By Logan Culwell-Block

Bad news for theatre fans looking forward to an Elphaba v. Ginda rematch at next year’s Academy Awards. According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, Universal has asked that the upcoming movie musical’s stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, be eligible in different categories, Erivo in Leading Actress for her performance as Elphaba and Grande in Supporting Actress for her performance as Glinda. At the 2004 Tony Awards, original stage stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel famously both received nominations in the Leading category, with Menzel ending up with the award.

Studios participating in Academy Award (along with other film accolades) category designations is not unusual, and the same is true for the Tony Awards. While there are rules designating actors as leading or supporting based on how they’re billed in the opening night Playbill, productions frequently request designations that depart from those rules. Accepting those requests is the job of the Tony Awards Administration Committee, which almost always grants them. If they didn’t, shows like Hamilton, which has always billed its entire company alphabetically in one block, would not have had any eligible leading or supporting performances. More recently, Eddie Redmayne was deemed eligible for Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance in the current revival of Cabaret, as was Alan Cumming for his Tony-winning turn in the 1998 revival; despite the role’s originator, Joel Grey, winning in the Featured category in 1967. Whether or not these requests are made strategically to increase the likelihood of an actor winning a category is not something producers like to talk about on record.