I think this is the first time since I started blogging that I’ve thought to do a post-Tony Awards post for Theatre Thursday. It’s never occurred to me before, probably because I never see enough Tony-nominated shows/performances to have a really strong opinion about nominations/winners or to make any kind of serious predictions. But this year it occurs to me that I can talk about the broadcast itself and what I enjoyed and who I *hoped* would win out of the shows I did see.
And what were those shows? In order of when I saw them: Oedipus. Chess. Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York). The Lost Boys. (I had tickets to see Marjorie Prime back in December on the same day I was supposed to see Oedipus but got sick and then had a ton of work travel and only managed to see one of them before they both ended their limited runs. I did see Titanique during the off-Broadway run, but I don’t think any of that cast is in the current production (we saw Marla Mindelle’s understudy). (The links embedded in the show titles are to my reviews.)
THE HOST
There’s not much I can say about P!nk as host that hasn’t been said already by countless reviewers, pundits, and Broadway-going Instagram accounts. So I’ll just add my voice. Yes, she was an unlikely choice. Yes, she owned it and ran with it. I think she did an excellent job, especially with the opening number and with “All That Jazz” in the Chicago tribute. Her love of live theatre/performance shone through the entire night. That opening number, “Leading Lady Marmalade,” was truly impressive not just in the reworked lyrics but also in the sheer number of performers they worked in (170!), giving all of the Musical-nominated shows (and a few of the Plays) a moment to shine. I’ve rewatched it several times and have attempted to watch it with sub-titles on … and I know I still missed a bunch of references and callouts. (My favorite moments: June Squib’s little spoken word bit; the intro for Megan Thee Stallion and her “cake” comment; Sam Tutty’s Dougal having no lines but wandering the stage looking in-character confused and excited; the little “spoiler” that maybe the Paddington musical is coming to Broadway next season (there’s a family history involving my sister and Paddington, so we WILL be seeing that show if it comes to NYC, no matter what I have to pay for tickets).) I have to admit that I didn’t really get the interstitial comedy bits with Darren Criss and Ariana DeBose. But that’s fine, not every bit of the show has to be for me!
THE PERFORMANCES
I loved most of the Best Musical and Best Musical Revival performances. I was very happy that The Lost Boys and Two Strangers opted for medleys. While “New York” is clearly the signature song of Two Strangers, it doesn’t really give Christiani Pitts much to do so I was hoping they’d combine it with one of her solos (perhaps “This is the Place”) but “American Express” worked very well and kept the energy super-high. I have said this multiple times, but watching Pitts and Tutty perform together is truly a joy; clips of them online immediately bring a smile to my face. And while The Lost Boys’ “I Have To Have You” clearly establishes David’s (Ali Louis Bourzgui) allure and Michael’s (LJ Benet) attraction to Star (Maria Wirries), it doesn’t feature Shoshana Bean’s Lucy or Benjamin Pajak’s Sam. And I always prefer it when the Musicals that have more than one performer nominated feature most or all of them (My complaint about Death Becomes Her’s performance last year was that it was just Megan Hilty, leaving co-nominee Jennifer Simard out. I understand why they wanted to showcase that number, but still.) For similar reasons, I was happy that Ragtime went with a shortened version of the Prologue which not only sets the tone of the show but also featured all four of their nominees (Caissie Levy, Joshua Henry, Brandon Uranowitz, and Ben Levi Ross). It wasn’t surprising that Shmigadoon! went with their title number, which was old-style fun even if it didn’t feature nominees Sara Chase and Ana Gasteyer heavily. The Rocky Horror Show medley was also raucous fun, again even if it didn’t give Stephanie Hsu as much to do as Luke Evans and Rachel Dratch (at least it was a number where she was on stage, again unlike Death Becomes Her). And (warning! I’m about to be a hypocrite!) while the Cats: The Jellicle Ball performance barely included nominee Andre DeShields, I think they made the smart choice to go again with a truncated version of their opening number, because I already wanted to see it but now DAMN do I really want to see it. The disappointment to me was Titanique! I loved the show when we saw it down in Union Square last year. It is a ridiculously good time. My face hurt from laughing so much, and that is not an exaggeration. But the Tony performance seemed disjointed, and it seemed like Marla Mindelle’s energy was off compared to what I’ve seen in online clips (or even to her earlier appearances on the Tony broadcast, which were fun!). It’s almost like they tried to do too much in the time they had allotted, and it didn’t really sell the show – or give nominee Layton Williams a real moment to shine.
THE WINNERS
Again, having not seen most of the nominated shows/performances, I can’t say categorically who I thought should have won versus who did. I can say that I thought most of the acceptance speeches felt like the right length (okay, it did feel like John Lithgow meandered a bit). I was hoping that Ali Louis Bourzgui, Shoshana Bean, and Lesly Manville would win their categories and was happy when they did. I was hoping that Mark Strong, Nicholas Christopher, Christiani Pitts, Oedipus, and The Lost Boys would win their categories, and they didn’t. I was still happy for John Lithgow, Joshua Henry (who I suspected would win), Caissie Levy, Death of a Salesman, and Schmigadoon! I can also say I was surprised that Aaron Tveit and Lea Michele didn’t get Lead noms for Chess (although I didn’t see Lea, friends who did say she really was compelling in the role), that Anne Reid didn’t get a Featured Actress nom for Oedipus, and that LJ Benet didn’t get a Lead nomination for The Lost Boys.
I haven’t commented on any of the Technical or Writing awards because I didn’t see “Act One” on Pluto TV and I haven’t had a chance to look up the lists of nominees versus winners for those. And as this post is already overdue (at least it’s still Thursday in other time zones), I’m going to wrap this up the way several Tony Awards hosts have in the past:
Go support live theater! You don’t have to be in New York (or London’s West End) to do so. See a touring show. Find your nearest Regional Theater. Support community theatre and high school and college theater programs.
I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is an occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.
