Best Musical Always Comes Down to Art v. Commerce

[Jay94]

Has anyone noticed that? Every year the award for best musical comes down to 2 shows, one is commercial and one is artistic. Commerce often wins.

For example,
2012: Newsies (Commerce) v. Once (Art)
2010: Memphis (Commerce) v. Fela (Art)
2009: Billy Elliot (Both Commerce and Art) v. Next to Normal (Art)
2008: In the Heights (Commerce) v. Passing Strange (Art)
2007: Spring Awakening (Art) v. Grey Gardens (Art)
2006: Jersey Boys (Commerce) v. The Drowsy Chaperone (Art)
2005: Spamalot (Commerce) v. The Light in the Piazza (Art)
2004: Avenue Q (Art) v. Wicked (Commerce)
2003: Hairspray (Both Commerce and Art)
2002: Thoroughly Modern Millie (Commerce) v. Urinetown (Art)
2001: The Producers (Both Art and Commerce)
2000: Contact (Art)
1999: Fosse (Commerce) v. Parade (Art)
1998: The Lion King (Both Art and Commerce) v. Ragtime (Both Art and Commerce)
1997: Titanic (Commerce) v. The Life (Art)
1996: Rent (Both Art and Commerce)
1995: Sunset Boulevard (Commerce)
1994: Passion (Art) v. Beauty and the Beast (Commerce)
1993: Kiss of the Spider Woman (Art) v. Tommy (Commerce)
1992: Crazy for You (Commerce) v. Falsettos (Art)
1991: The Will Roger's Follies (Art and Commerce) v. Miss Saigon (Commerce)
1990: City of Angels v. Grand Hotel (Both Art and Commerce)
1988: The Phantom of the Opera (Commerce) v. Into the Woods (Art)

[dramamama611]

ALWAYS. (This is a correction on your subject line.)

And no it doesn't. It's all subjective. People can/will argue with every classification you put down. One man's 'commerce' is another man's art.

[qolbinau]

I can't believe you snubbed NEXT TO NORMAL, it was certainly the art musical of 2009. Likewise GREY GARDENS a few years earlier.

[lupone76]

Avenue Q took the Best Musical prize over Wicked. So I wouldn't say All Ways.

[Jay94]

Not as in always wins but there are two shows that always end up competing for the top prize out of the 4 nominees

[newintown]

Personally, I would switch your labels for Titanic and The Life; the latter was a hare-brained vulgar piece of commercial fluff, the former was beautiful and elegant.

[castlestreet]

To be fair, in 1995 there were 2 shows nominated, and I would hardly call Smokey Joe's Cafe "art"

[Playbilly]

2007: I'd say Spring Awakenings has been far more commercial than Grey Gardens.

[TalkinLoud]

Categorizing shows as either "art" or "commerce" is stupid and meaningless.

[Gothampc]

"2000: Contact (Art)"

Have you seen Contact? There was no "art" to it. People dance to pre-recorded hits every day of the year.

[AC126748]

Categorizing shows as either "art" or "commerce" is stupid and meaningless.


And it's a reductive and misleading categorization, as all shows produced commercially are done so in the hopes of turning a profit. The producers of GREY GARDENS, PASSING STRANGE, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, etc and any of the shows you consider to be primarily art and non-commercial would have been happy to make money and have a commercial hit, art or no art.

[kdogg36]

Jay94, I think you have a point, in terms of a strong statistical tendency. The fact that you label some shows as both "commerce" and "art," and that in some years both shows bear the same label, muddies the water in terms of supporting any strong claim.

[Kad]

Is Avenue Q really any more artsy than Wicked? In that year, it was a case of Big vs. Small. The "art" show that year was Caroline, or Change.

[bobs3]

You consider THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES art? That was one of worst pieces of sh*t I have ever seen on a Broadway stage!

[finebydesign]

I'm no Rent-head but RENT is both Art and Commerce? Seriously? That was a pet-project conjured by a very driven artist.

[bdn223]

Once can also be considered Commerce...it was never intended to be a small off-Broadway show...alla Next to Normal, Spring Awakening, Passing Strange, Rent...that got raves off Broadway which propelled them uptown...it was always intended for a Broadway run its just marketing itself that way