy maybe, but nothing nothing indicating they are genuinely upset about it. 

I have to admit, I always hated this song whenever I heard Salazar sing it with Iconis' lyrics. But last night I found myself thinking "this is actually a little catchy"! I kind of understand why many people say it's the best song in the show even though I thought it was just as whiny, meandering, and annoying as all the rest. 

[Lot666]

dearalanaaaa said: "And next cast member to complain is... the star of the weakest song in the show!
https://twitter.com/jasonsweettooth/status/1137904142846967808?s=21
if Joe iconis agreed to let it sit and wrote it, maybe he didn't tell the cast. They seem relatively upset over a small spoof/parody."

How was this tweet a "complaint"?

[LizzieCurry]

Hmm? https://twitter.com/nickblaemire/status/1137934573755613184