Give the Tonys Back to Broadway- My suggestions on how to help

A letter to Hunter Foster based on his request to the group- "Give the Tonys Back to Broadway"

Quick note to non-theater folk: The Broadway community and aficionados were, for the most part, upset with the results of the Tony Awards given on June 13th 2010, where many Hollywood stars who were "guest"-ing on Broadway were bestowed with the awards we felt were deserved by actors who primarily work on the stage.

Thanks for getting this campaign going and for emphasizing the positive side of it. Frustration more than anything brought about a lot of griping after last Sunday night but on the flip side it opened up the dialogue and this is a fantastic step toward improving the cause of said frustrations.
My 5 suggestions:

1. Gypsy of the Year, Easter Bonnet, and all those Broadway community events that take place throughout the year should be featured in the telecast so more people can learn about them.

2. Playbill recently reported that there was talk about an Ensemble award. There are obviously pros and cons to it but something should be figured out in favor of it. It’s financially understandable that producers feel the need to cast stars; this would be a great way to honor those people who work primarily on Broadway.

3. A Special Guest Star Award for Hollywood actors with limited engagements on Broadway could be a way to still honor the work they put in, and let the Best Actor/ Actress award be given to those who are in it for the long run.

4. This next one would require extra work for AEA and some serious logistics to figure out: Somehow including Equity members who are active in the audition circuit (putting in the work before they book a job and sometimes not book any) in the telecast would not only encourage us all, but also show the general public what really goes into making it on the Great White Way.

5. Feature segments during the telecast showing: up and coming composers, how a show is workshopped, the journey that productions go through (regional, out of town try outs) etc… This would help to educate the general public as to how actors develop a role that sometimes ends up being played by somebody else.

Again thanks for offering this platform,
Tony Vargas