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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm Mo Brady.

[0:18] Mo Brady: It's a question that has been on my mind for years. Definitely since the infancy of the Ensemblist, but probably earlier. The question is, why is there not a Tony Award for Best Ensemble? It seems a simple enough question on the surface. If we can recognize actors playing leading and featured roles in plays and musicals, why can't we do the same for ensembles? A Tony Award for Best Ensemble would bring legitimacy and respect to the contribution ensemble performers make to shows. It would also bring a level of equity and equality to those performers themselves, making them eligible for the same commendations as our industry's leading performers.

[1:05] Mo Brady: In this time where we are paused due to the coronavirus pandemic, our industry is engaged in many important conversations. So I figured it was as good of a time as any to throw this into the mix, and formally ask the Tony Awards to add a new competitive category beginning in the 2021-2022 season: Best Ensemble. Except, I couldn't exactly figure out what I was asking for.

[1:39] Mo Brady: First off, there is the question of what is an ensemble? For many, the term ensemble is synonymous with chorus. Chorus, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, are those who perform vocally in a group as opposed to those who perform singly. The chorus in classical Greek drama was a group of actors who described and commented on the main action of a play with song and dance. However, in contemporary theater, we rarely use the term chorus to describe the non-leading performers in a play or musical. Chorus denotes a demeaning of the work they provide, as if their individual performances are not important. While Actors Equity Association continues to use the term as one of two performer categories, chorus and principle, the contemporary mode is to refer to these non-leading performers as the ensemble.

[2:34] Mo Brady: I like the term ensemble. I mean, obviously. I co-created a podcast to highlight and champion them almost eight years ago. I feel the term ensemble gives these performers more agency and respect for their own creative choices in a production. I also like that an ensemble recognizes collaborative storytelling. Depending on the show, that could be dancing, singing, speaking, puppetry. But in the end, it's about working together to move an audience.

[3:03] Mo Brady: So, at least temporarily, I moved forward with the idea that our industry's highest honor, the Tony Award, should be celebrating the company as a whole, principles and chorus, when they recognize a Best Ensemble.

[3:17] Mo Brady: There is certainly precedent for this kind of full company award recognition. Many other prominent theater awards across North America give commendations for Best Ensemble. Toronto's Dora Awards celebrate the outstanding performance by an ensemble, specifically so that non-principle performers can be recognized for their achievements. In a piece written for the Ensemblist blog, Dora Award judge Dave Carley told us, "The ensemble category also addresses an inherent deficiency with the traditional best actor system. It solves the problem of how to honor a show that begs to be seen as the sum of all of its parts, rather than just some of them."

[4:07] Mo Brady: Chicago's Jeff Awards give out two commendations for ensemble, Ensemble Musical or Review and Ensemble Play. And according to Jeff Award judge Jeffrey Marks, "The Jeff Awards has always recognized the ensemble category for nominations and award. Chicago theaters pride themselves on ensemble-driven work, and the Ensemble Award is considered the highest award by both theaters and actors."

[4:33] Mo Brady: Washington D.C.'s Helen Hayes Awards actually give out four awards for ensemble, Outstanding Ensemble in a Play and in a Musical, in two different categories, depending on theater size. With the ease they've had in including Best Ensemble categories, many of these judges are perplexed that the Tonys do not offer their own version.

[4:54] Mo Brady: I find it surprising that the Tonys, an award that has been in existence longer than the Doras, does not even have an award for Best Ensemble. Yes, the show that wins Best Musical or Best Play obviously acknowledges that overall cohesion of the artistic team and performers, but it sometimes doesn't do justice to acknowledge the hard work of the ensemble. A separate award, however, would do that.

[5:17] Mo Brady: Imagine, if you will, the kinds of shows that could have been celebrated with a Best Ensemble Tony Award. It's a fun thought experiment to go back through one's theater-going experiences and pick out performances where collaborative storytelling was at its best. One easy pick for me is the play Indecent. Nominated for three Tony Awards in 2017, it won Best Direction and Best Lighting Design. While it's the production that put Katrina Link on the map for many, it was undeniable that the company of seven actors and three musicians were working seamlessly as one to share with audiences the controversy of the play God of Vengeance, produced on Broadway in 1923.

[6:00] Mo Brady: The Inheritance is another obvious contender for me to be recognized with a Best Ensemble award. While there were many fine leading performances in the Broadway production, it is that visual of the entire company seated around a large, sunken table that will remain indelibly in my mind for years.

[6:20] Mo Brady: On the musical's front, Come From Away stands out as an exquisite use of collaborative storytelling. Its 2017 Tony Award win for Best Direction was in many ways a celebration of director Christopher Ashley's ability to craft a cohesive emotional journey with the show's dozen actors. Yes, audiences wildly cheered for Best Featured Actress in a Musical nominee Jen Colella after her stunning rendition of Me and the Sky, but that is in part due to the work she and her eleven onstage colleagues had done in the hour preceding that song, crafting multiple characters as they brought a complicated plot brilliantly to life.

[7:06] Mo Brady: Also, let's think about Six. When the production finally opens on Broadway, how will the incredible actresses playing the queens be recognized? Will a handful of them be singled out as Best Featured Actresses? Will the performers essentially knock each other out of competition? If we had a Best Ensemble award, we could recognize them both for their individual performances and the work they do to move audiences together.

[7:31] Mo Brady: Undoubtedly, having a Tony Award for Best Ensemble would mean an incredible amount to the performers who populate Broadway stages. For the talented artists who make their careers singing and dancing in Broadway ensembles, imagine the opportunity to finally be recognized with our industry's highest honor.

[7:58] Mo Brady: A Tony Award for Best Ensemble would mean the world to me because it would mean that the industry has paid attention and is grateful for all the hard work the ensemble of a show puts in. We are just as integral a part of the show as any other category. It's time to officially thank us with a Best Ensemble Tony Award, says Raymond J. Lee, a veteran of five Broadway shows, including Aladdin and Anything Goes.

[8:22] Mo Brady: I still hope after all these years that someone will understand how hard it is to be in the ensemble and think we could be acknowledged for it with a Tony category. It's time for us to be seen for our full value and worth, notes Betsy Struxness, a veteran of six Broadway shows, including Hamilton and Memphis. So with all this evidence in tow, I decided now was the time to speak up and ask for these actors to be celebrated.

[9:01] Mo Brady: How would a new category for Best Ensemble be created? Well, according to the rules and regulations of the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards, the Antoinette Perry Awards Administration Committee shall administer the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards, pursuant of the rules of governance established from time to time by the Tony Awards Management Committee appointed by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League. The Tony Awards Administration Committee shall be a self-governing body comprised of 24 members, of whom 10 shall be designees of the Wing, 10 shall be designees of the League, and one member shall be designated by each of the Dramatists Guild, Actors' Equity Association, United Scenic Artists, and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Any action, including the giving of a Tony Award, shall require the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present of that committee. So, I thought, let's petition the Tony Awards Administration Committee. Surely, there will be some sympathetic ears among the 24 of them. Maybe they just hadn't considered a Best Ensemble award as an option, or maybe they weren't aware of the equity and legitimacy it would provide. And so I thought, naively, who better to sound the trumpets than me? And that's where things got difficult.

[10:19] Mo Brady: As I began to bounce the idea of a campaign off of friends and colleagues, questions began to arise that I couldn't answer. For example, why should principal performers be eligible for two awards for the same performance? If this award is to acknowledge collaborative storytelling, then why should a show's leading and featured actors be eligible and possibly win two Tony Awards for the same work? And if the award is not to acknowledge collaborative storytelling, but to acknowledge those on chorus contracts, how was a Tony voter expected to recognize the difference? Also, what about the swings? What about the swings? Initially, I proposed that this award should include the full opening company of performers, including swings and standbys.

But how can a Tony voter cast their vote for someone they've never seen perform on stage? And if a Best Ensemble award was to leave out the swings, that felt like another nail in the coffin against the most humble and talented of a company's members, something I couldn't get behind. All this left me wondering, is a Tony award for Best Ensemble a good idea after all?

[11:37] Mo Brady: What I realized is that I can't answer this question on my own. While I like to think of myself as an expert about what makes a great theatrical ensemble, I can't wrap my head around how to celebrate one, or even if they are capable of being celebrated. So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to reach out to those who can help me explore this idea. From press, to theatrical leaders, to educators, I want to reach across the gamut for creative ways to recognize theater ensembles. And while it may seem like I've shown my cards that a Tony award for Best Ensemble is a great idea, I could honestly say that at this point, I'm not sure.

[12:32] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Dave Carley, Raymond J. Lee, Jeffrey Marks, Betsy Struxness, and Taria Vizhdani for sharing their stories with us today. The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein, Caleb James Grokowski, and me, Mo Brady. Please rate and review The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or at bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network. Our Patreon members have on-demand access to our archive, including full conversations with our guests and early access to episodes. You can join Emily Chen, Christian Rehnke, Ty Williams, and many more by supporting us for between $5 and $20 a month at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Thanks for listening. Until next time.