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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. Welcome, I'm Mo Brady.

[0:23] Mo Brady: So where do we go from here? When I started this miniseries eight episodes ago, I was positive that there was a way to recognize theater ensembles. I was so sure of it that I figured the best and most equitable way to do so was to ask the Tony Awards to add a new competitive category for Best Ensemble. At the time, I figured that recognizing ensemble performances was a no-brainer and that we only had to figure out what we were celebrating in order to move that plan forward. Oh how wrong I was. Don't let me get too far down this path without saying that ensemble performers deserve the recognition that competitive awards bring. I still believe that 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. But I was wrong about a handful of other things. Things that make it challenging to see the first step of a path forward, let alone what the entire journey would be.

[1:48] Mo Brady: First off, no one can agree on what an ensemble is. As you may have noticed, I tried to begin each of the interviews in this miniseries with the question, what makes a great ensemble? And while our guests consisted of some of the best and brightest experts in theatrical awards, there was no consistent response to that question. Is it a group of leading actors working together, or a group of chorus members achieving technical prowess? Turns out, it's either. Secondly, while we can look at other entertainment awards for a blueprint of how to celebrate theater ensembles on Broadway, there isn't a clearly translatable example. The SAG Awards use their best ensembles to recognize all of the leading characters, and allow for performers to pick up two awards for the same performance.

The Helen Hayes Awards celebrate best ensembles, but often use the award to celebrate casts where all the performers are principals, such as A Chorus Line or The Scottsboro Boys. And I still don't know who in the company should get this recognition. Is it the opening night cast? Or is it the cast the adjudicators come and see, should the swings be included? Again, no answers here. There are already New York Theater Awards that celebrate a part of the Broadway ensemble experience. Actors' Equity's ACCA Award already recognizes an outstanding group of performers on chorus contracts. However, this doesn't allow for recognition of collaborative storytelling among performers on principal contracts.

Also, I've been to the ceremony, it's presented midday in an Equity boardroom, hardly the pomp and circumstance of a major awards ceremony. And the Cheeto Awards celebrate achievement in dance, do have the pomp and circumstance, but don't consider great ensembles that don't use movement as their primary mode of storytelling. And yet, maybe this is the best we can do.

[3:54] Mo Brady: Undoubtedly I am ending this miniseries with more questions than answers. While I knew it was unlikely to result in the creation of any new recognition for theater ensembles, I had hoped that I would at least better understand what that recognition should be. Someday, eventually, Broadway is going to reopen. And when it does, there will be no great answer of how to recognize theater ensembles. The company of six will still be pitted against each other in awards for Best Featured Actress. And when it happens, we, or at least I, will still wonder what would happen if we had a Best Ensemble Award that could recognize both individual performances and the work that cast does to move audiences each night.

Here's the biggest thing I was wrong about. That asking how we can recognize theater ensembles was an appropriate question for the moment. When I began production on this miniseries, we had just elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We had asserted that Black Lives Matter, but weren't yet discussing publicly how to stop AAPI hate or inequity in equity dues. I started this conversation in a time where there was space for it, but I'm ending it in a moment where it feels like there's not. I hope that someday someone can pick up the baton that I'm leaving behind. I hope that sometime in the not-too-distant future, the time will be right for someone to speak truth to power and ask for ensembles to be recognized. And when they do, I hope they have a clear, concise, and persuasive reason to ask it.

[5:26] Mo Brady: The Ensemblist was produced today by Jackson Klein 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. Thanks for listening. Until next time.