Tonys 2025 thoughts

I don't really watch awards show very much anymore. At some point I stopped going to the movies, even watching movies at home less. And while I certainly do still watch television, a lot of what I watch isn't really in the conversation when it comes to awards. And I was never enough into music to want to watch the Grammys. But the Tonys? I will forever watch and have opinions on the Tonys. Have I seen any of the nominated shows? I have not. But I still have thoughts.

Things I loved:

• The Hamilton performance. You should all be grateful this blog was dormant when I went through my Hamilton obsession, because let me tell you, it was all-encompassing. A musical about the Founding Fathers from Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose In the Heights I loved? Yes please! The reunion of the OBC was fabulous and brought my affection right back. Lin seemed a bit nervous in his part of "My Shot," but Daveed kicking ass on "Guns and Ships" was delightful. 
• OK, pretty much all the performances. I wish the sound were better so I could've understood Operation Mincemeat a bit more (how I want to see that show!), but overall, I was very impressed all around. This really was a good season, and I know there were shows missing. 
• AUDRA. Holy crap. Was her voice on point? It was not. Was I still completely riveted, to the point that my husband was staring at me oddly? I was. 
• Cole Escola's tribute to Bernadette Peters. I don't have much interest in Oh Mary! (maybe someday), but they seem delightful and looked amazing.
• Having Brian Stokes Mitchell do the voiceovers. I love him so much. His voice is magic. It he isn't on stage singing "This Nearly Was Mine," at least we heard his dulcet tones throughout the night. 
• Sara Bareilles and Cynthia Erivo's duet for In Memoriam. Their voices together were just absolutely lovely. And Cynthia holding Sara after Gavin Creel appeared on the board...tears. Just devastating.
• Cynthia Erivo's bit about Jonathan Groff (though I didn't need the Lincoln joke told in the same segment; it was just unoriginal!).
• Natalie Venetia Belcon's win for Supporting Actress in a musical for Buena Vista Social Club. The show looks fun, and I saw her as Gary Coleman in Avenue Q! 
• Michael Arden's "If there are any queer people watching tonight..." 

Things that were meh: 

• I liked the concept of the opening number; nobody can argue with Cynthia Erivo's voice. But it just...did nothing for me. That's due, in part, to the troubles the broadcast was having with sound; part of my issue is that I don't think I picked up what she was saying. But also, I want a lot of dancing with my Tonys openers. That's just how I roll. Obligatory link to The Best Tonys Opener Ever:
• I thought I'd like the Pirates! performance more than I did. I love David Hyde Pierce and Ramin Karimloo and have heard nothing but good things about Jinx Monsoon. But it just didn't hold my attention. 
• The Death Becomes Her performance was so fun, but I was bummed I didn't get to see Jennifer Simard perform after all I've heard about her. But still...Megan Hilty.
• Cynthia Erivo's bit with Oprah and the car. 

Things I didn't like:

• Nicole Scherzinger's performance/win. And really the concept for the Sunset Blvd. revival. Nothing I've seen about that makes me want to see it; from what I've read, it's extremely polarizing. Her voice? Fab. Holding that note at the end? Impressive. Otherwise? No. Pass.
• Having to miss the first hour of the show because I don't have whatever random streamer was airing them. I want to see those awards! I want to see Harvey Fierstein and Celia Keenan-Bolger honored!
• The inconsistency of people being played off during their acceptance speeches (though I loved the song used for it). 

 

All you have to do is pull your little finger

I've never been a JFK fan. I think it stems from reading something when I was little about his assassination, and the book said something like, "Not since the death of Abraham Lincoln had the country mourned so much." My favorite President is FDR. I was outraged. People were very upset when Roosevelt died. The country probably was more upset about JFK's assassination...BECAUSE WORLD WAR II WAS STILL GOING ON WHEN ROOSEVELT DIED.

I apparently still feel strongly about this. But honestly, JFK wasn't that good a President. I don't really count "bringing youthful vitality to the White House" that much. He did a good job with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and he did start the process of the civil rights bill. But Bay of Pigs and escalation in Vietnam. So, mixed bag. Him being attractive? Not considered.

I just finished reading Death of a President: November 1963. It was written by William Manchester and published in the late 60s. Manchester had the blessing of Jackie and Bobby and had written a book about Jack earlier, so he knew these people. He interviewed pretty much everyone even tangentially involved with the Kennedys or the assassination. It's a 650-page book. It's very thorough.

Most of the book is a fairly straightforward account of the week surrounding Kennedy's death (from the Wednesday before to the Monday after), and Manchester describes the scenes and people involved vividly. One of the hardest things about reading this book is remembering who everyone mentioned is, which really is a testament to Manchester's work.

In general, I enjoyed it, though if Manchester was trying to hide any biases, he failed miserably. In discussing some of Kennedy's staff, Manchester frequently points out the problem of being loyal to a man versus a position. He makes a lot of the fact people don't refer to Lyndon Johnson as the President...and he is obviously totally fine with people not wanting to call Johnson the President, even well after he was. Manchester frequently includes lines about how hard it must be for Johnson, but it's just lip service. It's pretty clear that while he understands intellectually that Johnson had to start governing, Manchester sure couldn't understand emotionally.

(He also, amusingly, makes a snide comment about someone writing something scandalous about JFK's personal, like obviously there was nothing scandalous there. Heh.)

Manchester also emphasizes how the entire country just spent the entire weekend in mourning, how everyone kept trying to get drunk to dull the pain but it just wouldn't work, how the world stopped for this weekend. (To the point that there was a moment of silence or similar, and trains stopped. Really?!) And yet, he acknowledges that JFK wasn't the most popular in the world. Manchester clearly doesn't like Texas, and blames Dallas for the assassination. So...not everyone was paralyzed by grief. (Including my parents. Not that they didn't like JFK, as far as I know, but I DO know that they had their first date that weekend. So life did indeed go on.)

Speaking of, dude does NOT like Lee Harvey Oswald. He 100% believes that Oswald did it, acting alone. But his portrayal of Oswald is one with zero sympathy, zero empathy, zero redeeming qualities.

Mind you, I found some of the principals in the story somewhat unsympathetic. Jackie was obsessed with making sure Jack would be remembered, which at times came across to me as somewhat unseemly. (Did she really need to add a plaque to his bedroom that he slept there? You, sir, are no Abraham Lincoln.) (Turns out the Nixons removed it. Which is awesome.) On the other hand, she showed a grace and thoughtfulness toward others that was strictly amazing. And who should make a cameo late in the book but Aristotle Onassis!

The bits like that were largely depressing, mostly because of the knowledge of what would happen to Bobby the year after this book was published. Seeing Bobby and Ted in this context was just sobering. Also statements about attempts to pass gun reform bills in the wake of the shooting were all too familiar.

But overall, a good book. I particularly enjoyed finding out the details about what went on between Parkland and Arlington. The random conversations, the debate about where to bury JFK, the odd behavior that wasn't seen as particularly odd, the confusion about tell Caroline and John-John. Fascinating.

A good, if time-consuming, read.

Year after year, older and older

I went to a "look-in" at the Kennedy Center with the lead cast members of Follies--basically, a discussion. The first half hour, the cast answered questions from the moderator; the second, they answered audience questions. One guy asked Bernadette Peters something like, "If someone isn't familiar with Sondheim, what song do you think would be the best example of him?" Response of the audience: "Oooooh."

Bernadette Peters couldn't answer it. Sondheim, of course, is too elusive. It's crazy when you look at his shows, when you listen to the incredible variety of music he writes. There's the pastiche in Follies, the journey through American songs in Assassins, the classical influence of A Little Night Music...It's crazy.

It reminds me of when I was talking to the two teenage guys in my tap class. I mentioned Sondheim, and they hadn't heard of him. (Maybe because they're European? ...Or teenage boys?) I was trying to think of something they might know, and came up with Sweeney Todd. Which they DID know. But that's the thing about Sondheim--this genius, yet so many of his shows flopped. Have most people heard of him? I don't even know.

One of the actors made a comment in the look-in about Sondheim's songs. There was a discussion about singing his songs on their own, in concerts and so forth. Bernadette Peters said that she wouldn't sing "Send in the Clowns" outside of Night Music, because for her, it's too much part of the story. Another of the actors then pointed out that the great thing about Sondheim is that the songs work both perfectly in the shows...but their lyrics are so universal that a lot of the time, they don't need the show. I knew "Clowns" and "Losing My Mind" and "Broadway Baby" and "Putting It Together" and "Side by Side" before I knew the shows they came from. They mean more now...but they were pretty great before, too.

Between the look-in today and reactions to the show I was reading on message boards, there is a LOT of love for the original production of Follies. Gushing about the music, the staging. People gushing about it affecting them, lingering with them for the 40 years since the show premiered.

It didn't have that effect on me. Of the Sondheim shows I've seen, it's probably my least favorite. Random, extraneous songs; too many characters. There are some really fantastic numbers--really. fantastic. But, it didn't touch me. Maybe I'm still too young for it?

And that's what it comes down to. In trying to decide my favorite Sondheim, it comes down to that emotional connection for me. Emotionally, Company is my favorite; objectively, Sunday in the Park With George probably is. But Bobby is a character I can relate to only too much. "Move On" from Sunday very well may be my favorite song, but I am Bobby. Company is My Sondheim.

(Side note: I totally want to go have drinks with Elaine Paige. She seems fantastic. I feel like she would be awesomely gossipy about everyone in British theatre.)

Play out, orchestra!

There was an interesting article in the Post the other day about the orchestras in recent revivals of Sondheim musicals. I admit that I was quite tickled because I've seen all of the Sondheim shows he mentions: John Doyle's Sweeney Todd; the Company revival (OK, on PBS); the Sweeney Todd movie; the Sunday in the Park With George revival; even A Little Night Music in Baltimore, which I saw on Sunday.

(It was very good. I was a bit bored with the grandmother, which I recall from when I read the play a few months ago. And I was surprised at how many of the songs I know. Plus, Sarah Uriarte Berry, who I saw in Les Mis back in 1994, was great. It also had Maxwell Caulfield, best known from Grease 2; of course, this involved me trying to explain the plot of that movie to my friend Mike, who saw the show with me. I was impressed that Caulfield listed it in his credits; way to own it! "Send in the Clowns" was a bit weak, as Barbara Walsh performed it more lyrically than emotionally, so it wasn't quite the showstopper it could be. But overall, very, very enjoyable.)

Anyway, overall, I don't really agree with the author of the piece. That's not to say that I think that shows should have smaller orchestras; I don't. But I'm apparently part of the problem, as I didn't notice anything particularly off about the orchestra for Sunday. (Thinking back, I do remember noticing the lack of an orchestra, but that hardly diminished my enjoyment of the show.) I admit that I was hardly blown away by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter in Sweeney, but I doubt they would've been laughed off the stage. (The kid who played Toby definitely wouldn't have; he was great). I'm still not sure how I feel about Doyle's having the actors playing the instruments, but that doesn't reflect on the use of orchestras in musical theatre in general.

The state of the art

I saw the Roundabout Theater production Sunday in the Park With George on Saturday. Holy crap, people, it was awesome. I got discount tickets through Goldstar (which offers tickets to theater, sports events, tours--whatever requires tickets, really--in most major cities, and they send out a weekly e-mail of what they offer; you can check it out here), and they wound up being front row center. The actors were so close. It was crazy. I was actually making eye contact with the actors and felt weird; like, They're looking at me! That's not how it's supposed to go! It was somewhat disconcerting.

Anyway, the show itself was great. Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell were fantastic (though her accent was a bit random in the second act). I'm having problems even articulating how great I thought they were. I don't know if it was being so close...being able to see them all the time. Watching the tears fall silently down their cheeks as they still managed to sing.

Sunday is one of the shows that gets me choked up just listening to it, so seeing it was just incredible. There were a number of moments, but the one that got me was at the end of the second act, after the reappearance of the subjects of the painting. I don't want to spoil it, but it put me completely over the edge. I managed to hold myself together at "Sunday" in the first act, but couldn't get through its reprise.

Which is not to say that it was a perfect production. As I mentioned, Jenna Russell couldn't quite figure out where she should be from in the second act (England? American South?). I'm still not sure I feel about the use of projections during "Putting It Together," though overall, I enjoyed the projections. The girl playing Louise kept hitting notes oddly--which was actually fortunate, because it kept me from totally blubbering at the end of the show.

But seriously, even the make-up was impressive--that is, not noticable even from the front row.

Anyway. Then, after the show, they announce that there's going to be a Q&A with some of the cast. Crazy! Naturally, we stuck around. Sadly, neither of the two leads took part, which is understandable (though I found out they did the one two weeks earlier!). But it was like the day just got better and better. There weren't really any huge revelations. My favorite question was when one person started talking about the "paradox" of George relating to his art, but not to the people in his life, and what did the actors think about that?

I've obviously worked myself into a state of blathering inarticulateness about this. My apologies. (I do recommend checking out this piece on Good Morning America about it.) I'll just say that if you can, go see this. Totally worth it.

Stop worrying where you're going-
Move on
If you can know where you're going
You've gone
Just keep moving on

I chose, and my world was shaken-
So what?
The choice may have been mistaken,
The choosing was not
You have to move on

Look at what you want,
Not at where you are,
Not at what you'll be...

One's impossible

So I’m watching Company on PBS. It’s the same director who did a version of Sweeney Todd, wherein all the actors play instruments. I saw the Sweeney Todd in London and loved it, but wasn’t sure about doing the concept over and over and over for, like, all Sondheim shows ever.

But I’m enjoying it. I’m still not sure about the concept, but Raul Esparza is totally selling Bobby. I’m a sucker for the role, anyway; as the only single with a lot of coupled friends, I find myself relating. His face is just incredibly expressive, and seeing his reactions is giving me some new insights into the show and the characters. Well, Bobby, at least. Although right now he’s kind of reminding me of Ted from How I Met Your Mother. Well, third season Ted—the one not necessarily looking for a wife.

I saw Company a few years back, as part of the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim celebration. John Barrowman was Bobby and I remember loving that, too. Great voice, but I can’t remember much about the characterization.

I’m debating turning it off soon. Partly so I can watch another episode of Veronica Mars, but partly to avoid “Being Alive.” That song absolutely kills me. It’s one of the songs that just makes me cry pretty much every time I hear it. Again—I relate just a tad too much.

Anyway, they have April carry around an oboe. They know the way to my heart.