Blogging the Tonys

It's really silly how much I look forward to the Tonys every year. I have seen exactly one show on Broadway in my life -- Rent, many years ago (that may have been 1996, that horrible trip during which David died at home). I don't know Broadway stars, as a general rule. Not only do I not recognize them, I don't even know their names.

Yet, I love this show. I think it's one of the classiest of the big award shows, and so I was looking forward to the Tonys all week. And, as I did the Oscars, I decided to blog the Tonys. Here goes...

Loved the opening number. Not exactly tongue in cheek...more a statement of fact ("theater isn't for gays any more"). And, face it, Neil Patrick Harris can do anything.

Interesting that most of the nominees for supporting actress came from television. Ellen Barkin gave a wonderful speech. I wonder if The Normal Heart is going to sweep the awards for straight plays (harkening back to the opening number).

LOVED seeing Robert Morse and Matthew Broderick introducing Daniel Radcliffe in the number from How to Succeed.... Talk about the torch being passed! Watching "Brotherhood of Man" makes it clear that Radcliffe can certainly do more than ride a quiddich broom!

Hmmm...I don't remember seeing a stand-up routine in a Tony Show. Not that I don't like John Leguizamo, but aren't shows usually too LONG? Do they really need to pad it?

Yep. John Benjamin Hickey takes the award forThe Normal Heart. (This is a play about the early days of the AIDS epidemic, written by Larry Kramer, who founded ACT UP in 1987 and is credited for "bringing drugs to market that now make it possible for millions of HIV-positive people to live reasonably normal lives"*). With Joel Grey as one of the directors of this production, I guess it's not surprising that it's winning the awards. Hickey also gives an impassioned speech, reminding people that after all these years, "the war is not over."

Lessee...I missed a couple of things while I was getting dinner on the table, but other directors won, not the ones for The Normal Heart. I had to giggle when both forgot to thank their spouses and each did it for the other! Oh yeah--and first win for the directors of The Book of Morman. Is this hinting at a sweep for that favorite?

They say Scottsboro Boys has closed on Bdwy and is going on tour...but it's not on the schedule for our Broadway Series next seasion, darn it.

Angela Lansbury must not be able to read a teleprompter, since she read her information off of cards. And even then stumbled over some of the words.

I can't help it. I just LOVE it when young actresses like Nikki M. James get so excited and emotional about winning (The Book of Mormon).

OK...the Hugh Jackman/Neil P. Harris duet was great. I loved it. I love song parodies anyway.

Oh so glad John Larouquette won the Tony for best supporting actor in a musical. I've liked him ever since the Night Court days.

Sorry, but the song from Spiderman was a yawner. It certainly didn't make me want to pay ridiculous prices to see it (though I did love the 30 seconds of Spiderman jokes that Neil P. Harris delivered!)

Robin Williams: "the only beard here is on my face. What a nice night." LOL.

The scene from Sister Act was fun...I love that scene in the movie, but it was fun to see it with different people in the roles. The woman playing Delores was ok, but no Whoopie Goldberg.

And man...that horse in War Horse almost makes me forget the animals in Lion King. What a magnificent piece of engineering! So glad it won the award as best play (can you imagine the problems people would be having for years and years to come if the award had gone to The Motherf*cker with the Hat?)

No surprise that The Book of Mormon won for best book, or that The Normal Heart won for best revival. Larry Kramer says "To gay people, The Normal Heart is our history. I could not have written it if so many of us had not died." Very touching.

Oh I'm such a emotional person--had to sniffle when the cast of Memphis danced with the students in the aisles of the theater.

As Joel Grey ages, he looks more and more like a perfect leprechaun. Which is a good thing.

Wow...Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones--now THERE's theater royalty for you! and Christie Brinkley does her Farrah Fawcett imitation. :(

I want to know who was in the cast of that great Side by Side number. I saw several familiar faces, including John Cryer and Stephen Colbert.

Anything Goes wins best revival. Still a fun show asfter all these years. Funny thing, but I don't remember that much tap dancing in the Davis Senior High School production that David was in (or, for that matter, in the Davis Musical Theater Company production!) Nice that Sutton Foster won for Best Actress in a musical. Loved her tearful farewell to her dresser for the past 9 years.

Tyne Daly is starting to look like Bea Arthur. Not sure it's such a great idea to have someone long in the tooth introduce the "in memoriam" section, though that section never fails to elicit a few tears.

I just love that Frances McDormand wore a Levi jacket over a formal gown and, perhaps, no make-up. Seems like a very nice human being. Good on her for winning Best Actress.

Well, the Best Actor in a play was certainly a surprise. I figured it would be a toss-up between the guy in The Normal Heart and Al Pacino in Merchant of Venice. But instead it went to a guy I'd never heard of (Mark Rylance) for Jerusalem. Best actor in a musical was also a surprise. Instead of going to the guy from Book of Mormon it went to Leo Butz (another actor I'd never heard of ) for Catch Me If You Can.

Shocking that Daniel Radcliffe wasn't even nominated as best actor for musical, but this L.A. Times article explains the omissions in the nominations. (His was not the only critically acclaimed performce to be ignored by the nominating committee.)

No surprise---Book of Mormon won best musical.

So it's now over (and on TIME too!) and I can post this annual blogging of the Tonys. Now...when are the Emmys...?

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*from an entry in Steve's Living in the Bonus Round.