1 year ago
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The Tony Awards are coming up this Sunday evening (8 PM ET) as scheduled, but they will be different from your typical awards show. As the Writers Guild of America continues its strike against the major studios, it agreed to allow the Tonys to go on without picketing—but only if the Broadway theater awards show is unscripted. The show will be hosted by Broadway star Ariana DeBose, herself a 2018 Tony nominee for her role in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” but she won’t have scripted lines to rely on as she moves from award to award to musical performance. That’s a challenging job, and it could make for an interesting show … or a very stripped-down one.
The WGA granted the Tonys a waiver to be held after being lobbied by playwrights who are also screenwriters. They argued, in part, that the awards show is critical for a theater industry that has still not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the compromise on an unscripted show, the WGA has asked its Tony-nominated members not to attend, but to pre-tape acceptance speeches in case they win or ask a non-member to accept for them. One key person that might affect, if she follows the request, is Sara Bareilles, a WGA member nominated for best lead actress in a musical.
The WGA has been on strike since early May, over issues including residuals from streaming services, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), minimum staffing levels and duration of employment, and the presence of writer-producers in writing rooms and on set.
