I talk a lot on the blog about “movement” in the Tony race: Who’s chances went up, and who’s chances went down. But where does all of this movement come from? Here, I outline some of the things that producers and performers do during the campaign to increase their chances.
Press
The more press a nominee gets, the more the Tony voters are exposed to the nominee, the more salient that nominee will be in the voters’ minds when the voter goes to fill out his or her ballot.
That’s why you’ve seen so many articles about the nominees recently. Press reps work tirelessly to get publications to post articles about their show’s nominees like Tony Nominee David Korins Reveals 10 Secrets of the Hamilton Set which was published on BroadwayBox, or the New York Times feature on Leslie Odom, Jr. which came out the week after the nominations.
And check out the new TheaterMania video feature on Shuffle Along. Does it have Audra in it? Nope. Billy? Nope. It features Brandon Victor Dixon, Adrienne Warren, George C. Wolfe, and Savion Glover. Four of their nominees…what a coincidence!!!
On top of these features and articles, nominated shows also try to book TV performances and interviews for the weeks leading up to the Tonys.
Shuffle Along on NBC’s Maya & Marty
Jeff Daniels on Jimmy Fallon
When the day-to-day press appearances aren’t cutting it, there’s always…
Press Stunts & Alternative Campaigning
The more noise you make, the better. On top of jacking up efforts to get usual press coverage, many shows try new, innovative things to keep their nominees fresh in the minds of the voters. Our favorites from this season (not saying they will work but they are fun) are:
Spring Awakening Tony Performance Kickstarter
Spring Awakening is the only nominee for Best Revival of a Musical to have already closed. While the production no doubt needs the money they are asking for in order to pay for their Tony performance, they could have raised this money internally. The decision to start a Kickstarter was likely informed at least somewhat by the idea that the show needed to do something that would jog the voters’ memory of the production.
Disaster! Facebook Live Stream of Jennifer Simard’s Final Performance
Disaster! announced closing right after the Tony nominations were announced. They had only a few performances to use for campaigning, so they decided to live-stream Tony nominee Jennifer Simard’s big number on Facebook.
Marketing
School of Rock 42nd Street Subway Ad Buyout
From full page ads in the New York Times, to jacking up the digital ad spend, the shows which can afford it will spend what it takes to keep their show in the limelight around Tony season. Hamilton stopped buying advertizing months ago, since there were no more tickets avaialble to sell. Now I see Hamilton ads all the time. No, they aren’t suddenly worried about being able to sell out their new block of tickets, they just want to make sure the Tony voters soak up all the Ham they can get.
The Road Conference
About half way through the Tony Campaign, we arrive at the annual Broadway League Spring Road Conference.
The Road Conference is when presenters from touring houses around the country (and world) come to NYC to see shows. These presenters make up about 10% of Tony Voters, and nominated productions waste no time trying to win their votes.
Wooing these voters happens in various ways throughout the week of the conference. Many shows will host panel discussions with their (Tony nominated) cast and creatives. Often the producers of these shows will pull strings to get celebrities to moderate these panels – this year Aaron Sorkin moderated a panel on The Crucible.
Shows also sponsor elaborate parties for conference attendees to get on the voters’ good side, and to give the voters face time with the nominees. Here’s a shot of the Hamilton party:
Tony Swag
Shows spend a lot on postage this time of year, as they send out manuscripts, cast albums, and random goodies. Thanks to instagram, we get to see what kinda things are being sent out this year:
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