The Annual Tony Awards - General Discussion

[DollEyes]

My verdict: it was great. This year's Tonys was both a tribute to and a much-needed distraction from the Orlando massacre. James Corden was wonderful. His tribute to Orlando was flawless, as was his calling the Tonys "the Oscars with diversity." The opening number was fun, as were "Carpool Karaoke," the L&O bit and the numbers from the other musicals, especially Hamilton, but the numbers with other casts doing songs from other shows was unnecessary. They should've saved that for the Tonys' 75th anniversary. And then there's Hamilton, which, from what I've seen of it/heard about it, is extraordinary, to say the least. Hamilton has not only changed the game for Broadway musicals, it's become such a pop-culture phenom that the show's creator/star Lin-Manuel Miranda made the cover of Rolling Stone-which, AFAIK, no Broadway show has ever done before. 

  Speaking of Lin-Manuel, his Best Score Acceptance speech for Hamilton was yet another example of his brilliance was both an artist and as a person. Other tributes to the Orlando massacre victims and their families were beautiful, but Lin-Manuel's tribute, where he honored them, the Hamilton cast and crew and his family, especially his wife, was perfect. He richly deserves all the success he gets, as far as I'm concerned. 

 

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Who knew Jake [Gyllenhaal] could sing? And so well!

 

  I've known that he could sing ever since he did his version of Dreamgirls' "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" when he hosted SNL.

 

Every one of the musical acting awards went to Black performers...suck it Oscars. Diversity. Inclusion.

 

Or overcompensation?

 

  Not to me, re the last point. If the performances I saw on the show were any indication, every one of those winners richly deserved their Tonys, especially the ones from Hamilton. Renee Elise Goldsberry did a great job, Daveed Diggs plays two roles equally well and Leslie Odom Jr. almost steals the show from Lin-Manuel, which isn't easy, to put it mildly. About The Color Purple's Cynthia Erivo, while the other women in her category are great, her voice is insane. All the musical winners earned their awards fair and square. That they just also happen to be people of color is just the icing on the cake, as far as I'm concerned.

Edited June 18, 2016 by DollEyes
To add stuff.

[St. Claire]

My husband knows close to nothing about Broadway in general, and only watches the Tonys to humor me or to see if one of the shows we saw while chaperoning the annual school trip to NYC gets mentioned (usually not, since we tend to see things a few years after their Tony heyday). As a professional musician and music teacher, however, he can spot talent. His reaction of Cynthia Erivo was pretty much just slack-jawed admiration. The idea that she does that for eight shows a week is just mindblowing.

[Kromm]

EDIT - Okay, I see someone DID mention this upthread. I'm going to keep the post intact though since it's a nice embed for people to just push a button on. Also, I still think it's interesting that in 10 days this has gotten so few hits/impressions. Predictable in a way, I think, but interesting.

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I think, despite the current trendy popularity of Hamilton, the actual low importance people place on Broadway as a greater part of our culture is well illustrated by the fact that a collection of stars like this (including LMM) could be assembled and put out a charity single and... nobody noticed. 

Haven't seen any press about it and the music video has only 46,000 views in 10 days. An absurdly low number considering who's in this. It also means that it's been linked to/embedded almost nowhere that gets any notice.

The list of who's actually in this is pretty long, but rather than listing it... well... I'll just say watch it.

And yes, it's pretty shlocky.  No denying it, no matter how good the message is. There's no other way to do Burt Bacharach, and add in the whole "We Are The World Minus" vibe?  Of course it's shlocky!  But still fun to watch at the same time, I guess.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Kromm

[St. Claire]

27 minutes ago, Kromm said:

EDIT - Okay, I see someone DID mention this upthread. I'm going to keep the post intact though since it's a nice embed for people to just push a button on. Also, I still think it's interesting that in 10 days this has gotten so few hits/impressions. Predictable in a way, I think, but interesting.

----------------------------------------

I think, despite the current trendy popularity of Hamilton, the actual low importance people place on Broadway as a greater part of our culture is well illustrated by the fact that a collection of stars like this (including ML-M) could be assembled and put out a charity single and... nobody noticed. 

Haven't seen any press about it and the music video has only 46,000 views in 10 days. An absurdly low number considering who's in this. It also means that it's been linked to/embedded almost nowhere that gets any notice.

The list of who's actually in this is pretty long, but rather than listing it... well... I'll just say watch it.

And yes, it's pretty shlocky.  No denying it, no matter how good the message is. There's no other way to do Burt Bacharach, and add in the whole "We Are The World Minus" vibe?  Of course it's shlocky!  But still fun to watch at the same time, I guess.

How did I miss this before?! I couldn't even keep up with how many people are involved- my childhood (Len Cariou and Bernadette Peters and Joel Grey and Tommy Tune and Carole King and Chita Rivera) side by side with my current idols (L-MM, Kelli O'Hara, Jessie Mueller, Idina Menzel, Keala Settle, Billy Porter, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Audra freaking McDonald) and all those people that cross over all the genres like Wayne Brady and Gloria Estefan and Whoopi and Sean Hayes... I just can't even. I'm in tears.

[BW Manilowe]

I don't actually follow him, but I usually end up getting Retweets from Lin-Manuel Miranda's Twitter feed on my Twitter feed & he's been mentioning that he & Jennifer Lopez also recorded a song to benefit those involved in the Orlando tragedy. I think it's being released soon, if it's not out already. Unfortunately, none of the Tweets I got mention the name of the song.

[angora]

LMM and J-Lo's song is called "Love Make the World Go Round."

[JustaPerson]

Nominations! 

[aradia22]

I posted my thoughts on the nominations in the Theatre Talk thread. I haven't seen a lot of the shows this year because I'm not crazy about the plays and musicals get expensive... plus I'm also not crazy about most of the musicals this year so I'm probably going to spend most of the night rooting for Great Comet. You have been warned. 

[lizzie3]

SO thrilled that "Come From Away" received a nod!  It's a phenomenal show.  Great music, funny, and very touching.

[JustaPerson]

I'll be singing along to Dear Evan Hansen's performance on Tony night that's for sure. It was such an emotional show, I feel like it's a shoo-in for Best Musical. But none of these shows has quite a lock on the prize as Hamilton did last year that's for sure so we can all have fun speculating!

[aradia22]

Just giving this thread a bit of a bump in preparation for tomorrow night. Tony night! Happy birthday to me. I've been on vacation a lot of times when it's aired but tomorrow I plan to be on the couch and posting up a storm ;)

[Inquisitionist]

Just read that Kevin Spacey is hosting.  That's quite a change of pace.

[aradia22]

I hate it. Every time I remember, it makes my spirits sink. Really... no comedian was free tonight? Just know if he pulls out his Bobby Darin impression, I will be rolling my eyes SO hard.

[aradia22]

Why is Lea Salonga wearing a sparkly gray mother of the bride outfit? She looks so much younger than she is. Why is she wearing something that ages her like that?

I am in love with Sarah Jones' dress. Also, she was great in Sell/Buy/Date. Very talented in embodying different people. 

[ebk57]

Has Red Carpet stuff already started?  

 

And I'll just say now that I like Kevin Spacey and I hope he does well tonight.  

[aradia22]

Orfeh's dress is some gorgeous Art Deco. Did Anna Wintour dress people again this year? People looking fancy.

Look at Brandon Uranowitz's adorable blue suit. But also, awkward af for the Tony's people to try to do the E! red carpet thing.

Ben Platt also in a blue suit. Is this a trend? I think I remember it from the Oscars.

[aradia22]

John Mulaney in a white suit. He looks like the most adorable prom date. 

Bald Christian Borle! 

These people are not equipped to talk about fashion. Please stop.

What did Rachel Bloom do to her hair? 

YES! We'll be seeing Rachel Bloom backstage throughout the night. They should have just let her host.

[Mountainair]

Thanks for the reminder that the Tony's were on tonight! I was going to go to bed early too and miss them! Where are you catching red carpet stuff at?

Why is Kevin Spacey hosting? I'm not on the up and up when it comes to theatre so maybe I'm missing a connection? 

[aradia22]

Boatneck on Jen Collela. It's like a modern version of Kelli's King and I outfit. 

Haha. "Mutch."

I'm watching the red carpet here. http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/tonynight/index.html

Andrew Rannells continuing the blue suit trend.

Is Jen wearing pants with that dress?

LOL, wouldn't be a red carpet if everyone didn't talk about the weather. 

Pasek doing a very dark version of the blue suit.

This red carpet is chaos. Who are all these people running around?

[aradia22]

Laurie Metcalf looking like a goddess in emerald. 

Josh Groban also in navy. Look at his lovely beardy smiley face.

I still haven't decided whether I want to see Josh again or wait and see Oak.

LOL, people just texting in the back of the shot.

[aradia22]

Sally Field in a gorgeous dark blue Christian Siriano gown.

So far we've learned that Falsettos is supposed to air in October and Josh Groban wants to come back to Broadway in something else after Comet.

WHAT is Christine Ebersole wearing? Look at those puff sleeves. I take it back. Now, that's Kelli's dress in The King and I.

I can't see John Lithgow and not think of his character in Trial and Error.

[aradia22]

Tommy Tune looking dashing af. 

[aradia22]

Tim Minchin. No jacket. 

[aradia22]

Condola bringing the high fashion.

Josh Gad in another blue suit. Was there a discount? ;)

Anna Wintour and her sunglasses. XD

[aradia22]

Kate Baldwin in a jewel-toned blue. I've seen her look better. 

Rachel Bay Jones in a giant winner dress. ;)

I love that Denee is wearing her natural hair. The Oscar de la Renta feels very fresh and young. 

[aradia22]

Ooh, Mike Faist in velvet. God, they are not dressed for this heat. 

Cynthia Errivo!

YES, Cynthia. YES.

[aradia22]

It was smart to go with a Dear Evan Hansen reference. Good tonal start. He was never going to get the flash of NPH or the humor of a comedian. This vague solemnity with some playfulness works. 

Also... Colbert!

[ebk57]

I'm loving this opening so far.  

[aradia22]

MVP's right now are these cute chorus boys/stage hands. 

Lampshading how Kevin wasn't really the host they wanted was smart. 

What the heck is Whoopi wearing? Her robes from Sister Act?

Surprised Whoopi didn't turn that "in the closet" joke around on Kevin. ;)

Weird cameo from the whole cast of Come From Away?

[aradia22]

Distracting from Kevin Spacey takes the pressure off. He can't carry it by himself. Though his singing isn't too bad. 

"I'm coming out... no wait." Was that the joke? 

[ebk57]

5 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

Surprised Whoopi didn't turn that "in the closet" joke around on Kevin. ;)

That's okay, he turned it around on himself.

[aradia22]

Not the most graceful of tap routines but credit for at least throwing in some dancing. 

Oh, Tina Fey is there. And Joe Biden?

[ebk57]

I think that was wonderful!  

[aradia22]

I forgot that they gave Scarlet a Tony. They love celebrities. 

Her button-down inspired trench dress is cool except for the weird tinsel.

[ebk57]

And I love Scarlett's dress!

[mtlchick]

Watching Spacey does bring up the question "Why the fuck HASN'T he hosted yet?" He did a pretty good job! 

 

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"I'm coming out... no wait." Was that the joke? 

Heh.  

[aradia22]

Rooting for Richard Thomas... because I didn't see the others.

Ohh, I feel like people weren't betting on an Oslo win here. 

Richard Thomas seems very nice. And he shouted himself red in The Little Foxes. But I'm OK with him not winning as it's not really his show.

Who are you, sports person? Stop talking. No one cares. 

I swear to God, if you make this show run long... Shut up!

[mtlchick]

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He was never going to get the flash of NPH or the humor of a comedian. 

Spacey is a master impressionist though.  His Johnny Carson SLAYS me every time and his Walken one is probably the best out of the (many) celebrities who do said Walken impression.

Next time I go to NYC, I need to go see from Come From Away.  I need to support my fellow Canucks and their story. 

[ebk57]

Who was that introducing The Rock?

[aradia22]

I don't know if I could sit through this show. It would take so much focus to take in all this narration. 

[ebk57]

Just now, aradia22 said:

I don't know if I could sit through this show. It would take so much focus to take in all this narration. 

Come From Away?  It's really good.  Much better than I was expecting.

[aradia22]

I might see it eventually. Maybe listen to the album a few times first. 

It's just not a high priority. I was going to see Waitress again today for my birthday but they only had 12 standing room spots. :(

Rachel Bloom!!

With happy Vietnamese soldiers... 

I don't like Rachel's hair today. Why is it all slicked down? Where are her beautiful curls?

[ebk57]

1 minute ago, aradia22 said:

I might see it eventually. Maybe listen to the album a few times first. 

It's just not a high priority. I was going to see Waitress again today for my birthday but they only had 12 standing room spots. :(

Honestly, I listened to the cast album and I won't be buying it.  If I'd relied on that to persuade me to see the show, I wouldn't have gone.  Not that it's bad, it's just really not my thing.  But it works brilliantly in the show.  

I felt the same way about Natasha, Pierre.  Hated the album, but I'd already bought the tickets.  Thank goodness! The show is fab.

[aradia22]

I agree about Great Comet. I hated the Off-Broadway album, loved the show. But I didn't find it hard to decipher the words. I think with the pop/rock-y sameness of the Come From Away score and all the exposition embedded in the lyrics, it might be tougher.

WOO! JANE GREENWOOD WON!

WOW WOW. Hello Dolly won costumes??? Over Great Comet and War Paint? WHAT!?!

[Eureka]

2 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

Honestly, I listened to the cast album and I won't be buying it.  If I'd relied on that to persuade me to see the show, I wouldn't have gone.  Not that it's bad, it's just really not my thing.  But it works brilliantly in the show.  

I felt the same way about Natasha, Pierre.  Hated the album, but I'd already bought the tickets.  Thank goodness! The show is fab.

I just said to DH and DS it might be a great show but that number did not inspire me to go see it.

[SingerIslander]

8 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

Who was that introducing The Rock?

Ron Duguay, former star of the NY Rangers and current sportscaster/commentator for the Rangers. 

[mtlchick]

Random thought: if Jitney wins,  John Legend is an Emmy away from completing the EGOT. 

[aradia22]

Aw!!! Gavin Creel. What a cutie pie. Been a fan since Hair. 

Actually, since Millie. 

Why hasn't he aged? ;)

OH! I just realized it was Sutton giving him the award. That's so great. :)

[ebk57]

4 minutes ago, Eureka said:

I just said to DH and DS it might be a great show but that number did not inspire me to go see it.

Which is too bad.  The number didn't come off well on TV, but the show is quite lovely.

Miss Saigon, otoh, is a show I don't need to see again.  That was really melodramatic.

[aradia22]

LOL at this tweet. "I love Lea Salonga so very much but I'm pretty sure my Grandma wore that dress to my Bat Mitzvah."