Once, Broadway news and gossip was limited to the newspaper columns of a boldfaced few. But the Internet has made Walter Winchells of us all.

When Neil Simon dissed Mary Tyler Moore, he wasn’t just being nasty. The onetime king of Broadway seemed hell-bent on revenge—against failure.

The eight Tony nominees for Best New Play and Musical prove nothing if not this: Broadway is more escapist than ever. It’s been a long time since Angels in America.