The 2023 Tony Awards event will still be aired amid the Hollywood writers' strike.
Like many other televised happenings, the most prominent celebration of American theater was hampered by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.
But even though the WGA had originally said they would not let the Tonys go on, they seemed to change their minds on Monday, May 15. the members said they would not picket the program if producers made certain changes.
Modification Agreements
"As has been previously reported, the Writers Guilds of America East and West (WGA) will not negotiate an interim agreement or a waiver for the Tony Awards," the guild stated, as reported by Deadline.
"However, Tony Awards Productions (a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing) has communicated with us that they are altering this year's show to conform with specific requests from the WGA, and therefore the WGA will not be picketing the show," it added.
No official word on what changes will be made. Yet a source told the New York Times that the show will not use any of the opening number or comedic patterns written by screenwriters or any part of a draft script written before the strike began.
Awards will be given out, and performances from Broadway musicals will be shown, but the rest of the evening will reportedly be stripped down. Even though Ariana DeBose was named as the host before the strike started, AV Club reported that it is uncertain whether she will still be participating.
Strike's Repercussions
The impact of the strike on the Tony Awards has been the subject of dispute, even within the guild, more so than with other award events that went on as planned during the strike, such as the MTV Movie & TV Awards.
A strike is meant to be disruptive in terms of both logistics and finances. According to Deadline, the WGA has recently claimed that the strike is costing the California economy $30 million a day. It is a concrete example of how vital writers are to the industry's creative and financial success.
However, many who stand up for the Tony Awards say that airing the ceremony is a labor problem in and of itself. As the live theater business battles to recover from the coronavirus outbreak, the Broadway celebration is considered essential advertising for the art form.
Playwright and WGA member Jeremy O. Harris previously tweeted, "You can't negotiate by instilling terror but I hope our union will listen to the voices of their writers asking behind closed doors for a solution to be found that won't be a death nail in the coffin of an industry struggling to survive." Harris blamed the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the bargaining unit for the studios, for the impasse.
