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God bless CBS for continuing to air them despite the fact that no one watches.
Which is a shame because in many ways the Tonys are way more entertaining and fun than the Oscars and Emmys. Full production numbers from Broadway hits and witty acceptance speeches -- so what if you've never heard of 90% of the shows or nominees?
But of course, that's the problem. 99% of the country has not seen a single one of these shows. So it's hard to have a rooting interest. It's like crashing the awards ceremony for the Aetna Insurance Salespeople of the Year.
This year however, there is an interesting dynamic -- the usual traditional Broadway fare vs. more experimental off-Broadway-ish material. Example: Revival of a Musical -- the glossy KISS ME KATE vs the totally re-imagined OKLAHOMA. Not that there's going to be fist fights at the water cooler on Monday after the winner is announced.
But as long as Elaine May wins for Best Actress I'll be happy.
If you ever do get to New York, treat yourself to a Broadway show. At its best it's thrilling, it's magic. And at its worst it's still cheaper than a Knicks game.
I'll be watching Sunday night. The real suspense truthfully will come after. For years the Tonys have aired on CBS because Les Moonves was a big believer in them. Now he's gone. Who knows what the new regime will decide?
But at least for now, let's enjoy them while we can.
There's a streaming service called BroadwayHD, but they seem to be of the opinion that showing anything currently running will somehow reduce the ranks of people willing to pay $150-900 a seat.
ReplyDeleteWith about 20 million people in the plausible drive-to-NYC and see a show crowd, and roughly 8 billion people outside that range, one might conjecture that the live shows will not be any less attractive and profitable. Indeed, I know an awful lot of theatre-goers who have seen the same show multiple times in multiple forms -- and then go on to purchase discs and cast recordings and scores and T-shirts and bags and whatever.
Someone's missing an economic bonanza, and I think it's everyone producing major live theatre.
As a young gay kid, watching the Tony Awards was a rare opportunity to see gay people on TV. Real ones. Clever ones. Talented ones. They thanked their partners for their love and support out loud in front of people. They sat next to each other in the audience. It wasn't until 2003 when I finally saw a gay congratulatory kiss, but for years before that, it was still a way to see people like me.
ReplyDeleteThis year the only theatre I've seen is Ken's plays. And he's not nominated.
ReplyDeleteI may watch. Unless there's anything else on.
As always, political correctness prevents me from commenting further.
M.B.
You know, you posted that one clip of a very funny Elaine May speech, and it took me to a whole lot of other ones, all of them were great, so thanks for that. I hope she wins too, because we'll no doubt get another funny one
ReplyDeleteHear, hear! I always look forward to the Tony Awards for the very reasons you state, but I keep up with the theatre, though I've never seen a Broadway show in person. That he strongly supported the televised ceremony is the ONLY thing about Moonves that I admired. BTW, why can't we here in LA see a production of "One Man, Two Guvnors" with James Corden in the role for which he won the Tony???? I remember the excerpt he performed during the program that year was memorable and very funny. If there was even a past touring production of the show, I somehow missed it.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the most entertaining 3 hours of TV each year. Never been to a 'professional' play in my entire life, but the Tony's are the only program I look forward to each year. It's nice to see people with real talent perform and get rewarded. So many of these people are obviously much more talented then so many of the very successful 'stars' we all know. And the sense of community they have is unmatched in the entertainment world, as far as I can. Can't wait!
ReplyDelete"99% of the country has not seen a single one of these shows."
ReplyDeleteGood - it means we'll be spared the whole "Show X was snubbed!" rhubarb that rears its head at a lot of award shows.
The reason to see the Tonys, besides the talent, is the opportunity to familiarize myself with the touring shows that will follow 2 or 3 years later. This month I'm seeing Waitress, in August, Hamilton, and next season, A Band's Visit and Dear Evan Hansen. I own the cast albums of ALL of them.
ReplyDeleteThe film version of The Band's Visit is excellent.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Band%27s_Visit
James Corden is no Neil Patrick Harris....
ReplyDeleteWell, you can rest easy, since Elaine May won. She also gave a marvelous speech. It's hard to see a chink in the armor of her talent.
ReplyDeleteI saw three of the nominated plays, and the ones I saw won exactly zero Tonys. Indeed, I saw three of the five nominees for one award (best featured actress in a play) and the winner wasn't any of them. Yet I enjoyed them all.
The In Memoriam segment is amazing: you've heard of half of them and the others you're not even sure what they did for a living. But I doubt anyone begrudges Neil Simon the place of honor on this year's list.
As an Old Person I was thrilled for Elaine May and also for Andre DeShields, whose work I have admired since "Ain't Misbehavin'" back in the 1970s. Talent knows no age. James Corden was all right, apart from that raspberry-colored jacket, but he shouldn't try to sing and dance at the same time. I enjoyed most of the musical numbers (who knew there were so may Temptations?) but even after that opening -- about the excitement of live theater -- there was clearly a lot of lip-synching. And the audience didn't quite know how to react to Bryan Cranston's shout-out to "old straight men." I hope CBS will continue to choose prestige over ratings one Sunday night a year.
ReplyDeleteWho's Tony?
ReplyDeleteWhat was the deal with that strange stage, having a group of people sitting in between two performance areas, and having to crane their necks back to see what was going on behind them?
ReplyDelete