The Tony Awards! Broadway! Glitz! Glamour! Green Day?One of this season's biggest flaws was more than evident during last night's telecast - Broadway's obsession with an attempt to draw in a new audience, instead of catering to the theatre patrons who keeps the lights on in theatres. Many shows have been casting Hollywood stars to get butts in seats; if that's what it takes to fill a theatre these days, whatever. However, it should not be a trend that continues to grow over the next few years. Hollywood stars should be cast when they're perfect for the role, not so much because it works for the show on a financial aspect. I'm not dissecting every moment from the biggest night for New York entertainment, but here are some highlights from the evening (for all of the night's winners, check out my previous post):
Memphis wins Best Musical Oh, Memphis. I had so much fun at your show! You had a gospel number AND double dutch choreography within five minutes of each other! You had that perfectly cheesy sing-a-long curtain call moment! I will admit, I throughly enjoyed myself at Memphis. However, I want Broadway to move me more than this show did. Memphis belongs to the same family as Hairspray, and I don't have a huge desire to return to the show any time soon. I am hankering for a return to Fela!, which will hopefully be able to sustain its run with a box office boost from the few Tonys it did win. Regardless, Memphis is feel-good, fluffy, commercial theatre that tourists will flock too; Broadway was lacking a huge hit this season, and Memphis has the potential for a very long run. Monetgo Glover is by far the best thing about the show (thought she sounded rough during the Memphis number...), but I have a strange, strong hatred for Chad Kimball. At the end of the day, the show has been worked on for nearly nine years now, and the cast was beyond ecstatic for their win after years of hard work. I just wish voters had taken a chance with Fela! instead...
Green Day? That opening medley? Green Day did not belong in the opening number of the Tonys. The fact that the opening medley of songs were basically "Tunes You Didn't know were on Broadway!" was annoying. Randos won't be watching the Tonys no matter what; people who care about the industry are.
Katie Finneran had the speech of the night The featured actress from Promises, Promises steals that gorilla of a revival with only 15 minutes on stage, and her speech was probably the best of the night. Don't believe me? Check it out. Runner-up status to Eddie Redmayne, and Red is now at the top of my to-see list after there incredible five Tony wins.
Get it ScarJo! LOVE YOU CZJ! Huh, Denzel? While Hollywood vets were on hand to win a handful of awards, it's funny how the Broadway actors delivered the most stunning speeches! However, Scarlett Johansson, making her Broadway debut, was humble, beautiful, and so gracious accepting her speech. Obviously surprised and overcome with emotion, she gave an honest speech and perfect tribute to the community. I feel madly in love with Catherine Zeta-Jones all over again; her scramble to stage was one of the greatest moments of the telecast, as well as her loving acceptance and hilarious quips. People seem to be knocking her performance during the telecast - sure, those head swings were a little ridiculous (she was giving her voice momentum to finish the note...?), but she was obviously vocally tired. I do go HEAD-OVER-HEELS for the little nose wipe she does with the back of her wrist at the end of the number. She deserved that Tony, and I was so happy to see her on that stage, livin' in the moment... These two ladies exemplify Hollywood stars starring on Broadway the right way. Denzel exemplified why the trend is detrimental to theatre. He gave me the feeling that he won simply because he's Denzel Washington; I certainly do not think he gave the best performance of the year, playing his role in a way that didn't wholly agree with me. Was he good? Sure. Was he Tony worthy? Not at all. His acceptance speech seemed lazy, uninterested, and... douchey. It's the American Theatre Wing, Denzel. Figure it out.
I cried with Viola Davis. That's all.
Sean Hayes was a great host, I'm shocked While I was initially incredibly skeptical when his name was announced for hosting duties (and over his nomination for Promises, Promises), Sean delivered the hosting goods with some wonderful jokes, good ol' charm, and seemed to keep the crowd at Radio City wildly entertained. I still don't think he was the best choice for the show, but he did surprise me. If only Kristin Chenoweth had shared hosting duties with him all night...
Who the hell is Levi Kreis? But, like... really?!!
Biggest Voting Womp Memphis did not deserve Best Book. That Tony should have gone to Everyday Rapture or Fela! . Yes, this award actually made me angrier than the Best Musical announcement. I completely understand Memphis winning Best Musical; I get the reasoning. Not so much here.
Biggest Voting Hooray This moment almost goes to Catherine Zeta-Jones, but she had plenty momentum into Tony night - I'm sending this HOORAY to Bill T. Jones winning for Fela!'s choreography! Completely and utterly deserved. I was under the assumption that Twyla Tharp had it locked up for Come Fly Away (NOT. A. MUSICAL.), but was so incredibly happy that the mastermind behind Fela! got his moment in front of that crowd. Bravo.
Lea Michele and Matt Morrison = Best Performance There seemed to be a lot of hate brewing about the Glee performances included in the telecast, but Glee's two biggest stars showed why they were invited on stage. While most of the numbers from nominated shows flopped (and were plagued by serious audio issues, yoikes), Matt and Lea brought it up a notch. Now, a bone to pick - everyone needs to stop telling Lea Michele to "relax." Maybe the bitchy theatre community could relax a little? So what if she was actively campaigning for the Funny Girl revival? The girl is finally having her moment, and she is rightfully soaking it up. She sounded wonderful, and would be a wonderful choice for that role. Have I ranted enough? Watch the performance (wait for the awkward wave to Jay-Z) and decide for yourself!
Best Presenters Raquel Welch for bringing the serious crazy, Bebe Newirth and Nathan Lane for being able to make fun of themselves in hilarious fashion
In all, the show was wonky, wacky, and a hot mess. It perfectly reflected the wonky, wacky, hot mess season Broadway had in 2009-2010. So here's to next season! Clean slate! Be sure to catch up on the big winners over the summer (Memphis, La Cage aux Folles, Red) and my favorites from that season that are still running (Fela!, Next Fall), and prepare for some magic (fingers crossed!) to stomp the boards in the fall.
A final note to the Broadway community slash Tony planners slash American Theatre Wing - VIEWERSHIP WAS DOWN 8% FROM LAST YEAR. The whole "Look! HOLLYWOOD!" thing didn't really seem to work. Sorry, but please get back to the basics. It's what we come for. It's what we love. It's a night for Broadway.
I don't think denzel is an example of stars being detrimental to theatre. He is an amazing actor and his performance was incredibly powerful. He brought a different side of Troy to the stage and I don't think you can honestly say it was completely wrong that he won the award
ReplyDeleteI didn't enjoy his Troy. I thought he was fine, and certainly enjoyed her performance, but I thought he played a bunch of the lines too light and loose; he seemed to be going for a laugh over pathos, and I'm not sure it always worked... Denzel winning the Tony was one of my least favorite awards of the night, and he seemed aloof and unappreciative during his speech. However, he had all of the momentum going into the night, and I was expecting his win to come.
ReplyDeleteI was really pushing for Liev Schreiber, who was brilliant in "A View from the Bridge."