The Annual Tony Awards - General Discussion

[ebk57]

1 minute ago, bosawks said:

I read an article about The Boys in the Band original cast member Cliff Gorman and his wife taking care of Robert La Tourneaux, another original cast member, as he was dying from AIDS.

It broke my heart, there’s probably a whole other play in there about that.  I wish I remembered were I read it, it was years ago.

Love Cliff Gorman!  Saw him in Chapter Two on New Year's Eve...whatever year that was.  He was quite delightful at the stage door after the show.  (Don't tell anyone I actually went to the stage door after some shows when I was young...)

It was my one NYE in Times Square experience.  One and done... 

[Growsonwalls]

Robert LeTorneaux's whole life post Boys in the Band could be another play by itself. Real tragic, and this was before he died of AIDS.

[bosawks]

Michael in the Bathroom is a great song.

[aradia22]

OK, this Be More Chill parody is cute. James is winning me back. Even if I feel like they could have gotten a better host.

[bosawks]

Sara Bareilles is all that is good in life.

[Growsonwalls]

Just now, bosawks said:

Sara Bareilles is all that is good in life.

I love her. I saw her as Jenna three times and she made me cry each time. 

[aradia22]

Rachel Brosnahan is blonde now?

[bosawks]

The Fates, Hafestown’s secret MVP’s!

[Growsonwalls]

Liked the Hadestown number, but thought "Road to Hell" or "Way Down Hadestown" might have been better for the Tony's.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Growsonwalls

[aradia22]

I don't know if Hadestown sold any tickets. It was very atmospheric but they didn't highlight any of the best songs from the show. It came across as more inaccessible than it is.

[bosawks]

I really recommend Hadestown, my favorite show I saw this season.

I think they would’ve been better served if they incorporated the Act II Eurydice part but still well done.

Edited June 10, 2019 by bosawks

[lovett1979]

1 minute ago, aradia22 said:

I don't know if Hadestown sold any tickets. It was very atmospheric but they didn't highlight any of the best songs from the show. It came across as more inaccessible than it is.

Well, they sold one ticket here (well, at least, if I can get/afford one). And I've seen a number of other performances from the show on various shows and nothing had enticed me before. (though I really liked Anais Mitchell's performance of The Wall at BroadwayCon)

[aradia22]

Shout out to whoever is in charge of James' outfit changes. 

[bosawks]

Audra!

Billy! 

Edited June 10, 2019 by bosawks

[Growsonwalls]

Audra! What a goddess! Take off those earrings!

[ebk57]

1 minute ago, bosawks said:

Audra!

I adore her!! 

[mtlchick]

Billy Porter’s outfit...10s across the board and I CANNOT wait for Pose.

[Popples]

Audra taking off her earrings was hilarious!

So, are we all emailing darren_criss@hotmail.com, or nah?

[bosawks]

If I’m ever nominated for anything I want Billy Porter to speak.

[aradia22]

That was a really stupid bit carried by how charming those actors are. Also, Laura Linney/Audra McDonald committed to that bit. Audra taking off her hoops! XD

Billy Porter's outfit looks even more incredible on stage.

Vanessa Carlton showing off that music money. Cute dress.

[ebk57]

1 minute ago, aradia22 said:

That was a really stupid bit carried by how charming those actors are. Also, Laura Linney/Audra McDonald committed to that bit. Audra taking off her hoops! XD

Billy Porter's outfit looks even more incredible on stage.

Audra - fabulous!  And, as John Oliver called her - Laura Fucking Linney!!  She was great in the Wax Presidents film.

[aradia22]

I can't forget that Adam Guettel is an asshole.

[Growsonwalls]

Ok I did not know that Anais Mitchell was so pretty. For whatever reason I always thought she looked like Alanis Morrissette.

[bosawks]

Anaïs deserved it just for sticking with Hadestown through everything.

You don’t get much more out of town than Edmonton.

[aradia22]

I love Anais' dress. It's like a Florence Welch Valentino dress but wish more of a genuine vintage vibe.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, GussieK said:

Agreed.  I never liked the movie Tootsie, and I was really in the minority there.  So I wouldn't even bother with this musical.  The singiing sounded kind of off key, too.

I'm meh on the movie but I did think the musical was hilarious.

[aradia22]

Too Darn Hot is the showy number but I found it a little boring. And every time Kelli sang in Kiss Me, Kate was magical in an otherwise misguided production. It was still enjoyable because Kiss Me, Kate is great but they didn't add anything to the source material.

[Snow Apple]

There's so much dancing this year. I love it.

[Growsonwalls]

I never liked Tootsie either. I don't even count it among my top 5 Dustin Hoffman performances. (The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Death and the Salesman, All the President's Men, and Kramer v. Kramer all being better IMO).

[bosawks]

Speaking of Kiss Me Kate, are they going to show Marin’s special Tony?

[aradia22]

Ooh, I'd forgotten about that one very hot male dancer in Kiss Me, Kate. Hello again.

Why is Sutton wearing a nightgown? Maybe in another color but that faded lilac... no. Not with her complexion. 

[ebk57]

1 minute ago, bosawks said:

Speaking of Kiss Me Kate, are they going to show Marin’s special Tony?

That would be nice, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Personally, I'd also like to see Peter Entin get his lifetime Tony if only because I worked for the Shuberts for a hundred years and he was always around to give us a hard time.  In the best possible way. 

[lovett1979]

1 minute ago, bosawks said:

Speaking of Kiss Me Kate, are they going to show Marin’s special Tony?

Probably not, or in a very brief montage. There was a ceremony earlier this week. Jason Danieley accepted it.

http://www.playbill.com/article/watch-jason-danieley-accepts-the-late-marin-mazzies-special-tony-award?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PlaybillPost

[Rickster]

The one time I bought tickets to a show based on a Tony performance was the LAST revival of Kiss Me Kate (with Brian Stokes Mitchell), where they performed exactly the same number for the Tonys (better the last time, I thought). Anyway, I hated the show, a really dated book with a couple of good numbers.

[SilverShadow]

Hmm of the performances the only shows I might try and see are Beetlejuice and Hadestown, and I was already semi-interested in both. Santino was charming AF but Tootsie doesn't interest me at all.

[mtlchick]

1 hour ago, Growsonwalls said:

Beetlejuice looks weirdly appealing. This is making me want to see it more so than the Tootsie and Ain't Too Proud segments.

I am now regretting not seeing Beetlejuice when I was there in April. My friend saw Tootsie and enjoyed it.  But the only word I can use to describe Ain’t Too Proud’s performance was MANIC, which is not a word to use on the Temptations. 

Sutton just reminded me that I will sell some organs to see Music Man. Because WOLVERINE!!

Edited June 10, 2019 by mtlchick

[Florinaldo]

In that Oklahoma number, the whole cast came across as angry, as if they were shouting the song at the world, the audience, or...  whatever else. Is that this production's take on this old musical?

I gave it a pass and went to see Hadestown instead; I am a sucker for a new twist on the Orfeo legend.

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

I took a wild guess on Elaine May getting the "older person who probably won't get another nomination" vote.

She is excellent in that role. As she said, she had a sort of inside track with her character dying in the play, which runs out of narrative steam towards the end.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Florinaldo

[aradia22]

There was some chatter about Oklahoma! being divisive but not having seen Oklahoma! this was still the right move. Kiss Me, Kate was a safe and at times tedious production of a show that shouldn't be hard to do.

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 minute ago, SilverShadow said:

Hmm of the performances the only shows I might try and see are Beetlejuice and Hadestown, and I was already semi-interested in both. Santino was charming AF but Tootsie doesn't interest me at all.

I am a huge sucker for shows about making shows so the idea of Tootsie as a backstage musical is compelling to me. (As was the movie backstage at a soap.) And I thought Unstoppable was performed better in this broadcast than it was on GMA. 

[bosawks]

I’m guessing no Judith Light either.

[Growsonwalls]

This Cher Show segment is not making me want to buy a ticket ...

[scarynikki12]

I’m all caught up. Not feeling this Cher segment. 

[mtlchick]

The Cher Show must go through a lot of double sided tape.

[bosawks]

So, nice costumes.

That’s all I got.

But I’m fine with Stephanie’s upcoming lifetime achievement award....

[lovett1979]

1 minute ago, Florinaldo said:

In that Oklahoma number, the whole cast came across as angry, as if they were shouting the song at the world, the audience, or...  whatever else. Is that this production's take on this old musical?

Well that is how that number goes across, but like I said above, you need to have seen the whole production to see how they got there.

The conception of the production is how one might stage this show if you had never seen it before or knew anything about it. Just looking at the text, with a 2019 eye, what is this story about, really.

[aradia22]

That Cher Show performance was a letdown. The costumes are gorge but it felt odd. I definitely don't think it was filmed properly. It came across like a park and park with some striding around. I know Cher has never been the biggest dancer but the way it was filmed, it didn't come across as dynamic. The Donna Summer musical looked more exciting. 

[Snow Apple]

It might be better if they didn't exaggerate the "Cher" voice. Seemed more like a parody. Or is that what they are going for? 

[TheOtherOne]

17 minutes ago, Florinaldo said:

In that Oklahoma number, the whole cast came across as angry, as if they were shouting the song at the world, the audience, or...  whatever else. Is that this production's take on this old musical?

Yep.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/22/daniel-fishs-dark-take-on-oklahoma

Spoiler

But soon our uncertainty about Curly begins to work in the show’s favor, because Fish turns him into a murderer. In the original, Jud shows up at Laurey and Curly’s wedding and falls on his knife after starting a fight; his death is caused by his own fumbling. Here, he kisses Laurey and starts to advance on Curly, who shoots him with shocking swiftness from several feet away, blood splattering all over the bride and groom’s white clothes. The kangaroo-court scene that follows usually plays as a grave but forgivable dispatching of justice. Here, and now, it doesn’t. (The night I saw the show, the Senate had just voted to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, which added to a mood of judicial unease.) The townspeople are static and seated. Aunt Eller, who’s had moral authority throughout, now coldly eschews the rule of law for a ruthless frontier efficiency. A federal marshal (Anthony Cason), who tries to insist on a courthouse trial, is brushed off—everybody else wants to let Curly go and enjoy his honeymoon. Then, the newlyweds’ clothes still drenched with blood, the company sings a little of “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” and a hearty reprise of “Oklahoma!,” impressing on us their collective desire to move on. Rodgers’s triumphant music feels like both an ideal we want to believe we fulfill and a distraction from who we really are. It’s deeply damning and deeply accurate—and the audience eagerly claps in time.

Edited June 10, 2019 by TheOtherOne

[scarynikki12]

Aaron is still yummy. 

[bosawks]

Seriously, the puppet is incredible.