Sunday, June 7, 2009

Tony, Tony, Tony!


Some real time thoughts about this years Tony Awards. I'm calling it first: Billy Elliot wins. Okay, here we go!
A 5,6,7,8...!

-And Elton John's mic is off. Love it. Great dress rehearsal everyone, see you at the show.
Will Aaron Tveit ever stop touching himself when he "acts"?
Liza made the high note. Didn't see that coming.
This was a great opening number. Love the HAIR ending, but not crazy about Gavin Creel's Hair.

-Neil Patrick Harris in a pleather suit. Can he please host everything? Oscars? Emmys? He's amazing.

-Angela Lansbury, such a gem. And truly touched. 5 Tonys and she's still caught off gaurd.

-Mamma Mia? Really? Again? Couldn't they have at least called Tony and Rob?

-Next To Normal - I didn't stand at the end, but total props to Kitt for a great score. Very deserved. Lyrics, however....
Why did they cut off Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey? They let Roger Robinson go on and on.

-Is Lin Manuel Miranda gay? How did I miss that lisp during In The Heights?

-Liza, another gem. The shoulder shake reminds me of Ray Jivoff. They try to play Liza off, but she's not having any of it. She just uses the incidental music to build her speech all the way to the end. A true star.

-Oliver Platt tells us the plot of Guys and Dolls. Another minute that could have gone to Tom Kitt's acceptance speech.
Another mic not working. Who is running these mics??? Wow, that guy is, apparently.
Literally running.

-Quick story about Rock of Ages - I was there at the beginning of that show. The first workshop in LA? I played piano for the auditions. No joke. Had no clue it would go this far. Kudos.

-John Stamos in Bye, Bye Birdie?? Hmm...

-Oh my god...it's Jaba the Hut! No wait...I mean, Princess Leia. Yikes.

-Damn it. I didn't get Neil's sushi joke. I hate being out of the loop.

-Geoffrey Rush wins his first Tony award for EXIT THE KING. I so wish I could have seen this. Best speech so far.

-In Memoriam: What I Did For Love...totally gonna cry. Bea Arthur, ugh. Eartha Kitt. George Furth. Paul Newman. It's moments like this that I remember how much I love the theatre, and how nothing, truly nothing, comes close to the experience of being a part of a great play or musical, and to go out there night after night and try again and again to get it right, or as close to right as you can get it.

-What is Frank Langella doing? I'm sure this is funny to someone, but how self-indulgent.

-I really wish I could've gotten in to see Billy Elliot. Those kids...so much freakin' talent.

-Legally Blonde. I'm glad they're playing more songs from shows that didn't win Tonys. Yay.

-"They are the actor equivalent of Rodger Federer." Sadly, no one in the audience got the sports reference.

-Angela giving Jerry Herman his Tony. Talk about a gem. "It doesn't get any better than this." It doesn't get any better than him. I've been compared to Mr. Herman, but mostly in personality and, unfortunately, stature. I'm...honored?

-I love when Neil makes straight jokes. Anne Hathaway is apparently at a rave. "What's up RADIO CITY!!!"

-HAIR has got to be the most exciting revival broadway has seen in a while. Jay Johnson scored so big. And it just won a Tony. Rock out. "Peace Now. Freedom Now. Equality Now. Justice Forever." Beautiful.

-Hmm. Alice Ripley. Not sure about that.

-Oh, boy. The 3 Billy's are going to share a speech. Can't WAIT for this. They get laughs for all the sisters. Love it. Aww...I think they weren't finished, but at least they got the important thank you's out.

-And the Tony goes to....

BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL!

--Neil's closing number: icing on the cake. Love it. He's stupid awesome.

And goodnight.

3 comments:

Kim said...

Yes, NPH is stupid awesome. I'm trying to figure out how/when they wrote that last number...did they write (and did he learn) several versions? Did they write it quickly backstage as the night went on? I loved it. And those Billy Elliot boys...so precious.

BT said...

I wondered the SAME thing about NPH's last song.

Part of me thinks different versions were written.

But part of me wonders if the Tony's aren't so top-secret as, say, the Oscars. I mean the Oscars makes SUCH a big deal each year of HOW secret they are. The tony's often seem somewhat expected.

The world may never know.

BT said...

Or maybe the world will know....