Speaking of class, did anybody catch the preshow, moved from its usual place on PBS to the TV Guide Channel?
It used to be a few still photos taken as the actors went in, a few REAL questions that showed a familiarity with the actor’s past (and current) roles, not to mention familiarity with the integral players such as directors, choreographers, and playwrights who don’t typically appear on stage, and generally a pretty classy affair heading to the door.
TV Guide tried making NYC into LA. Tacky, glitzy. Big Red Carpet. Bubbleheaded Red Carpet Correspondents who would only interview actors who, according to their own start, we know from their roles on TV and in Film. And then, interview them badly. Stock acting questions (So, are there are preshow rituals you need to do? What is it like working eight shows a week? Do you like Stage or Screen better?) as well as horrible followups and absences thereof. I half expected actors in La Cage Aux Folles to be asked about its similarities to The Birdcage as if it was some brilliant association the interviewer had dreamt up all by their lonesome. Oh, and of course, “Who are you wearing?”
And brought to you by Saab. Don’t forget, that’s Saab. Saab, dangit!
I was delighted that Sara Ramirez won, but she was acting pretty weird at first…then she said something about Claritin? And why did she not just get the dress in the next larger size? It matters not how lovely your gown is if you detract from it by constant yanking.
I watched the whole thing and afterwards, wondered why.
The awards were all over the map…it was like they felt they had to give every show at least something. How can a show win Best Musical and basically win nothing else at all? Not book, not choreography, not music, not actor…but hotdamn, they are the Best Musical!
And the Hugh Jackman “dance number” was, uh, not a whole lot of dancing. I have seen football players do more, and fancier, footwork going from the 3rd to the 4th yard line.
They really should spend more time doing scenes from the shows instead of trite filler…and h.sapiens, I think you are right and they sort of missed Jerry Orbach…and if anybody was Mr. Broadway, I mean…give me a break.
Anybody reading this and upset that they missed the show…well, of all the years I have been watching, this was the one year you could have missed and missed absolutely zip, nada, nichts, zilch, nothing.
I’m positive Orbach was in last year’s–no way they would’ve overlooked him with his L&O co-star singing his song!
Here’s a tally of the winners:
6: The Light in the Piazza 4: Doubt 3: Monty Python’s Spamalot 2: La Cage Aux Folles, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Pillowman, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee 1: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Rivals, 700 Sundays, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Orbach died in December, so he wouldn’t have been in last year’s. His picture was clearly included in the montage, but his name never made it to the CBS screen, for some reason.
I haven’t seen nearly enough live theater (Hair, Fiddler, Angry Housewives, and some community stuff) so I always look forward to the Tonys.
It’s live! That’s what gets me, that these productions are done continuously – live. No edits, retakes, etc. I’m amazed at the stamina and talent of everyone involved.
I’m also (usually) surprised at TV and movie performers who’ve done live theater. I assume they prefer live theater, and I wonder if they look at TV and movies as a necessary/temporary activity, to pay the bills, or if they believe work is work, and it’s all good. ??
Did you guys see the CSI commercial? The one where the writer took his work home? Cute.
Part of the schtick of SPELLING BEE is that they choose three people from the audience to be spellers. I loved sticking Sharpton in as a little Easter Egg for us last night.
SPELLING BEE is terrific. . . but so is SPAMALOT and I loved DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS! Norbert Leo Butz is fabulous and deserved his Tony. I haven’t seen LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, so I can’t comment.
The Tony show got draggy in parts. . . and Aretha Franklin made my ears hurt. But I was pretty happy with the results. (And I LOVE Hugh Jackman!)
I only got to New York once this past year, and the only show I saw was “Glengarry Glen Ross.” I was glad to see it win some awards- but while Liev Schreiber was very good as Ricky Roma, and was a perfectly solid choice for the award, I was rooting for Gordon Clapp, who managed to turn his scenes with Jeffrey Tambor into an uproariously funny Abbott & Costello-style routine.
The current Broadway production of “Glengarry” is far more explicitly comical than the movie version, which I also loved. But whereas the movie was serious with some hilarious lines, the current play is almost like a Neil Simon production with a lot of cursing.
It was fascinating how well a play’s text could work with such different interpretations. Mamet’s words worked equally well as grim tragedy or as flat out farce.
Actually, Jerry Orbach’s photo was the very last one that they showed, but because of poor direction, the camera work and the singer/dancer for the next act were cued wrong and he began to sing too soon. The singer had to begin his intro twice. He was standing in front of a photo of Jerry Orbach, but you wouldn’t notice because it only showed Jerry from the chin down.
RE: Applegate in Sweet Charity - saw her in it when it came to Minneapolis. She’s cute, and she did okay, but you’re left with an overall feeling of “meh.” It’s not very good. It’s absolutely the show’s fault, not the actors - it’s a pretty poor vehicle for any talent.
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