FLASH FRIDAY: Those Championship Seasons! Saluting Current Shows With Tony Awards Clips To Remember

Today we are celebrating the 2015 Tony Awards with a look at some of the best Tony performances from current hits!

All That Jazz

The many musicals playing on the Great White Way on this most momentous of weeks - none other than Broadway's annual moment in the national spotlight, Tony Awards week, reaching its apotheosis on Sunday night - are dizzying and dazzling to consider. From Broadway's longest-running production in history, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which was the recipient of the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, to the homegrown home-run hit CHICAGO, which is the longest-running American musical to date as well as the all-time champ in the revival category, to the very newest kids on the block - AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, FUN HOME, SOMETHING ROTTEN!, THE VISIT and many more included - the astounding spate of spectacular entertainment on display on Broadway today is, as always, delectable to consider and exceptionally exciting to explore. Nevertheless, there are only a few dozen theaters available in which to present a Broadway show at any given time, so with every passing season comes productions which will stand the test of time and make a bid for a long run and then there are the also-rans that unfortunately fail to catch on with the theatergoing public and therefore shutter, oftentimes prematurely and long before they make back their initial production investment, whatever that might be. Although, to merely categorize a particular production as a hit or a flop is a reductive practice insofar as determining quality let alone potential durability.

Case in point, the aforementioned American musical champ CHICAGO originally opened on Broadway during the 1975-1976 season and garnered respectable reviews and managed to eek out a decent run, but it was almost completely overshadowed at the time by the gargantuan mega-hit of the decade, none other than A CHORUS LINE. In a note of striking and notable irony, CHICAGO in its near two-decade revival run has now amassed hundreds more performances than that original iteration of A CHORUS LINE, which, at one time, was the long-run title holder that few assumed would ever be surpassed. Heck, CHICAGO has outlived a revival of A CHORUS LINE, as well! Then, there are the box office battles such as that between the ultimate victor, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which, as sage Broadway babies and general entertainment enthusiasts will note was at one time not only the most lucrative production in Broadway history but also the world's most successful entertainment - yes, even including television, films, music and books in that categorization - which has been eclipsed in the last decade by Disney's THE LION KING in the rarified billion-dollar club.

Lest we forget, across the pond in the West End, PHANTOM possesses the #2 long-run slot behind a production still running to this very day nearly 30 years into its original run, LES MISERABLES, while PHANTOM on Broadway has seen LES MISERABLES arrive with much pomp, circumstance and big buzz not once but three times total ever since the unveiling of the post-millennial revivals of the Cameron Mackintosh-produced mega-musical mega-hit. Could Mackintosh's own other decades-spanning champs CATS or MISS SAIGON follow their success in current revival form with re-appearances on Broadway in the coming season or two? It seems fated to be since they continue to find new audiences in the West End and engender themselves with entirely new generations.

So, which musical from the 2014-2015 season seems most likely to find itself alongside these well-established theatrical dynasties? Time will tell, but the Tony Awards are always a major determining factor in deciding a show's fate - then again, WICKED and many other huge hits failed to capture the top prize of Best Musical or even many of the biggest honors of the night and yet still manage to captivate the culture at large in a way that many prognosticators at the time would have found inconceivable. You just never, ever can tell - for better, for worse and for good. That's what makes it so fun.

The Music Of The Night

So, now, let's take a look at some of the current musicals playing on Broadway and their best Tony Awards showcases.

First up, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA wows the crowd in 1988.

Next, CHICAGO makes its first of many Tony Awards appearances.

THE LION KING still continually sells out as it prepares to enter its second decade on Broadway soon.

Without a doubt, WICKED is here to stay for many more years, as well, if not decades.

THE BOOK OF MORMON seems more than likely to run for many years to come, too.

Will the LES MISERABLES revival manage to play as long as the original iteration in the West End?!

Then, there is last year's winner for Best Musical, A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER.

With a recent West End revival and rumors of a Broadway transfer, CATS may come crawling back in 2016.

Similarly, long-running 1990s staple MISS SAIGON is enjoying a West End return - Broadway could be next!

Plus, no one can ever forget original mega-hit FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, returning to Broadway this year.

For yet another taste of FIDDLER, check out this week's InDepth InterView star Alfred Molina in 2004.

What is your absolute favorite musical currently treading the boards? Furthermore, what production from this season do you feel is most likely to join the ranks of these theatrical mainstays and run for years - even decades? Given the impossibly rich season we have been afforded by the theatre gods, it seems more than merely likely that a few shows could very likely become legendary musicals such as these that are surely well worth toasting in this most theatre-tastic of weeks - on Tony night and far beyond.