From ‘A Strange Loop’ Sweep to an ‘MJ’ Upset: Who Will Win the 2022 Tony Awards?
variety.comGordon Cox Theater EditorThe pool of people who vote for the Tony Awards is a small one — and this year, it’s probably even smaller.As Broadway gears up for its big night June 12, the industry’s annual prognostications factor in the knowledge that this season’s COVID spike in schedule disruptions and actor absences made it even harder than usual to catch every nominated production and performance, especially for voters who live out of town.
According to the Tony regulations, if you miss a show, you can’t vote in any of the categories in which it’s nominated — which means that, of the 650 total Tony voters, fewer than ever could be checking all the boxes on the ballot.Most voters will tell you that they assiduously follow the guidelines on which categories they can and can’t vote in, and many of them are probably even telling the truth.
But there are ways around the backstops in place to prevent illegal voting on the online Tony portal, and you have to assume that some percentage will break the rules to weigh in on their favorites.
How all that shifts voting trends, however, is tough to calculate. In theory, knocking out a number of out-of-towners could diminish the strength of the road vote, that fabled group of tour presenters and producers who supposedly have much more populist leanings than the highfalutin locals.
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