CHRISTOPHER LIBBY

While in MKE I was an advocate for a local version of the Tony Award. Thought that it would be a good PR vehicle for the local industry and at least one time a year get us some tv time in the form of soft news. Wiser folks prevailed that it was pointless and fraught with politics and hurt feelings.

They were right, I was wrong.

Now outside the snowglobe of MKE theatre, I have to agree. Any industry awards show is primarily engineered as a PR stunt by the producers, using the talent as bait for public attention. But it is the artists that are the catalysts, and as such can get consumed by the process.

In the end, nobody cares who gets the award. It's all just an excuse to pay attention for a brief moment, in the hopes it will drive some business to the box office. Nothing more.