It's Tony Time!!!

[PrincessInOz]

Better book your ticket, if you haven't already.


Gotta go. Nice to cross paths with you all again. Hopefully, I'll catch you next awards show; although I doubt that I'll be around for the red carpet events given that Arena lost out this year.


Okay.....one last NPH!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for starting the thread, ugadog!

 

[Imzadi]

Better book your ticket, if you haven't already.


Gotta go. Nice to cross paths with you all again. Hopefully, I'll catch you next awards show; although I doubt that I'll be around for the red carpet events given that Arena lost out this year.


Okay.....one last NPH!

Good seeing you again PIO!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Didn't have my computer, so I didn't know there was a live thread. My post reactions are:

Arthur Darvill is on Broadway.

Cinderella is back on Broadway.

Neil Patrick Harris is awesome.

Cyndi Lauper made me cry.

 

[PammyK]

Didn't have my computer, so I didn't know there was a live thread. My post reactions are:

Arthur Darvill is on Broadway.

Rory sings on Broadway now. Broadway is COOL!

 

[marybet]

Who was the other woman?

I don't remember her name but she was in Matthew Perry's sitcom "Go On". She played the leader of the grief group.

 

[shortbun]

at last! A group of people who are proud to give rehearsed thank yous!

It was a fabulous show. Love Broadway!!!

 

[RachelTori]

Oh, well, I guess no cheap tickets for Pippin now.

I'm late to the party, as usual! Thanks to our CBS station in ATL, they cut the show off promptly at 11:00pm. Thankfully, I did get to watch NPH & Audra's closing number on YouTube.

NPH is incredible and he definitely made that show! Could he be any more talented and lovable?!!

I saw the original Pippin (with Ben Vereen as the Lead Player; John Rubinstein as Pippin) 3 times all those many years ago. Having grown up seeing many Broadway shows, Pippin has always been my favorite!

I hope I can get tickets to Pippin because I have a college student DD (a thespian in high school) who is now begging me to take her to NYC just to see Pippin!! I have "magic to do"!!

 

[PigletsPal2]

What a fun show! I LOVE Neil Patrick Harris! DH and I are planning a dirty weekend in NYC in Oct-Nov and I can't decide which show(s) we want to see.

I miss live theatre SO much. We lived in London for two years and we were at the theatre probably 90 of the 104 weekends we were there, sometimes Friday night, Saturday matinee and Saturday night! I worked just to finance our addiction!

Queen Colleen

 

[LBIJim]

I don't remember her name but she was in Matthew Perry's sitcom "Go On". She played the leader of the grief group.

Her name is Laura Benanti. Besides "Go On", she was in the quickly cancelled "The Playboy Club" about two years ago. She won the featured actress Tony for Gypsy about five years ago and has been in various Broadway shows.

Cecily Tyson's speech was cringe-worthy, but everyone just KNEW it would be. If she didn't waste half her allotted time reciting oddball poetry or whatever that crap was she was spouting, they wouldn't have needed to tell her to take a hike. I felt sorry for the poor woman who had to escort her offstage.

NPH was outstanding, as expected.

The only shows I saw this season were Christmas Story and Virginia Woolf, both on the same day in December. Glad to see both get some recognition, and VW win several awards.

Pippin looks interesting. My college did a production way back when, but other than the opening number, I don't remember anything about it.

Is it possible to pay about $25 and just see the one scene of Jane Lynch singing in Annie?

Hmmmm, Kinky Boots sounded interesting at first, but the number they performed definitely doesn't make me want to rush to the box office to buy tickets.

Jim

 

[AllisonK]

Im slowly making my way through the Tonys on my DVR. I was at work last night so I watched the first hour and a half or so when I got home, and I watched about a half hour just now.

I am kicking myself for not getting tickets to Pippin in Boston last winter. Wasn't impressed with Jane Lynch as Miss Hannigan, but I was one of the few who absolutely loved Katie Finneran in the role when I saw it last fall - so I am probably not the right person to judge! I was pretty impressed with Matilda, too, and will hopefully get to see it this fall when I move to the city.

 

[Imzadi]

at last! A group of people who are proud to give rehearsed thank yous!

It was a fabulous show. Love Broadway!!!

I think it's their theatrical training. John Travolta once said he would never, never, never get up for an acceptance speech without having something prepared in case he won. It just goes against all his stage training.

Her name is Laura Benanti. Besides "Go On", she was in the quickly cancelled "The Playboy Club" about two years ago. She won the featured actress Tony for Gypsy about five years ago and has been in various Broadway shows.

Thanks.

Cecily Tyson's speech was cringe-worthy, but everyone just KNEW it would be. If she didn't waste half her allotted time reciting oddball poetry or whatever that crap was she was spouting, they wouldn't have needed to tell her to take a hike. I felt sorry for the poor woman who had to escort her offstage.

That's not how I saw it. I don't know how old you are, but I was around when Cecily Tyson & Sidney Poitier were pretty much the ONLY black actors around. (Along with Bill Cosby on I Spy.) And they did so many civil rights movies. EVERY black actor, director, producer owes their careers to what those two did to pave the way for them.

Did I know Cecily was going to take her time? Yes. But this was the last time she'd ever win an award, so she was going to savor every millisecond and draw it out. And anyone, who like me, sees the end of their life closer now than the beginning, and has lost their parents and/or dear friends, knows there is a particular Club of experience we belong to, and can recognize each other through those shared experiences. We measure life & time differently now. I understood her speech perfectly. I cried.

And as to being escorted off-stage, you did notice, she was escorted ON-stage, too, by the man sitting next to her? She's 79.

Is it possible to pay about $25 and just see the one scene of Jane Lynch singing in Annie?

Now, THAT would be a great selling point. Standing room tickets just to see Jane Lynch's songs. Then ushered out right afterward.

Hmmmm, Kinky Boots sounded interesting at first, but the number they performed definitely doesn't make me want to rush to the box office to buy tickets.

Jim

I thought the same thing. I LOVE Cyndi Lauper. I am glad she's been able to make a comeback and prove she can do different music. But, that song they performed, did not wow me.

 

[happygirl]

Okay, dumb question, does Broadway close down for the Tonys'? Or do understudy put on the show

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Okay, dumb question, does Broadway close down for the Tonys'? Or do understudy put on the show

Most shows don't perform on Sunday nights anyway, but those shows that do, are nominated and are performing are usually dark on Tony night.

I was at the show last night and had a wonderful time. Our orchestra seats were fantastic, with a lot of Pippin fans. I got to talk to Larry Kramer very briefly at the gala, and saw Judith Light and Megan Hilty, who both looked gorgeous. My husband spent some time with Jerry Mitchell, who is just delightful.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Go Christine! That was no lip syncing either!

She sounded great, but it was absolutely lip syncing.

 

[Imzadi]

She sounded great, but it was absolutely lip syncing.

Really? They perform live 8 performances a week, but for the Tony Awards, in front of their peers, they lip synced?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Really? They perform live 8 performances a week, but for the Tony Awards, in front of their peers, they lip synced?

It was just that number that was recorded. I have no idea why.

 

[ashley0139]

As far as expense goes, each show also has to pay each actor that performs on the Tonys a full week's salary for just that performance (also stage hands, costumers, stage managers, etc that the performance requires). Their specific show funds that - not the producers of the Tonys. So it's VERY expensive for a show to perform on the Tonys, which is why sometimes shows do songs with only one performer and some do their entire cast. They have to decide what the publicity is worth.

I enjoyed the Tonys last night. I thought it was the best one since 2009. The opening number was great, as was NPH as usual.

 

[Imzadi]

It was just that number that was recorded. I have no idea why.

Ah, it was probably because they might have had a problem navigating that boat! I remember when I saw it in the first few months after it opened. That darned boat got stuck once behind scenery, and once even drove totally off stage, where Michael Crawford ended up singing in the wings for a a few bars before it got pushed back onstage.

I saw a documentary a couple years ago, on the making of Phantom, and they did mention that dang boat. Back when it opened, they had really cheap radio transmitters for the stagehands to steer the boat. If someone was driving by with another type of radio transmitter, like the police, it would interfere with their own signals. The boat would stop moving, or steer off stage, (yep, just like we saw.) Crawford would literally be using that oar to try to push them around, or back on track. They finally got better radio transmitters and put up stop to block outside transmissions.

Since they brought the boat to a new theatre they usually aren't in, and didn't know if the boat would misbehave again for some unforeseen reason, the producers might have thought it was best if the actors also didn't have to worry about screwing up the lyrics, too, on international TV.

 

[LBIJim]

Okay, dumb question, does Broadway close down for the Tonys'? Or do understudy put on the show

Only a few shows have Sunday evening performances. I would THINK that they would reschedule those during Tony night, but I don't know the actual practice.

Two years ago, when Book of Mormon won, they made a point of saying that the show was going on with understudies while the main performers were at the Tonys. Also the same evening, Christie Brinkley was in the audience. She was starring in the revival of Chicago at the time, which also usually has a Sunday evening performance. I don't know if they cancelled her show for that evening or an understudy went on in her place.

Do movie theatres shut down on Oscar night? If not, I suspect they're sparsely attended.

Jim