{"podcast":{"title":"Broadway Breakdown","slug":"broadway-breakdown-224933","podcast_index_feed_id":224933,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/5180103.rss","website_url":"https://bwaybreakdown.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/5180103/51fb47cc9d6a6b1047d753f00e814b08.jpg","author":"Matt Koplik","episode_count":333,"summary":"Matt Koplik is the most opinionated, foul-mouthed, and passionate theatre geek with access to a mic. Every week, Matt and a guest explore Broadway history by diving into the careers of the artists who shaped it.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/broadway-breakdown-224933"},"episode":{"title":"Tony Awards 2026: What's Changed w/ Sam Eckmann","slug":"tony-awards-2026-what-s-changed-w-sam-eckmann","published_at":"2026-04-09T04:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/broadway-breakdown-224933/tony-awards-2026-what-s-changed-w-sam-eckmann","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/broadway-breakdown-224933","url":"https://bwaybreakdown.substack.com/p/tony-awards-2026-whats-changed-w","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/193476767/00e820874e7209832377ad9f9c73cfa3.mp3","summary":"As the 2025/2026 barrels towards the finish line, Matt is joined by Breakdown fave Sam Eckmann (Gold Derby) to discuss how this year’s Tony race has changed. From a surprisingly thin Best Musical field to a hyper-competitive Play Revival race, they explore how industry sentiment, voter behavior, and late-season openings could reshape the narrative in the final stretch. If you think you know where the Tonys are headed… think again. Important Links Revue-ing the 2025/2026 Season: Green Room 42 Tix The (Slightly Early) Tony Awards Show: Green Room 42 Tix Sam Eckmann: Gold Derby Broadway Breakdown: Discord Broadway Breakdown: Substack Guest bio Sam Eckmann is an awards expert and contributor at Gold Derby, where he covers Broadway, film, and television races with a sharp eye for trends and voter psychology. A frequent Tony Awards predictor, Sam brings both data-driven insight and deep theater knowledge to the Broadway Breakdown universe. Timestamps * 0:00 – Intro + framing the 2026 Tony race * 2:00 – Best Musical: a weak frontrunner year? * 6:00 – Why Two Strangers leads—but isn’t unbeatable * 9:00 – The “original score vs. jukebox” debate * 14:00 – Musical Revival showdown: Ragtime vs. Cats: The Jellicle Ball * 29:00 – Play Revival: the most competitive category of the season * 40:00 – Lead Actor (Play): crowded field, shifting frontrunners * 45:00 – Director (Musical): why this race is wide open * 50:00 – Will The Queen of Versailles still show up on nomination morning? * 1:00:00 – Can comedy win? The Titanique question * 1:08:00 – Lead Actress (Play): stacked, messy, unpredictable * 1:14:00 – Final predictions in flux + shows to watch before nominations * 1:18:00 – Closing thoughts + diva send-off Listener discussion questions * In a year with no clear Best Musical jugg…","meta_description":"As the 2025/2026 barrels towards the finish line, Matt is joined by Breakdown fave Sam Eckmann (Gold Derby) to discuss how this year’s Tony race has chang…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4828,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/broadway-breakdown-224933/episodes/tony-awards-2026-what-s-changed-w-sam-eckmann/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/broadway-breakdown-224933/tony-awards-2026-what-s-changed-w-sam-eckmann.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}