It’s that time of year again: the BroadwayWorld Awards winners are rolling out, the posts are popping up, the “WE DID IT!!!” graphics are flying across Facebook, and theatre people everywhere are doing what we do best… feeling every emotion at once.
First, let me say this clearly, loudly, and before anyone gets defensive in my comments:
This is not a hit piece on the winners.
Not even a little.
Because let’s be honest… those productions were probably incredible. Just like the ones that were nominated alongside them. And the ones that should’ve been nominated. And the ones that weren’t even eligible. And the ones that were quietly brilliant but didn’t have the social reach of a small nation.
Community theatre is full of talent. Real talent. Serious talent.
That’s actually the problem.
Because the idea of recognition is wonderful. The moment you find out you were nominated? It’s exciting. It’s validating. It’s that tiny spark of “Wait… someone noticed.” Someone took the time to click your name. Someone thought your work mattered enough to put it on the list.
That part is genuinely lovely.
And then you find out how you win. And it’s like someone opened the stage door in February and all the air just left your body.
It’s Not an Award System. It’s a Voting Marathon.
Here’s the thing about the BroadwayWorld Awards, as they currently work:
It’s not really “best choreography” or “best performance” or “best direction.”
It’s more like…
Best Email Blaster.
Best Social Media Megaphone.
Best at Asking Your Friends to Click a Link 47 Times Without Blocking You.
It becomes a literal contest of who can annoy their friends, family, coworkers, students, cast, crew, distant cousins, and ex-boyfriends into voting the most.
If your theatre company is sending multiple email blasts and posting “DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!” every day like it’s a public health emergency, you’re far more likely to win.
If you don’t do that?
Well, I guess your show wasn’t the best. LOL. Sure. Totally. Makes perfect sense. (It does not.)
The Problem Isn’t the Voting… It’s What the Voting Pretends to Be.
If BroadwayWorld called this what it actually is, that would be cool. Here's a suggestion :)
“People’s Choice Community Theatre Awards”
Great. Fine. Fun. Go nuts.
But the problem is that it’s packaged like an actual adjudicated award system. Like it’s measuring craft. Like it’s evaluating artistry. Like it’s a meaningful evaluation of theatre.
Instead, it’s measuring something else entirely:
who has the biggest and most responsive online base and who is willing to campaign the hardest.
That’s not art. That’s marketing.
And yes, theatre requires marketing. I get it. I live it. But don’t dress up an online popularity contest like it’s a thoughtful evaluation of performance excellence.
Because that’s where it starts to feel… gross.
Community Theatre Deserves Better Than This.
And this is where I get extra cranky, because here’s the part people forget:
Community theatre is doing the work.
We are the ones putting theatre in front of audiences who don’t have Broadway money. We are the ones filling seats in towns where theatre survives because a handful of passionate humans refuse to let it die.
We’re teaching kids how to love this art form. We’re giving adults an outlet to create again. We’re building community. We’re running fundraisers, raffles, sponsorships, concessions, costume pulls, load-ins, strike, board meetings, and rehearsals that end at 11:30 p.m. on a Tuesday.
We’re doing all of that… and then we’re being asked to compete in a system that basically rewards whoever can rally the most clicks.
And BroadwayWorld, for all its influence and reach, is doing this with
bare minimum structure and maximum benefit to themselves.
Because let’s not pretend this is just a sweet little service they offer out of the goodness of their theatrical hearts.
BroadwayWorld’s awards system is designed perfectly to do a few things really well:
Build their marketing list.
Drive page traffic.
Increase engagement.
Collect data.
All powered by the hard work and pride of theatre artists. That’s the part that feels disappointing.
Other Programs Have Issues Too… But At Least They’re Trying.
No adjudication program is perfect. But that's ok.
The HALOs and the Sondheim Awards have their own quirks, and yes, sometimes it comes down to which judges advocate hardest for “their” person in the room.
But here’s the difference:
They send judges to the shows.
They watch the work.
They use rubrics.
They have an actual process.
Is it flawed? Sure.
Is it subjective? Of course. It’s art.
But at least it’s built on evaluation, not campaigning.
BroadwayWorld is running a full-blown “awards program” without investing in any real framework to support what an award is supposed to mean.
And Yes… I’ve Been Excited Too.
This is the part where I confess my own theatre hypocrisy, because I’m not writing this from some moral high ground made of pure artistic integrity.
I’ve been nominated. I’ve been excited. I’ve felt that little spark of pride.
And I’ve shared it once on social media because it felt good to have my work recognized.
So yeah, I’ve played a small part of the machine too.
But once you realize what the machine is actually doing, it’s hard to unsee it.
Remember When RENT Beat Out A Chorus Line, Pippen, and Chicago for Choreography?
To be clear, I love RENT. But I mean… come on. RENT for all of its dancing lol?
That’s not a statement about choreography. That’s a statement about who had the loudest voting push.
Which, again, is fine if that’s what we’re doing. It’s silly. It’s frustrating.
So What Now?
Here’s my big takeaway:
If BroadwayWorld wants to run an awards program, it should invest in an actual awards program.
Create a system. Build a panel. Use a rubric. Send adjudicators. Partner with local theatre organizations. Do something besides harvesting votes and calling it a win.
Because community theatre deserves recognition that’s rooted in the work, not rooted in who has the most time to beg people online.
And if they don’t want to do that?
Then fine. Keep it as a fan-voted popularity contest.
Just call it what it is.
Congratulations, Seriously.
To the winners: truly, congratulations. I mean it.
You worked hard. Your teams worked hard. Your casts worked hard. Your crews worked hard.
You should be proud.
But to everyone else who got nominated and then immediately felt their excitement deflate once they saw the voting circus unfold…
You’re not crazy. That feeling is valid. Because the work matters. The artistry matters. The hours matter.
And it’s okay to want a system that honors that with a little more integrity.
