Consider this the one, then.
I’m still watching and marshalling my thoughts. Talk amongst yerselves…
I’m not sure how I feel about the Aladdin song…it’s like they tried to actually script a Robin Williams drug-fueled improv session and got more Rip Taylor than Robin Williams.
NPH’s Hedwig is awesome. If I were going to see one show, it would be that one with that cast.
Forgot Audra! I love Audra! I could listen to her sing the phone book. So happy she got her sixth!
Setting a record at that! I love Audra and I’m very happy for her. Actually, I’d have been happy to see any of the women nominated for best actor in a play win tonight. I have a soft spot for Tyne Daly, though.
Well, that was not surprising. He’s playing an awesome Hedwig.
I’m pretty happy with all the wins tonight. How awesome was it to see Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell together on the stage again?
What? We had two songs from shows that have not yet appeared on Broadway yet no songs from at least one (Bridges of Madison County) show that has been on Broadway?
Hubby and I went to see Audra McDonald and Bryan Cranston in their respective winning plays at Easter and I have to say these wins were so well deserved. Audra is just an incredible singer, she gave me chills as Billie Holiday. I didn’t think that julliard trained soprano could pull off the greatest of jazz singers but she did it, magnificently.
And Bryan Cranston made me have sympathy for LBJ no mean feat! He was excellent. What a masterful acting tour de force.
Don’t know the other plays but I want to see Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
Yeah, just from the one number from GG that I saw has made me want the soundtrack.
So pleased with Audra and Jessie Mueller’s wins.
[brag] I directed Jessie in a play in high school! [/brag]
I missed Neil Patrick Harris as host. Obviously Jackman is no slouch, and the ladies clearly love him (many of the boys too, presumably), but Harris was just born to host the Tonys. It’s a shame that he was essentially disqualified, being an actual nominee.
He deserved the win, too. I saw his Hedwig last week, and it was a blast! (Though my wife–the real theatre maven of the family–did not love Lena Hall’s Yitzhak, finding her insufficiently manly.)
The whole Tony show seemed a bit off to me, a bit half-assed. Not the numbers, but the show in general. WTF with the bouncing intro? The whole thing seemed cheesy–which you might say in answer what do you expect from the Tonys?–but the past couple ones just seemed more clever and a bit more meta. And again that might be down to Neil Patrick Harris’ influence.
NPH was a great host, Jackman is very talented, but for me NPH has a real edgy delivery and his opening number was a show stopper last season. Speaking of show stoppers, my all time favorite musical number from the Tony’s was Michael Jeter in Grand Hotel. He was just an amazing dancer and entertainer, and back in 1990 they used to give a bit of a synopsis of the nominated shows. This made me want book a ticket to broadway
I saw A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder last year at Christmas, choosing it primarily because I’d seen it listed online as one of the best shows one could expect to get reasonably-priced last-minute tickets for. I was glad to see that it got so many Tony nominations and the Best Musical award, because I really enjoyed it. The songs and performances were great, and I thought it was very funny as well.
The musical is based on the 1949 Alex Guinness movie Kind Hearts and Coronets, or on the novel that inspired the movie, and follows basically the same plot although there are some new characters and new plot twists in the musical.
I thought that was very stupid. At one point Jackman passed a monitor showing someone else bouncing so I assumed it had something to do with a popular YouTube video. But since I had never seen or heard of such a video the humor was lost on me.
I also was perplexed by the intro unless it was:
Jackman is Australian - Australia has kangaroos - kangaroos hop - Jackman will hop into the theater.
In that case it was just weak.
The bouncing thing was an homage to Bobby Van’s “Take Me to Broadway” from Small Town Girl. Some other awards show did it last year, too, albeit in a much lesser way.
I really thought they missed a coup with using the current cast for the 10th Anniversary tribute for Wicked. They already had Idina performing. How hard would it have really been to invite Kristen to restage the ORIGINAL “For Good”? Hell, Kristen performs the song every time she’s onstage. That disappointed me.
ETA: Then again, I can see Idina not wanting to go through makeup nightmare just for a 3 minute song. I still think it would have been epic.
THEY DID NOT BROADCAST THE IN MEMORIAN SEQUENCE! How could they omit that?
Kudos to Audra–I first took note of her in the 1994 revival of Carousel. I still have the Playbill, autographed by “Audra Ann McDonald.” I just knew she was destined for stardom.
Similar prediction: Keep the name “Nikki M. James” in your brain. Her four lines as Eponine in the Les Miz number stole that song.
Bridges of Madison County got best score? Are you shitting me?
Sting should not be allowed near Broadway.
And big kudos to Neil Patrick Harris. He is a star.
Speaking of NPH, the opening number (hop, hop, hop, hop, hop…) was tedious. Guess they knew they could never compete with last year’s opening. The best opening number for an awards show ever.
I think they were smart to put the current performers on. To me, it said, “yes, its been on Broadway for 10 years, but the current cast is still quite good. See? hear for yourself.”
I haven’t seen a Tonys in a while, but was that ever a regular thing?
At least the Tonys are starting to get respect. Remember when CBS threatened to end the telecast at 11 PM Eastern, even if the presenter for Best Musical was in the middle of, “And the Tony goes to”?