I had several dogs in this fight. Like most theater lovers, I'm always eager to see which new work will join the pantheon of plays and musicals that epitomize their time. And Hall's dramedy certainly does that.
Using sensitivity, humor and some Luther Vandross songs, Hall shatters all kinds of stereotypes as she filters the image of Black masculinity through the experiences of a group of gay men preparing for a local barbecue contest while dealing with issues that run the gamut from what it means to be a father to how to cope with overzealous policing (click hear to listen to an interview I did with Hall about the show last spring). The win makes Hall the ninth African-American and the 16th woman to receive the honor.
I was also interested in the outcome of this year's Pulitzers because, for the second time, I had the honor of sitting on the jury that sorted through nearly 90 plays and musicals to recommend the top three finalists to the Pulitzer board.
The board's members make the ultimate decision about who gets the awards from the one for news (this year Minneapolis’ Star Tribune for its coverage of the death of George Floyd; plus a special commendation for Darnella Frazier who took the video that showed the world how brutality he was killed) to the one for music (Cuban-American composer Tania León's ode to the pioneering feminist Susan B. Anthony) and of course the one for drama.
But I have to confess that my main rooting interest in this year's drama award rests in the fact that I've been working on a new podcast about all the plays and musicals that have won a Pulitzer over the past century. It’s called "All the Drama."
Each episode will start off with the story of one of the winning shows along with some background on its creator(s) and then I'll talk with someone who's familiar with the show for their thoughts about what made it stand out in its time and how relevant it remains (or not) in ours.
BroadwayRadio had planned to start this monthly series back in April when the Pulitzer announcements were originally scheduled. When they got moved into June so that board members would have more time to get vaccinated—hope you are too—so that they could meet in person, we decided to release the early episodes as a bonus for BroadwayRadio’s Patreon subscribers (you can become one by clicking here).
We'll continue to give the subscribers a jumpstart on future episodes too, including the one for this month on Charles Gordone's No Place to Be Somebody, the first play by an African-American to win the Pulitzer.
But now that the news about this year's winner is out, I'm delighted that the first episode of "All The Drama" is now available to the public too. The episode is on Why Marry?, a comedy that was the very first play to win a Pulitzer back in 1918. You can find the episode in the BroadwayRadio feed wherever you listen to podcasts or by clicking here.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. And I also hope that you'll check back for future episodes including the one that we'll release next month on the 2004 winner I Am My Own Wife that features a great conversation I had with its playwright Doug Wright.
