Ken Davenport put together this infographic regarding the last 20 years of the Tony Winner for Best Musical. Draw your own conclusions although there may be no valid conclusions to be drawn. It's only information. For example, while only 3 musicals had "stars" (undefined), that means nothing unless you know how many musicals even had "stars" over the last 20 years since some show has to win each year that the category is awarded. For "stars" I count Sunset Boulevard, The Producers and Spamalot - but could see arguments for Hairspray (Harvey Fierstein) and Kinky Boots (Billy Porter). Also, the reference to Sondheim could be misleading in that there have been no new Sondheim musicals eligible for Best Musical in the last 20 years which is interesting on its own although there have been revivals. think the most interesting statistic is that 1/2 of the winners did not open in the spring.
Why on earth is there a Sondheim info bar? He had nothing on Broadway for the past 20 years, or else it surely would have one. The committee couldn't help themselves but make it win, no madder how horrid it would have been.
What I found most interesting was that the three main theater-owning companies had all produced an equal amount of winners.
I don't find that interesting at all. Yes, the Shuberts own far more theaters, but what the blurb doesn't mention is that the majority of those theaters are small play houses. Both Jujamcyn and Nederlander are known for owning the large musical houses, so of course they will have many more musicals than plays, which increases their chance of winning Tonys.
Also, when a musical wins the Tony, it tends to stay open for a while, which sends the next season's musicals to a different theater, possibly a different theater owner.
The statistic makes total sense to me.
On a related note, things like this that do not provide any context really bother me. Sure, 45% of the Best Musical winners were based on movies, but until you know what percentage of ALL new musicals in that time were based on musicals, that statistic is completely meaningless.
Nothing matters but knowing nothing matters. ~ Wicked
Everything in life is only for now. ~ Avenue Q
There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. ~ Rent