How Do Stage-To-Screen Adaptations Fare At The Oscars?

Will Viola Davis be able to win Best Actress at the Oscars?The first step to Oscar success is appearing like a frontrunner. This is why adaptations always are at the top of people’s year in advance predictions. Yet, sustaining that early buzz (often sight unseen) can be a dicey proposition.

Both Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami are play adaptations that are towards the top of many Oscar predictions right now. Now that both are available on streaming (Netflix and Prime Video, respectively), audiences are finally seeing and enjoying both films. While critics have been giving out their awards recently, the major precursors for the Oscars (guilds, Golden Globes, Critics Choice) still have not been announced. Can we look to the awards run of their source material as a signal for how they will perform at the Oscars?

August Wilson's Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom earned three nominations in 1985 at the Tonys, including Best Play, Best Featured Actor - Charles S. Dutton and Best Featured Actress - Theresa Merritt. It lost all three of its bids, as Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues took the top prize. Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis are taking over Dutton and Merritt’s roles, respectively. For Oscars, they are moving up to lead and both have shots at winning. 

Meanwhile, One Night in Miami has a clean awards slate. Since Kemp Powers’ original play of the same name was only performed in Los Angeles and Europe, it was never Tony eligible. This shouldn’t hurt the film’s chance at a nomination, but it does make it harder to gauge how the film will do.

Looking at how past play to film adaptation have done awards-wise, a trend emerges. It is more likely for film adaptations to fall short of the awards haul their source material enjoyed at the Tonys. Some key examples do overperform, but it is not the norm...

Below you will find four lists that compare Tony and Oscar performance. We've tried to compare specifically the most recent revival that happened before a film's release. Additionally, any time a play or film won Best Picture/Play/Musical/Revival, that will be bolded.

Chicago lost Best Musical at the Tonys in 1975. 27 Years Later, the film adaptation by Rob Marshall won Best Picture.

Film Adaptations That Did Better At The Oscars Than Tonys

1. California Suite

   • 1976 Play - No Tony Nominations

   • 1978 Film - 1 Oscar Win (Best Supporting Actress - Maggie Smith); 3 Oscar Nominations (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction)

2. Chicago

   • 1975 Musical - 11 Tony Nominations Including Best Musical

   • 1997 Revival - 6 Tony Wins Including Best Revival; 8 Tony Nominations

   • 2002 Film - 6 Oscar Wins (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress - Catherine Zeta-Jones, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing); 13 Oscar Nominations (Best Director, Best Actress - Renee Zellweger, Best Supporting Actor - John C. Reilly, Best Supporting Actress - Queen Latifah, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song)

3. A Few Good Men

   • 1989 Play - 1 Tony Nomination for Best Actor (Tom Hulce)

   • 1994 Film - 4 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor - Jack Nicholson, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing)

4. The Lion in Winter

   • 1966 Play - 1 Tony Win for Best Actress (Rosemary Harris), 2 Tony Nominations

   • 1968 Film - 3 Oscar Wins (Best Actress - Katharine Hepburn, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score); 7 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor - Peter O’Toole, Best Costume Design)

5. Picnic

   • 1953 Play - 1 Tony Win for Best Director

   • 1955 Film - 2 Oscar Wins (Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing); 6 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor - Arthur O’Connell, Best Original Score)

6. A Streetcar Named Desire

   • 1947 Play - 1 Tony Win for Best Actress (Jessica Tandy)

   • 1951 Film - 4 Oscar Wins (Best Actress - Vivien Leigh, Best Supporting Actor - Karl Malden, Best Supporting Actress - Kim Hunter, Best Art Direction); 12 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor - Marlon Brando, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Sound)

7. The Unsinkable Molly Brown

   • 1960 Play - 1 Tony Win for Best Featured Actress (Tammy Grimes)

   • 1964 Film - 6 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Debbie Reynolds, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Costume Design, Best Score, Best Sound)

8. West Side Story

   • 1957 Musical - 2 Tony Wins; 6 Tony Nominations Including Best Musical

   • 1961 Film - 10 Oscar Wins (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor - George Chakiris, Best Supporting Actress - Rita Moreno, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Score, Best Sound); 11 Oscar Nominations (Best Adapted Screenplay)

The two biggest success stories on this list were unquestionably the two musicals. Chicago and West Side Story both became Best Picture winners, despite their original productions not doing so at the Tonys in the Best Musical category. Both films had strong reviews in large part because of how cinematic the adaptations were. Few movies are as grand as West Side Story, while Chicago expertly blended Fosse’s choreography with the narrative conceit of all the songs being fantasy sequences.

Similarly, the plays that performed the best at the Oscars, relative to the Tonys, were smash hits like A Streetcar Named Desire and The Lion in Winter. Still, they at least had a key acting win at the Tonys to build off of. Jessica Tandy’s win for Blanche DeBois paved the way for Vivien Leigh. Similarly, Rosemary Harris’ win for Eleanor of Aquitaine paved the way for Katharine Hepburn. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom doesn’t have the frontrunner status that the musicals enjoyed, nor the prior Tony win that A Streetcar Named Desire and The Lion in Winter had. Boseman in particular could pull out a win. However, there are less examples of that happening.

Whether on stage or on screen, Amadeus was able to win the top prize both times.

Film Adaptations That Performed Similarly To The Tonys

1. Agnes of God

   • 1979 Play - 1 Tony Win for Best Featured Actress (Amanda Plummer); 2 Tony Nominations Including Best Actress (Geraldine Page)

   • 1985 Film - 3 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Anne Bancroft, Best Supporting Actress - Meg Tilly, Best Original Score)

2. Amadeus

   • 1979 Play - 5 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 7 Tony Nominations

   • 1984 Film - 8 Oscar Wins (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor - F. Murray Abraham, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound); 11 Oscar Nominations (Best Actor - Tom Hulce, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing)

3. Butterflies Are Free

   • 1969 Play - 1 Tony Win for Best Featured Actress (Blythe Danner); 3 Tony Nominations

   • 1971 Film - 1 Oscar Win for Best Supporting Actress (Eileen Heckart); 3 Oscar Nominations (Best Cinematography, Best Sound)

4. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

   • 1955 Play - 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

   • 1958 Film - 6 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor - Paul Newman, Best Actress - Elizabeth Taylor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography)

5. Closer

   • 1997 Play - 1 Tony Nomination for Best Play

   • 2004 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Supporting Actor - Clive Owen, Best Supporting Actress - Natalie Portman)

6. The Sunshine Boys

   • 1972 Play - 3 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

   • 1975 Film - 1 Oscar Win for Best Supporting Actor (George Burns); 4 Oscar Nominations (Best Actor - Walter Matthau, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction)

7. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

   • 1962 Play - 5 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 6 Tony Nominations

   • 1966 Film - 5 Oscar Wins (Best Actress - Elizabeth Taylor, Best Supporting Actress - Sandy Dennis, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design); 13 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor - Richard Burton, Best Supporting Actor - George Segal, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Score, Best Sound)

This section is a bit strange. Yes, Closer got more Oscar nominations than Tony nominations, but it didn't get into Best Picture. Similarly, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf won the same number of Oscars and Tonys, but it didn't win Best Picture like it won Best Play. Essentially, if an adaptation did relatively even, it ends up here.

Some performances were able to win the Oscar even though they lost at the Tonys. Eileen Heckart lost to her Butterflies Are Free co-star Blythe Danner at the Tonys. Once it came to the Oscars, she wound up winning Best Supporting Actress while Goldie Hawn (in Danner’s role) was not nominated. Similarly, Sandy Dennis won the Oscar for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? At the Tonys four years prior, Melinda Dillon lost for playing the same role. George Burns won an Oscar for The Sunshine Boys in 1975, while Sam Levene wasn’t even nominated for a Tony for that same role three years prior. This provides a rare, but viable path for Boseman and Davis. However, it must be noted that these instances all happened in the Supporting categories, not the Lead categories where they will be competing.

Twice at the Tonys, Fences won Best Play and two acting prizes. At the Oscars, only Viola Davis walked home with a trophy.

Film Adaptations That Performed Worse At The Oscars Than At The Tonys

1. 1776

   • 1969 Musical - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Musical, 6 Tony Nominations

   • 1972 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Cinematography)

2. Annie

   • 1976 Musical - 7 Tony Wins Including Best Musical, 10 Tony Nominations

   • 1982 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Art Direction, Best Score)

3. August: Osage County

   • 2008 Play - 4 Tony Wins Including Best Play, 7 Tony Nominations

   • 2013 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Meryl Streep, Best Supporting Actress - Julia Roberts)

4. Barefoot in the Park

   • 1963 Play - 1 Tony Win; 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

   • 1967 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Supporting Actress - Mildred Natwick)

5. Bus Stop

   • 1955 Play - 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

   • 1956 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Supporting Actor - Don Murray)

6. Can-Can

   • 1953 Musical - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Actress (Gwen Verdon)

   • 1960 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Costume Design, Score)

7. Chapter Two

   • 1977 Play - 1 Tony Win; 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

   • 1979 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Actress - Marsha Mason)

8. Crimes of the Heart

   • 1978 Play - 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

   • 1986 Film - 3 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Sissy Spacek, Best Supporting Actress - Tess Harper, Best Adapted Screenplay)

9. Children of a Lesser God

   • 1979 Play - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 4 Tony Nominations

   • 1986 Film - 1 Oscar Win for Best Actress (Marlee Matlin); 5 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor - William Hurt, Best Supporting Actress - Piper Laurie, Best Adapted Screenplay)

10. The Crucible

    • 1953 Play - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Play

    • 1996 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Supporting Actress - Joan Allen, Best Adapted Screenplay)

11. The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

    • 1957 Play - 5 Tony Nominations including Best Play

    • 1960 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Supporting Actress - Shirley Knight)

12. Death of a Salesman

    • 1949 Play - 5 Tony Wins Including Best Play

    • 1951 Film - 5 Oscar Nominations (Best Actor - Fredric March, Best Supporting Actor - Kevin McCarthy, Best Supporting Actress - Mildred Dunnock, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score)

13. Doubt

    • 2004 Play - 6 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 8 Tony Nominations

    • 2008 Film - 5 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Meryl Streep, Best Supporting Actor - Philip Seymour Hoffman, Best Supporting Actress - Amy Adams, Viola Davis, Best Adapted Screenplay)

14. Fences

    • 1987 Play - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 5 Tony Nominations

    • 2010 Revival - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Revival; 10 Tony Nominations

    • 2016 Film - 1 Oscar Win (Best Supporting Actress - Viola Davis); 4 Oscar Nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor - Denzel Washington, Best Adapted Screenplay)

15. Finian’s Rainbow

    • 1947 Play - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Featured Actor (David Wayne)

    • 1956 Revival - 1 Tony Nomination for Best Featured Actor (Will Mahoney)

    • 1968 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Original Score, Best Sound)

16. Glengarry Glen Ross

    • 1984 Play - 1 Tony Win for Best Featured Actor (Joe Mantegna); 3 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

    • 1992 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Supporting Actor - Al Pacino)

17. The Great White Hope 
    • 1967 Play - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Play
    • 1970 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Actor - James Earl Jones, Best Actress - Jane Alexander)
18. Inherit the Wind
    • 1956 Play - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Actor (Paul Muni); 4 Tony Nominations
    • 1960 Film - 4 Oscar Nominations (Best Actor - Spencer Tracy, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing)

19. Long Day’s Journey Into Night

    • 1956 Play - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 6 Tony Nominations

    • 1962 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Actress - Katharine Hepburn)

20. A Majority of One

    • 1959 Play - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Actress (Gertrude Berg); 4 Tony Nominations

    • 1961 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Cinematography)

21. The Odd Couple

    • 1965 Play - 4 Tony Wins Including Best Director; 5 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

    • 1968 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing)

22. Rabbit Hole

    • 2006 Play - 1 Tony Win For Best Actress (Cynthia Nixon); 5 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

    • 2010 Film - 1 Oscar Nomination (Best Actress - Nicole Kidman)

23. Shirley Valentine

    • 1986 Play - 1 Tony Win For Best Actress (Pauline Collins); 2 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

    • 1989 Film - 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Pauline Collins, Best Original Song)

24. Sleuth

    • 1970 Play - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 4 Tony Nominations

    • 1972 Film - 4 Oscar Nominations (Best Director, Best Actor - Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Best Original Score)

25. The Subject Was Roses

    • 1964 Play - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 5 Tony Nominations

    • 1968 Film - 1 Oscar Win (Best Supporting Actor - Jack Albertson); 2 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Patricia Neal)

26. Sunrise at Campobello

    • 1958 Play - 5 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 6 Tony Nominations

    • 1960 Film - 4 Oscar Nominations (Best Actress - Greer Garson, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound)

As one can see, there are many examples of Tony success not translating to Oscars. The most common occurrence is a Tony winning role becoming an Oscar nominated role. For example, Cynthia Nixon wins for the role of Becca in Rabbit Hole, but Nicole Kidman merely gets nominated for the same role at the Oscars. Some are even able to repeat their Tony wins. For example, both Jack Albertson (The Subject Was Roses) and Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) were in roles that won at the Tonys and Oscars. However, while their plays won Best Play at the Tonys, neither won Best Picture.

Talking specifically about August Wilson adaptations, one should look at Fences. Both the 1987 original play and the 2010 revival with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis were huge hits at the Tonys. The play and the roles of Troy and Rose Maxon also all won Tonys both times. When it came time to reward the film adaptation, it earned four key nominations. Unfortunately, it was unable to win Best Picture or Best Actor for Denzel Washington. Only Viola Davis was able to replicate her Tony success.

This provides an uphill battle for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Boseman and Davis are likely to repeat the Tony nominations their roles received. However, in this group there are no examples of performers winning the Oscar if they did not win the Tony. If Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom does not make it into Best Picture, it’s likely Boseman and Davis will not win in their categories.

Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys adaptation flopped critically and commercially, ending up with zero Oscar nominations.

Tony Nominated/Winning Plays That Earned Zero Oscar Nominations

1. American Buffalo (1975 Play; 1996 Film) - 2 Tony Nominations

2. As Is (1985 Play; 1986 Film) - 3 Tony Nominations

3. Brighton Beach Memoirs (1982 Play; 1986 Film) - 2 Tony Wins; 4 Tony Nominations

4. Dracula (1977 Revival; 1979 Film) - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Revival; 5 Tony Nominations

5. God of Carnage (2009 Play; 2011 Film) - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 6 Tony Nominations

6. The History Boys (2004 Play; 2006 Film) - 6 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 7 Tony Nominations

7. Jersey Boys (2006 Musical; 2014 Film) - 4 Tony Wins Including Best Musical; 8 Tony Nominations

8. Look Back in Anger (1956 Play; 1959 Film) - 3 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

9. Lost in Yonkers (1990 Play; 1993 Film) - 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

10. Love! Valour! Compassion! (1994 Play; 1997 Film) - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 5 Tony Nominations

11. Luv (1964 Play; 1967 Film) - 3 Tony Wins Including Best Director; 5 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

12. The Marriage-Go-Round (1958 Play; 1960 Film) - 1 Tony Win for Best Featured Actress (Julie Newmar); 2 Tony Nominations

13. The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (1963 Play; 1968 Film) - 1 Tony Nomination for Best Actress (Hermione Baddely)

14. ‘Night Mother (1983 Play; 1986 Film) - 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

15. Plaza Suite (1968 Play; 1971 Film) - 1 Tony Win Including Best Director; 3 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

16. Prelude to a Kiss (1988 Play; 1992 Film) - 2 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

17. A Raisin in the Sun (1959 Play; 1961 Film) - 4 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

18. The Ritz (1975 Play; 1976 Film) - 1 Tony Win for Best Featured Actress (Rita Moreno)

19. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966 Play; 1990 Film) - 4 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 8 Tony Nominations

20. The Seven Year Itch (1952 Play; 1955 Film) - 1 Tony Win for Best Actor (Tom Ewell)

21. That Championship Season (1972 Play; 1982 Film) - 2 Tony Wins Including Best Play; 5 Tony Nominations

22. Venus in Fur (2010 Play; 2013 Film) - 1 Tony Win for Best Actress (Nina Arianda); 2 Tony Nominations Including Best Play

With the reviews that Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami are getting, it is unlikely that they will receive zero Oscar nominations. However, it is important to note that Tony success does not guarantee Oscar success. There are more examples of Tony hits failing when adapted to film than there are film adaptations doing better than their Tony nominated predecessors. 

What’s really interesting to note is how many Tony winners of Best Play/Musical never see a single Oscar nomination. Clint Eastwood can’t just coast off the success of the Jersey Boys Broadway musical and sail to Oscar wins. If the movie doesn’t deliver the goods of the play, it will likely fall off from Oscar nominations. Other Tony winners of Best Play or Best Musical that saw zero Oscar nominations for their adaptation were as follows: God of Carnage, The Great White Hope, The History Boys, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and That Championship Season. All this just means, when you are doing year-in-advance predictions, do not automatically assume adaptations of Tony-winning plays or musicals will do well.

Right now, I’m predicting a strong nomination haul for both Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami. The strong reviews, well-timed streaming release, personal narratives and strange film year should all work in the favor for both films. However, stage to screen adaptations are more likely to not work, rather than work. These statistics hopefully add a grain of salt to how to factor in Tony success to future films.

How do you think Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami will do at the Oscars? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments

[Jaragon]

It's very tricky to make the transition from Broadway play/musical to film- sometimes its works sometimes it just sits there

[Raul]

When it comes to stage-to-screen adaptations, being a well-regarded stage production can be more of a disadvantage. The only recent best picture winner I can think of that was a play was "Moonlight," but that wasn't a well-known property before then.

[Alex]

Really interesting to look at this in terms of Best Director and the fact that a director hasn't been nominated for a play adaptation since Milos Forman's AMADEUS win.

Regina King's been high on a lot of folks' predictions from the get-go (and George C. Wolfe has hovered in the top 10), but even when an adaptation scores a Best Picture nomination like FENCES or A FEW GOOD MEN or CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD, the directors come up short. And certainly no lone director nominations.

CLOSER (with Picture/Director/Screenplay nominations at the Globes) and DOUBT (with its 4 acting nominations) probably would have made Best Picture in the expanded era, don't you think?

[Jamie]

The Prom is also on Netflix.

[Prajhan]

In The Great White Hope the movie James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander repeat the roles they played in the homonymous play, by Howard Sackler (also author of the script)and were nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor and Actress.

[thefilmjunkie]

I think both films will be recognized in some capacity. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom seems pretty safe for 2 acting noms (Boseman & Davis), maybe costumes and screenplay? My dream for One Night in Miami would be nominations in Picture, Director, Actor, Supp Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Costume Design.

Isn't The Father a stage adaptation as well? I'd love to read your thoughts on how that might perform, Nathaniel.

The timing of this post is funny, I just finished watching Same Time, Next Year (1978) which had the following awards trajectory:

1975 - 3 Tony noms/1 win for Ellen Burstyn in Best Actress
1979 - 4 Oscar noms (Actress, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Song).

[Marcel]

They'll do great despite being mediocre.

[par]

glaring omission

cabaret

1967 tonys: 8 wins from 11 nominations

1972 oscars: 8 wins from 10 nominations

[Tyler]

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1987) / Dangerous Liaisons (1988):

7 Tony nominations / 0 wins
7 Oscar nominations / 3 wins

[Rama]

The only thing worthy of an award win in Ma Rainey is Chadwick’s heartrending performance.

[Working stiff]

More Tennessee Williams:

The Glass Menagerie - seven Tony nominations including Best Actress/Featured Actress/Featured Actor, and one win (2014); one Tony nomination/Best Actress (2017); zero Oscar nominations (1950/1987)

The Rose Tattoo - three Tony wins including Best Featured Actress & Actor (1951); one Tony nomination/Featured Actress (1967); eight Oscar nominations including a Best Actress win

Sweet Bird of Youth - three Tony nominations including Best Actress (1959); one Tony win/Best Actress (1976); three Oscar nominations including a Best Supporting Actor win

Period of Adjustment (1960) - zero Tony/Oscar nominations, but a Golden Globe nod for Jane Fonda (Best Actress Comedy/Musical)

The Night of the Iguana (1961) - three Tony nominations including a Best Actress win (1962); four Oscar nominations including Best Supporting Actress

More Sondheim:

Gypsy - 26 Tony nominations across five productions including multiple acting nods, and three wins in Best Actress and one win each in Best Featured Actress/Actor; three Oscar nominations; and a Golden Globe win for Rosalind Russell (Best Actress Comedy/Musical)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - 15 Tony nominations across three productions including multiple acting nods, and three wins in Best Actor and two in Featured Actor; one Oscar win (Music/Scoring)

A Little Night Music - eleven Tony nominations including Actor & Featured Actor, and six wins including Actress & Featured Actress (1973); four Tony nominations including Featured Actress, and a Best Actress win (2010); two Oscar nominations/one win

Sweeney Todd - 19 Tony nominations across three productions including multiple acting nods, and one win each in Best Actress/Actor; three Oscar nominations including Best Actor

Into the Woods - ten Tony nominations including Featured Actor, and a Best Actress win (1988); ten Tony nominations including all four Acting categories (2002); three Oscar nominations including Best Supporting Actress

[Ian]

The Sound of Music
> Tony: 9 nominations, 5 wins
> Oscar: 10 nominations, 5 wins

[JW]

Les Miserables did better with Tony but still did good with Oscar.

[Peggy Sue]

This post is overwhelming! Way too much to comment.

[Jeff C.]

What about Dreamgirls?

[NewMoonSon]

The fact that A Raisin in the Sun didn't earn nods for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and its brilliant quartet (Poitier, McNeil, Dee, Sands) is still a tragedy. And how different cinema might look today had McNeil triumphed in Best Actress.

[Dan Humphrey]

On Golden Pond

Tonys, One Nomination and Win: Best Actress (Frances Sternhagen)

Oscars, Ten Nominations, Three wins (Actor, Actress, Screenplay).

[BFierce83]

Just for fun / to add:

THE WIZ
Broadway:
7 Tony Wins Including Best Musical... 8 Tony Nominations
Film:
4 Oscar Nominations... Craft Categories Only

I say this as an enormous fan of both properties. :-) Awesome post with pretty incredible stats pulled together!

[Ryan T.]

It won't happen but imagine if THE PROM gets more nominations than either MA RAINEY or MIAMI? Again, it's NOT going to happen but hey THE PROM got double the Tony nominations which MA RAINEY got.

[thevoid99]

Uh... where's Hello Dolly!?

[Connor]

In case anyone is wondering...

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom received 3 Tony nominations, Best Play, Best Actor and Best Actress. It lost all three categories. To my knowledge, the 2003 revival received no Tony nominations.

The Father received two Tony nominations, one for Best Play and then a win for Best Actor.

The Boys In The Band was not nominated for any Tonys when it first premiered, however the 2019 revival received two nominations, one for Best Supporting Actor and then a win for Best Revival.

Neither One Night In Miami nor Pieces Of A Woman actually made it to Broadway, and so neither of them received a Tony nomination.

Finally, The Prom received seven Tony nominations, for Best Musical, Best Direction, Best Actor, Best Actress x2, Best Book, and Best Score. It lost in all categories.

[Jesus Alonso]

"Hairspray" (6 Tonys out of 17 nominations) has to be one of the most puzzling cases in transferring to Oscars... the film got unanimous raves, was a huge box office hit and did perform well enough in precursors (noms at Globes and SAG Ensemble)... it was top-notch on everything (Costume, Production Design, Acting, Song-writting, etc) and earned ZERO Oscar nominations.

Still puzzled why.. it is one of the very best film musicals ever. It is even better than Chicago and Moulin Rouge!, when you consider everything.

[Jesus Alonso]

Correction: 6 Tonys out of 13 nominations.

[Rashelle]

Wilson's plays are a log

[Bora Jiden]

The Music Man (1957) 8 Tony nominations/ 6 awards including Best Musical and Leading Actor

The Music Man (1962) 6 Oscar nominations including Best Picture /1 award

Fiddler on the Roof (1964). 10 Tony nominations/.9 awards including Best Musical

Fiddler on the Roof (1971) 8 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Diretor and Actor/ 3 awards [was the highest-grossing film of the year]

[Dan Humphrey]

I remember everyone liking, but not particularly loving HAIRSPRAY, Jesus. When it came up short at the Oscars, except for the Travolta "snub", most people weren't particularly surprised. At least that's how I remember it.

[Tom Q]

Just to note that much of the reason West Side Story and Chicago did so much better at the Oscars than at the Tonys is the competition they faced in the Broadway contests:

West Side Story fell to The Music Man, which was a hugely popular show in its day, and had double the run of West Side Story. West Side was a groundbreaking show, and not infrequently the Tonys prefer something more mainstream, especially if it's as broadly popular (critically and commercially) as The Music Man was.

And Chicago lost to A Chorus Line, which was the most critically-praised musical of the decade AND had a record-breaking long run. Losing in that context was like losing to Hamilton: sheer bad luck at coming up against a juggernaut.

[Working stiff]

@ Tom Q

Plus the original production of Chicago was ahead of its time, underrated, underappreciated and there was a bit of Fosse fatigue (it followed the successes of Lenny, Pippin, Liza with a Z and Cabaret). Aficionados adored it, but some critics and audiences were clueless.

[Jesus Alonso]

Dan, the sensation back then, was that Hairspray wasn't Oscar material (I kind of agree) thanks to the John Waters' pedigree origin. Probably a similar situation on why Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors scored only 2 nominations (which were kind of undeniable, Song and Visual Effects) but no wins, back in 86.

I think the camp factor (which is used as a weapon, by the way) erode all chances of Hairspray breaking into any field... but all things considered, it was a no brainer that it should have scored nominations for Costume, Production Design, Film Editing, Supporting Actor and Make Up at the very least... quite easily. Anything, you know. If I remember correctly, it was a film with almost no enemies (beyond those who cringed to Travolta's performance) and it is still puzzling why zero noms. It had the reviews, the audience feedback, guilds love and box-office...plus it was poignant in its themes...

I still think it was the most perfect film of 2007, and yes, over There will be Blood and No Country for Old Men, and a perfect example on how to adapt a stage play/musical to the film screen, exploiting every single possibility of the medium.

[Paranoid Android]

I still think it was the most perfect film of 2007, and yes, over There will be Blood and No Country for Old Men

Let's not go nuts.

[Bora Jiden]

Tom Q,
Movie version of WST was considered better than the stage one; director Robert Wise made some changes that pleased the critics who knew the Broadway version. Who saw the musical after having loved the motion picture at the time, agreed that the latter improved the original material. In addition, the musical was not as successful as the later revivals. As said Stephen Sondheim, the film made the show important, not the other way around.

[cal roth]

What about Oliver!?

[Laquifa]

So weird how the black plays are so electric on stage yet almost universally meh on film. Hurts my black girl magic soul.

[Arkaan]

Hmmm....

I think the decline of the play adaptation runs parallel with the rise of the young Turks. A quick count of the best picture nominees has the below numbers adapted from stage shows(and acknowledging that I might have got some sequencing stuff wrong).

1950's: 13
1960s: 15
1970s: 2
1980s: 5
1990s: 1
2000s: 1
2010s: 4

Some are undeniably stage adjacent but not adaptations (War Horse, The Artist). And if you were to go in the other direction, I suspect you'd see the number of Tony/Olivier nominees (One Night in Miami was nominated for the Olivier Award, fwiw) based on movies to an absurd degree.

As more playwrights move to television, I wonder if we'll see the boundaries between the stage and screen get a little more permeable on this side of the ocean. I also do wonder if we eventually see adaptations of works like Fun Home or plays by James Graham or Lucy Kirkwood if we'll see numbers, if not like in the 50s and 60s, then more than the barely any we've gotten recently.

Heck, Denzel Washington is trying to get all August Wilson's plays to the big screen alone could see four or five best picture nominees.

[Charlie]

Great article and stats.

[Nicole E. Best]

Thanks for the comparisons and this great compilation! I like both films and plays! But plays always were a great attraction for me as you can't replay or re-record the scene again, and you have to play in front of the live audience. In some way, it is always a new challenge and a new play every time. I am keen on plays and at the https://samplius.com/free-essay-examples/plays/ website, you can find a lot of samples and thoughts about different famous plays.