My Friend, Tony

I spent last night in front of the television. It's not something I do very often. If anything, I'll watch a movie on DVD, but last night I turned on CBS for three hours.

What did I watch? The Tony Awards.

This was my first time to watch the Tonys in their entirety. Before, I've seen pieces and snippets. Sometimes I've flipped by and seen the opening production. Also, back when Boom was open, they would show highlights of the Tonys on Sunday nights (in between other show tunes). But now Boom is closed and if I'm going to watch the Tonys, I would have to commit myself to doing it.

I didn't get incredibly hard-core. I didn't print off a ballot to vote beforehand. In fact, I hadn't seen any of the plays and musicals up for the awards. I don't visit New York that often, and we are still catching up on Tony Award winning shows from a few years ago. However, since we were just in New York in April, I had heard of most of the shows. I'm hoping that this can inform what we want to see the next time we go (hopefully soon!).

I found some great highlights, and some things that could have used some improvement.

One disappointing thing was that there was no host. Angela Lansbury appeared at the beginning to welcome everyone and then sat down until the very end of the show to present best musical and say goodnight. I know that they have had a host in the past. In fact, Angela Lansbury made a reference to when she hosted the show several years ago. I've seen clips of Rosie O'Donnell and Hugh Jackman both hosting the show with a big opening number.

Which brings me to my second big disappointment. There was also no big opening number. Correction: they used A Chorus Line as both the opening number and the opening credits. However, A Chorus Line was also a candidate for best revival of a musical, so it was doing double duty in singing at the very opening. I feel a bit cheated. From the clips I've seen, they often make up an original (or somewhat original) opening number that brings everything together. I missed getting to see that.

However, lest you think I was completely disappointed, let me say that the Tonys have the ability to finish their telecast show exactly on time (three hours!). Take that, Oscars!

If you followed any part of the Tonys, you will know that Spring Awakening was the runaway musical. It won eight awards, including best Musical. The music was composed by Duncan Sheik, so it has a very contemporary sound while being set in 19th century. It's about teenage angst and rebellion in the midst of Victorian society. After seeing some clips, I'd be interested in seeing it.

Another show I would be interested in seeing is Grey Gardens. This is about the reclusive aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy in the mid-seventies. The segment they showed on the Tonys was pretty fun, so it might be worth a shot.

When we were in New York, I was interested in seeing Curtains. It starred David Hyde Pierce as a detective who is investigating the death of a leading lady. It's somewhat of a Broadway show about the theatre (we called that meta-theatre in my intro class). We didn't go, but I was happy to know that David Hyde Pierce won the Tony for best leading actor in a musical.

There's my highlights of the Tony Awards. Next time, we need a host who can do an opening number. Then I'll be happy.