What is it that the Tony, Pulitzer, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, New York Drama Critics Circle, OBIE, Drama League and Lucille Lortel Awards don't do? For all their various rules and fiefdoms, none of these organizational awards recognize national touring shows.

Enter the League of American Theatres and Producers, which, with the American Theatre Wing, already produces the Broadway-only Tonys. The League now plans to start "The National Broadway Theatre Awards" — informally nicknamed "The Star Awards" — which will honor eligible Broadway touring shows. Unlike the Tonys (and, in fact, all the other awards mentioned above), however, the NBTA winners will be chosen by audience vote, rather than by critics and theatre insiders.

John Ritter and Henry Winkler, who co-star in Neil Simon's current Broadway hit, The Dinner Party, will host the May 21 awards ceremony, held at The Supper Club.

As reported by Variety, which is the Awards' official media outlet, the vote is done via snail-mail ballot or the internet, at www.nationalbroadwayawards.com. Potential voters fill out a registration form and are then sent a ballot tailored to their location. According to Award spokesperson Susan L. Schulman, for a show to be eligibile for consideration, the producer must officially submit the show and pay an entrance fee.

Participating shows are listed below: Annie
Annie Get Your Gun
Beauty and the Beast
Barry Manilow's Copacabana
Cabaret
Chicago
Cinderella
The Civil War
Dame Edna: The Royal Tour
Fiddler on the Roof
Fosse
The Gathering
King Hedley II
Les Misérables
Mamma Mia!
Man of La Mancha
Miss Saigon
Parade
The Phantom of the Opera
Ragtime
Rent
Riverdance - The Show
Saturday Night Fever
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Show Boat
The Sound of Music
Fame
Stomp
Swing!
The Vagina Monologues

— By David Lefkowitz