Broadway Newcomer ‘Boys In The Band’ Was A Revival, Tony Committee Decides
- Joe Mantello’s Broadway production of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band will be eligible for a 2019 Tony Award in the category of Best Revival of a Play.
Joe Mantello's recent Broadway staging of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band will be eligible for a 2019 Tony Award – no surprise there – but theater trivia buffs might quibble with the category: Best Revival of a Play.
Although the gay groundbreaker has been staged many times since its Off Broadway debut in 1968, The Boys in the Band had never made its way to Broadway until Mantello's star-packed production last April. So revival, or new play?
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Revival, says the Tony Awards Administration Committee.
The decision was one of six announced today. Although the committee does not publicly explain its decisions, Boys' 50-year production history – Broadway notwithstanding – apparently persuaded the committee toward the revival designation.
The designation was made during the first of four scheduled meetings planned by the committee for the 2018-2019 Broadway season. Other determinations made today:
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Actors Jim Parsons ( The Boys in the Band ), Mitchell Jarvis ( Gettin' The Band Back Together ) and Pretty Woman 's Samantha Barks and Andy Karl will be eligible in Lead categories (despite grouped or below-the-title Playbill listings);
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Dylan Baker and Jason Butler Harner will each be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for their performances in Berndardt/Hamlet ;
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Julian Crouch and Andrew Lazarow will be considered jointly eligible in the category of Best Scenic Design of a Musical for their work on Head Over Heels.
The 73rd Annual Tony Awards will air on the CBS Sunday, June 9, 2019
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