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Generally, I don't watch awards shows. Academy awards, Emmy awards, Daytime Emmy awards, people's choice, MTV - what all. I think they are rather silly. The one awards show I *do* watch is the Tony Awards.
Why? Because I am a big theatre geek. And you get to see snippits of the Broadway season. And stage actors are just more interesting than the cookie-cutter "beautiful people" you get in Hollywood. As Christine Ebersoll said last night, "I left Hollywood when they told me I was over the hill. And now I'm standing here with this most distinguished award for what I consider to be the role of a lifetime. I'm over the hill in the role of a lifetime! This is so encouraging."
But the Tony award voting public are just as likely to *not* award something deserving as any other group, so we take what they say (remember "Jersey Boys" won for best musical last year, tragedy that was!) with a big ol' grain of salt.
This year, they did not have a host, which meant that the show felt a little broken up and didn't run as smoothly as it can. Also - it was kind of lame. The insider jokes were few and far between, and the "phantom of the opera" bit kinda sucked. I loved what Julie White said when she won Leading Actress in a Play for "The Little Dog Laughed" - she got to take home the tchochke. David Hyde Pierce was humble and grateful and just wonderful for his acceptance of Leading Actor in a Musical win for "Curtains". Frank Langella was one who was pithy and profound and spoke from the heart instead of thanking a laundry list of people (Leading Actor in a Play for "Frost/Nixon"). And Christine Ebersoll got the top Leading Actress in a Musical for her work in "Grey Gardens." Mary Louise Wilson also won for Featured Actress in a Musical for "Grey Gardens" and she said, in part, "You know, when I used to think about if I ever possibly won one of these, would I feel, you know, like there was a mistake made. Would I feel that way. I don’t." She's been a Broadway actress for over forty *years* and this part got her her first Tony. Wow! I wouldn't feel like there was a mistake made, either!
And in the Play category "The Coast of Utopia" won lots of honors including the "Best Play". "Journey's End" got the top spot for revival of a Play.
In the Musical Theatre world, "Company" got the best revival - well deserved, I think. But I gotta say, "Spring Awakening"??!? Best new Musical? Gods WHY?! Can you say depressing, downer, dark? The piece they did on the show did not make me want to see the show. It did not make me even think about seeing the show. I'm not sure the period costumes work with the modern tech and dance style they were using. One of the themes is so rooted in the nineteenth century, that the use of hand held mics and mosh-pit movements doesn't work. The whole thing turned me off. I can sort of see if they were going to update it to today (a la "Rent"), but then the innocence of the time wouldn't work at all. So on a conceptual level, no, it doesn't do much for me.
However, I would go see "Curtains" in a second. I'd love to see "Company." Even "Grey Gardens" intrigues me. Heck, I'd see "Jersey Boys" before I'd see "Spring Awakening" and I still think "feh" of "Jersey Boys." Although, I have a good friend who saw it and thought it was wonderful ("Jersey Boys," that is).
So while I agree with some of the choices of the American Theatre Wing made, I don't agree with all of them. Here's to the '07-'08 Theatre Season!
Why? Because I am a big theatre geek. And you get to see snippits of the Broadway season. And stage actors are just more interesting than the cookie-cutter "beautiful people" you get in Hollywood. As Christine Ebersoll said last night, "I left Hollywood when they told me I was over the hill. And now I'm standing here with this most distinguished award for what I consider to be the role of a lifetime. I'm over the hill in the role of a lifetime! This is so encouraging."
But the Tony award voting public are just as likely to *not* award something deserving as any other group, so we take what they say (remember "Jersey Boys" won for best musical last year, tragedy that was!) with a big ol' grain of salt.
This year, they did not have a host, which meant that the show felt a little broken up and didn't run as smoothly as it can. Also - it was kind of lame. The insider jokes were few and far between, and the "phantom of the opera" bit kinda sucked. I loved what Julie White said when she won Leading Actress in a Play for "The Little Dog Laughed" - she got to take home the tchochke. David Hyde Pierce was humble and grateful and just wonderful for his acceptance of Leading Actor in a Musical win for "Curtains". Frank Langella was one who was pithy and profound and spoke from the heart instead of thanking a laundry list of people (Leading Actor in a Play for "Frost/Nixon"). And Christine Ebersoll got the top Leading Actress in a Musical for her work in "Grey Gardens." Mary Louise Wilson also won for Featured Actress in a Musical for "Grey Gardens" and she said, in part, "You know, when I used to think about if I ever possibly won one of these, would I feel, you know, like there was a mistake made. Would I feel that way. I don’t." She's been a Broadway actress for over forty *years* and this part got her her first Tony. Wow! I wouldn't feel like there was a mistake made, either!
And in the Play category "The Coast of Utopia" won lots of honors including the "Best Play". "Journey's End" got the top spot for revival of a Play.
In the Musical Theatre world, "Company" got the best revival - well deserved, I think. But I gotta say, "Spring Awakening"??!? Best new Musical? Gods WHY?! Can you say depressing, downer, dark? The piece they did on the show did not make me want to see the show. It did not make me even think about seeing the show. I'm not sure the period costumes work with the modern tech and dance style they were using. One of the themes is so rooted in the nineteenth century, that the use of hand held mics and mosh-pit movements doesn't work. The whole thing turned me off. I can sort of see if they were going to update it to today (a la "Rent"), but then the innocence of the time wouldn't work at all. So on a conceptual level, no, it doesn't do much for me.
However, I would go see "Curtains" in a second. I'd love to see "Company." Even "Grey Gardens" intrigues me. Heck, I'd see "Jersey Boys" before I'd see "Spring Awakening" and I still think "feh" of "Jersey Boys." Although, I have a good friend who saw it and thought it was wonderful ("Jersey Boys," that is).
So while I agree with some of the choices of the American Theatre Wing made, I don't agree with all of them. Here's to the '07-'08 Theatre Season!
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