Editing Tony Awards (section)

===Rules for a new play or musical===
For the purposes of the award, a new play or musical is one that has not previously been produced on Broadway and is not "determined… to be a 'classic' or in the historical or popular repertoire", as determined by the Administration Committee (per Section (2g) of the Rules and Regulations).<ref name=rules/> The rule about "classic" productions was instituted by the Tony Award Administration Committee in 2002, and stated (in summary) "A play or musical that is determined ... to be a 'classic' or in the historical or popular repertoire shall not be eligible for an award in the Best Play or Best Musical Category but may be eligible in that appropriate Best Revival category."<ref>Gans, Andrew; Simonson, Robert (September 19, 2002). [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/72186-New-Tony-Awards-Ruling-on-Classic-Texts-May-Affect-Current-and-Upcoming-Shows "New Tony Awards Ruling on Classic Texts May Affect Current and Upcoming Shows"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928024548/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/72186-New-Tony-Awards-Ruling-on-Classic-Texts-May-Affect-Current-and-Upcoming-Shows |date=September 28, 2013 }}.  ''[[Playbill]]''.  Retrieved September 13, 2013.</ref> Shows transferred from [[Off-Broadway]] or the [[West End theatre|West End]] are eligible as "new", as are productions based closely on films.

This rule has been the subject of some controversy, as some shows, such as ''[[Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)|Hedwig and the Angry Inch]]'' and ''[[Violet (musical)|Violet]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2014/04/tonys-hedwig-violet-ineligible-best-musical-category-720036/|title=Tony Bosses Declare Broadway Debutantes 'Violet' & 'Hedwig' Ineligible For Best Musical Category|last=Gerard|first=Jeremy|date=April 25, 2014 |website=Deadline |language= en}}</ref> have been ruled ineligible for the "new" category, meaning that their authors did not have a chance to win the important awards of Best Play or Best Musical (or Best Score or Best Book for musicals). On the other hand, some people{{Who|date=April 2011}} feel that allowing plays and musicals that have been frequently produced to be eligible as "new" gives them an unfair advantage because they will have benefited from additional development time as well as additional familiarity with the Tony voters.