“This is boneheaded, outrageous, infuriating and insulting not just to everyone who has worked so hard on these productions, but to the entire theater community. It is another example of the systematic chipping away, for financial gain, of what the Tonys are supposed to be about. Plays make up something like 43 or 44 percent of the box office on Broadway — and they would make up even more if more people heard about them from the Tony Awards.”
“The Tonys should be produced by theater people. Mike Nichols should be the director. The show should be on PBS and everyone should get their award, and then we don’t have to give a f – – k about ratings.”
– Kevin Spacey on the decision to relegate the Best Revival of a Play Tony, among others, to pre-telecast in favor of performances from the national tours of Mamma Mia, Legally Blonde and various companies of Jersey Boys in today’s Michael Riedel.