Tony trophies are temporary. Cast albums are forever.
We here at GROHN Up Broadway are still riding high from this stellar Tony season, with numerous cast albums competing for another listen-through. But as with every Broadway season, it’s bittersweet: the aftermath of Tony night often brings a wave of closing notices. This year, it stung extra hard — so many shows that we adored closed after being shut out on Tony night. Maybe Happy Ending was a delight and deserved all its accolades, but must all the other good shows go the way of the dodo so quickly? Give Dead Outlaw, Operation Mincemeat, Smash, and even Boop! some love!
While only time will tell how often these cast albums make their way back into our regular rotation, it got us thinking about other times a great show was overshadowed on awards night but still lives rent-free in our hearts — and our Spotify algorithms.
We present a few tracks in line, but listen through selections from these shows in our companion Spotify Playlist:
The Full Monty
Opened: October 26, 2000
Tony Nominations: 10 (2001) | Tony Wins: 0
The Full Monty premiered the same season as The Producers, which steamrolled its way to a record 12 Tonys and a record-breaking box office. But David Yazbek’s debut Broadway score is every bit as sharp, funny, and heartfelt as you could want — the start of a stellar career, and not the first time he would come home empty handed with a great score – go give Dead Outlaw another listen!
Yes, it’s a film adaptation, but in 2000 that wasn’t yet a tired cliché, and the stage version arrived less than two years after the movie premiered — a far cry from today’s decades-old title mining. GUB first fell in love with this show blasting the cast album during college rec center runs before catching a regional production in 2007. With high-energy dance numbers, a show-stopping queer love ballad ….at a funeral, and… yes… male nudity, what more does a musical comedy need?
Take a listen to a much younger (and agile) André De Shields sing about his ‘qualifications’ to be a part of the show:
Luckily Spotify doesn’t show a play-count total, but the emotional climax of the show might be in the top 10 here at GUB headquarters:
Waitress
Opened: April 24, 2016
Tony Nominations: 4 (2016) | Tony Wins: 0
Waitress’s four nominations at the 2016 Hamilton Awards — sorry, Tony Awards — were a solid feat, all things considered. The show marked the Broadway composing debut of singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, who famously won’t write you a love song but happily gave us a warm, funny, and heartfelt Broadway score. She even stepped into the lead role multiple times, cementing herself as a Broadway regular. (Have you seen her Baker’s Wife? Sploosh.)
Despite its Tony shutout (and similar treatment at the GROHNs), the show ran until January 2020 — just two months before the pandemic closed everything. Jokes on them!
“She Used to Be Mine” is, without question, the best 11 o’clock number of the 21st century. Fight us.
Some Like It Hot
Opened: December 11, 2022
Tony Nominations: 13 (2023) | Tony Wins: 4
The pandemic shutdown was brutal for Broadway, but we like to think Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman used that time to perfect this joyous, big-hearted score. This is the team behind Hairspray and Smash, and GUB thinks this one is just as delectable.
The show earned raves but lost the major categories — including Best Score — to Kimberly Akimbo (a GROHN favorite). Four wins in a tough post-pandemic market wasn’t enough to keep it running, but in a different Broadway climate we think it could have had a very healthy run. GUB loves its throwback charm, whip-smart lyrics, perfect gym-pump energy, and compulsive hip movements. Bonus: it did quite well at the GROHNs, which is obviously what matters most.
This show made history on Tony night as J. Harrison Ghee won a Tony as an openly non binary performer. BUT more importantly – they won this Tony while playing a non-binary character! This 11 o’clock number is when they finally declare this truth, with not a dry eye in the audience!
Something Rotten!
Opened: April 22, 2015
Tony Nominations: 10 (2015) | Tony Wins: 1
A perfect musical comedy and a high-energy love letter to musical theatre from then-Broadway newcomers Karey & Wayne Kirkpatrick. It won a lot of GROHNs and has had great staying power in our Spotify playlists. The book is packed with laugh-out-loud moments, the choreography is shamelessly over-the-top, and the score is endlessly re-playable.
With the critical (and GROHN) darling Fun Home taking home the big categories and An American in Paris grabbing most of the rest (to our great chagrin), there wasn’t much room for this delight on Tony night. We’re still happily keeping it on repeat.
It’s one Tony win was for the scene stealing performance by Christian Borle as a Britney Spears inspired Shakespeare.
One of the most iconic Theatrical Moments in GROHN history was the show stopping number “A Musical” that we can still remember exactly where we were in the theatre when we first experienced this stunning love letter to Broadway!
Honorable Mentions (a.k.a. Guilty Pleasures We Don’t Feel Guilty About)
9 to 5
Opened: April 30, 2009
Tony Nominations: 4 (2009) | Tony Wins: 0
Movie adaptations deservingly get little runway for success, but we think this one nailed the landing. Dolly Parton’s first Broadway score deserved more love than it got. (Her second is opening this season — squee!) Sure, the reviews were mixed, but with an all-star cast — Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, & Megan Hilty — it was a charming, high-energy take on the hit film. Unfortunately, it opened the same year as Billy Elliot and Next to Normal, which dominated the season. We saw this one regionally in 2011 and still revisit many tracks thanks to the benevolent gods of Spotify shuffle.
Stephanie has since been rewarded with a Tony award, but we are happy to revisit one of her many soaring barn burners!
Legally Blonde
Opened: April 29, 2007
Tony Nominations: 7 (2007) | Tony Wins: 0
Yes, another movie adaptation — but hear us out. Legally Blonde honored the iconic moments from the film while creating stage magic of its own. The sorority send-ups, bouncy choreography, and ridiculously catchy score make it endlessly fun.
At the Tonys, Spring Awakening deservedly swept, leaving Elle Woods empty-handed. A regional production competed in the inaugural 2012 GROHN Awards and, ironically, lost many points to a regional Spring Awakening. Luckily, both cast albums get plenty of love here at GUB.
Plus, it features a young Annaleigh Ashford in peak ditzy sorority-sister mode, listen for her distinctive comedy in the delightful opening number!
If you’re going to judge a show solely by its Tonys, you’ll miss out on a lot of great music. Luckily, we’re more than happy to keep these snubbed scores alive — one obsessive replay at a time.