The 63rd annual Tony Awards are tonight at 8/7c on CBS, Neil Patrick Harris hosts!
So it looks like we have a pretty good lineup of appearances and performances this year, and seriously who can complain about NPH? My only hope is that he gets a chance to show off his pretty amazing voice, an opening sketch/musical performance perhaps?
Is anyone else planning to catch the show?
And here’s the nominees list in case anyone wants to venture a guess at any of the outcomes
I’ll definitely be watching: between being a theatre major and watching way too much How I Met Your Mother, this show is pretty much tailor-made for me to enjoy. But I’m on the west coast so I have to be careful to avoid spoilers.
I don’t have any predictions, only hopes, on winners: I really want Jessica Hynes to win for featured actress play, and Dolly Parton to win for Score. I don’t think I’ve actually heard anything nominated for score, and know next-to-nothing about the play Jessica Hynes is in, but I like the idea of them winning anyway.
Ooooh, thanks for the reminder. 
Thanks for the heads up!
I love this show and the acceptance speeches are usually borderline high-camp, over-the-top performance pieces.
I’ll be watching - my niece is performing! She’s a dancer in Rock of Ages. Unlikely it will win anything, but way cool to see her getting her Broadway break. And she’s taking my sister along as her “date”, since her SO is in the cast and therefore already has his own ticket. My sister is so jazzed. That’s one daughter performing at the Tony’s and another third runner up a few years ago at Miss America. Not bad for a single mom who pulled it together with waitressing and low-level clerk jobs.
Okay, time to stop the bragging - not like I had much to do with any of it, although I did teach them to dance when they were kids - they were better than me in about three minutes.
BTW, for those who are interested, the 20th anniversary of the show Forever Plaid is being shown at your local multiplex (Fandango production) on July 9th!
Learn more here.
That was seriously the best opening number I’ve seen in recent years. It’s a great year for the first time since 2004, we’re in for a treat tonight:)
Dammit dammit dammit - helluva time for a tornado and hailstorm warning. I’m off to the basement. This sucks.
Okay, it’s a really bad time to be trying to access the Internet Broadway Database…
Who played Lord Farquhar in the Shrek scene? The voice was so familiar but I’m in the other room listening to the show, so I couldn’t tell who it was.
I have to admit, if that was their best song in the show, it really didn’t grab me.
The “Guys and Dolls” number. That’s admirable professionalism. His mike was kaput but he takes the hand mike and doesn’t let it throw him. It’s just a good thing that number didn’t require him to do anything with both hands.
Lord Farquaad is Christopher Sieber, and no that is not the best song from the show, none of Farquaad’s songs are standout. it’s really perplexing that they picked it as their showpiece.
I was wondering why that Guys & Dolls performance seemed kind of off, until the end at least. Neat.
My only real complaint so far is that they are criminally underusing their host as usual. What’s the point of having someone so talented helm the thing if we barely see him do anything?
Yes, they actually stated the actor between the time I posted the question and the time I checked the thread again. And I was sitting here, thinking “that name sounds awfully familiar”. Then I remembered that he played the olfactory expert who got blown up in an episode of Pushing Daisies.
This show is always a treat for me, since it’s my only exposure to Broadway shows. In my whole life I’ve seen two touring productions (Fiddler and Hair) and Broadway is one reason I envy New Yorkers.
Of course that means most of the jokes go right over my head.
Can someone explain how the dancers learn their routines? Are their names for the different movements, like in ballet? Do they watch a choreographer? It seems incredibly complicated.
“Hair”, wow! I stay to heck with the rest of the Tony’s, just let the tribe keep rockin’!
Yes Hair really blew it out of the water, and I guess Alice Ripley really takes the cake for high-camp over the top acceptance speeches tonight:)
That’s a good question. Is it still like that stretch of “One” where the music becomes an underlay to the dancers’ mental count? Was it ever actually like that? Considering how much of A Chorus Line came straight out of the dancers’ mouths, I’d guess that it was accurate, at least.
Ha! Loved that “closing number”!
Except for the sound problems, this is an amazing opening sequences. INANE COMMENTARY TIME:
WSS/Guys and Dolls mash-up was BRILLIANT.
It’s weird to see Poison at the Tony Awards, but there you are. Was that Constantine Maroulis introducing them? I saw him as Roger in a touring show of Rent before he was even on American Idol, so I feel proud of him.
I don’t anything about Next to Normal, but I like this kid who’s singing at Stockard Channing.
Shrek- not so excited for this. The choreography feels sort of like Generic Finale 2.3 or something.
DOLLY PARTON! Allison Janney! I need the cast recording.
Have I ever seen Liza Minelli in a non-sparkly shirt (excluding movies she’s been in)? I feel like even Lucille 2 wore sparkly stuff.
(Ann Hathaway is so adorable.)
Hair: I love how excited everyone is. And they’re throwing flowers! And Liza and Elton and everyone else! This is what makes theatre so amazing.
That closing number raised the thought in my mind that Neil Patrick Harris and at least one songwriter had to know the winners a little while in advance to prepare and rehearse those lyrics. Great job.
I always feel like the Tony’s is the best of the televised award shows I watch and tonight was no exception. I thought, sound problems aside, that this was a hell of a show. And this coming from a straight guy.
Yes the closing number was great fun, and finally a chance for NPH to sing which is what i was rooting for all along. It fit in with their apparent newfound tactic to including more musical performances than normal in order to attract a more casually interested audience. And yes, the kids from Billy Elliot really were that adorable.
Overal it was as good a show as I could have hoped with many standout moments and exactly what I expected in terms of award results. Fun stuff. Now go see a Broadway show:D