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Bjorklunden Speaker Just Won Tony Award

When Broadway shows are nominated for a Tony Award, people are curious. Producers are hopeful; the more nominations they receive, the better the chance to win. Winning means more curious people, more people coming to see their particular show.

John O’Boyle frequently visits Door County’s Bjorklunden for seminars. As it happens, he is also one of the producers of La Cage Aux Folles, which received 11 Tony Award nominations.

“We were delighted to have received so many nominations,” O’Boyle says. “The more the better. They give you more opportunities to win, and more publicity for the show.”

When we watch the Tony Awards from the comfort of our homes, some things strike us. We were confused when Catherine Zeta Jones jerked her head around through, “Send in the Clowns.” We were frightened when the sinewy Karine Plantadit, who plays Kate in Come Fly Away, launched herself through the air to be caught by her partner, between her legs, after he frantically shoved his arm through the sleeve of his suit coat.

We were just so happy when La Cage Aux Folles won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, Best Director, and Best Actor.

John O’Boyle had the honor of being onstage to accept the award for Best Musical Revival.

There was no drama over what to wear. He was wearing a tux, because the Tony Awards are a black tie affair. This goes for everyone: even the four-year-old son of a director the dress-code-police almost did not let in, because the child was not wearing one.

O’Boyle says, “The way the speech works is from the moment they announce that you’re a winner; you have a minute and half to get up to the stage and give the speech before they cut you off.”

If you’re in the back of the theater, in the middle of the row, you are scrambling to get onto the stage. But it’s a good problem to have.

“There’s probably not more than a 1,000 names on the list of Tony Award winners,” O’Boyle says. “It gives more focus to who you are and it gives you the experience of how to run a hit show. You get an idea of the quality it takes to be successful on Broadway, which is a very, very stressful stage.”

While he was up there, standing on stage, he had to fight the urge to wave to his family, who were watching the ceremony here in Door County.

“You’ve got to look like you’ve been there before even if you haven’t – I hadn’t. It’s fun, though, a tremendous high,” O’Boyle says.

According to O’Boyle, a Tony Award also means the show might just have the chance to run a little longer, to bring in a little more money, and to maybe – cross your fingers here – pay itself off.

“Many producers are counting on the Tony Awards for visibility,” O’Boyle says.

Producers dream for a show to run until the end of time. They would be happy for it to run as long as Chicago, which opened in 1998, won Best Musical Revival, and is still running today, according to O’Boyle. Then there’s a show like Phantom of the Opera, which has been running for 20 years.

O’Boyle says, “It’s wonderful both psychologically and financially to be connected to a show that runs that long.”

Tony Awards help shows to build and maintain an audience. A person visiting New York from Door County most likely decides what to see by looking for the shows that are most successful and most popular.

While the director’s job is over after the show opens, the producers continue to be involved after the curtain rises. If tickets are selling well, they discuss how to keep it that way. If they are not selling well, they try to figure out why.

“The team of producers is like a board of directors, and the lead producer is like the chairmen,” O’Boyle says. “We confer regularly because it’s like a business that you built that needs running.”

The theatre gods have smiled on La Cage Aux Folles, and the show will begin a tour no later than 2012.

“They have already announced the tour. So everybody in Door County should plan on driving down to Appleton. But don’t wait that long. See it on Broadway!” O’Boyle says.

John O’Boyle is also a Tony Award voter. This means that he’s obligated to see all the shows that open on Broadway. This is, O’Boyle says, “Not a bad obligation to have.”