The Tony Awards give out four top awards each year: Best Play, Best Play Revival, Best Musical, and Best Musical Revival. These are the most coveted categories for producers hoping a win will help turn a profit on their investment. But due to a dearth of classic musicals on the boards this season, Broadway’s top honors may be ditching one of their most sought after categories.

Roundabout Theatre Company is staging a highly anticipated revival of “Kiss Me, Kate” this spring. This iteration of the classic Cole Porter tuner stars Tony winner Kelli O’Hara (“The King and I”) and Tony nominee Will Chase (“The Mystery of Edwin Drood”), with direction from the esteemed Scott Ellis. It has all the makings of a lush, feel-good production that could walk away with the Musical Revival category. The only problem is that “Kiss Me, Kate” is the only announced revival of a musical this season.

Will the Tonys just hand Roundabout a trophy without any competition? Not so fast. The official Tony rules stipulate that the administration “shall determine whether there shall exist in quality and quantity a sufficient number of Revivals to merit the granting of an Award for Best Revival of a Play or Musical and, if so, the Tony Awards Administration Committee shall also determine whether there shall be a separate Play and Musical Revival category; provided, however, that if there are at least three such plays and three such musicals, there shall automatically be separate Play and Musical Revival categories.” So if no other musical revival joins “Kiss Me, Kate” on Broadway this season, the Tonys may decide to lump this show in with play revivals for a combined “Best Revival” category. While it would be a drastic move to excise a major category from the telecast, there is precedent.

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A combined Best Revival category existed from 1977 to 1993. The last ever winner of this catch all award was Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie.” Then in 1994, the award was split into Best Revival of a Musical and Best Revival of a Play. These two revival awards have existed ever since. If the combined category returns this year, it will be the first time in twenty years that musicals and plays will be compete against each other at the Tonys. “Kiss Me, Kate” would find itself going up against dramas like “All my Sons,” “The Boys in the Band,” “King Lear,” and “True West.” In the 17 years that a Best Revival trophy was handed out, eight plays and nine musicals triumphed.

There are some examples of the Tony Awards keeping the Musical Revival category in play when just two such revivals debuted in a season. The most recent case was in 2011 when “Anything Goes” with Sutton Foster and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” with Daniel Radcliffe were the only classic tuners in play. They became the only nominees in a category for two, with “Anything Goes” tapping away with the win.

So it would stand to reason that if another revival opens this season alongside “Kiss Me, Kate” then the Tonys will be happy to maintain the category. However, time is running out and most of the available theaters have been scooped up.

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A revival of “The Secret Garden” was announced for this season way back in February 2018. Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, it would have been the first ever Broadway revival of a musical which set a Tony Award record (Daisy Egan became the youngest ever Tony winning actress at age eleven).

There have also been rumblings of a London transfer of “Dreamgirls.” Amber Riley won an Olivier Award for her performance as Effie in the West End production, and was expected to join the Broadway outing. However, word has been quiet on both revivals for months, indicating they may not be ready in time for this season.

With older musicals often requiring larger casts and orchestras than their modern counterparts, restaging a classic is a risky venture. That’s why non-profit theater organizations like Roundabout and Lincoln Center Theatre (“My Fair Lady”) often lead the charge. Broadway fans will have to cross their fingers that another musical joins the race so “Kate” isn’t standing by herself this June.

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