The upcoming Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park With George has withdrawn from consideration from the 2017 Tony Awards, according to an exclusive report on Broadway.com.
The producers reportedly released a statement saying: “The producers of Sunday in the Park with George will not be submitting Hudson Theatre’s engagement of this New York City Center production for awards eligibility. With a season so full of tremendous, soon-to-be long-running new musicals and revivals, the producers feel this extremely limited, special run of Sunday stands most appropriately outside of any awards competition. The production is nevertheless proud to be part of such a landmark Broadway season.”
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, the production is scheduled to begin previews February 11 at the refurbished Hudson Theatre. The limited run is scheduled to end April 23, more than a week before the Tony nominations are due to be announced May 2. The 71st Annual Tony ceremony will be broadcast on CBS June 11 from Radio City Music Hall.
The current season features an abundance of musicals and musical revivals unusual since the 1960s, making all the musical categories extraordinarily competitive. Other revivals this season already include Falsettos, Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Miss Saigon, and the Bette Midler Hello, Dolly!. Sunday in the Park cast and creators would also have been competing with more than a dozen new musicals that will have opened this season.
Individuals have withdrawn from consideration in the past, most notably Julie Andrews in 1996 when the rest of her production of Victor/Victoria failed to win nominations. And the Tonys themselves routinely exclude productions whose run is too short for nominators and voters to attend. More rarely, some sold-out limited shows have declined to make tickets available to the more than 700 Tony voters, including, ironically, the 2011 show Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony.
