The Dramatists Guild is happy to report that The Tony Administration Committee has revised its rules to allow for greater recognition of dramatists at the Tony Awards.
They have established a new rule that deems living authors eligible, along with their producers, for a Tony in the “best revival of a play” and “best revival of a musical” categories, if the authors were not previously eligible for a Tony or if they “substantially reworked” a previously eligible show for its Broadway revival. This revision was necessitated by the Committee’s decision some years ago to make shows that had never been produced on Broadway eligible as “Broadway revivals” if the work was deemed to have entered the “popular repertoire.” While that original rule change was appropriate in order to prevent classics from competing as “new plays,” it also, unfortunately, disqualified authors of work that premiered off-Broadway or in regional theatres from Tony consideration when their shows were later produced on Broadway. So we thank the Committee for providing a means of recognizing dramatists who were being overlooked.
Here is the text of the new rule:
RULE 2(L) - Eligibility of Author(s)/Author(s) and Composer(s} of Revival Plays/Musicals
(i) The author(s) of a play and the author(s) and composer(s) of a musical which was determined eligible in a Best Revival of a Play or Musical category by the Tony Awards Administration Committee, in accordance with language contained in Rule 2(g) herein, but did not have any prior presentation in an eligible Broadway theatre, and who are living at the time that the production receives this determination, will be eligible along with the producers of the production in the respective Best Revival of a Play or Musical category.
(ii) The author(s) of a play and the author(s) and composer(s) of a musical which was determined eligible in a Best Revival of a Play or Musical category by the Tony Awards Administration Committee, in accordance with language contained in Rule 2(h)(B) or (C), whether or not such author(s) / author(s) and composer(s) have won previously, will be eligible along with the producers in the category of Best Revival of a Play or Musical, provided; only if, in the judgment of the Tony Awards Administration Committee, the author(s) of a play and the author(s) and composer(s) of a musical have substantially re-worked the play or musical.
