(no subject)

[bardic_lady]

Quick thoughts on the Tonys: (in no real order)

Stockard Channing looked AMAZING in the opening. Dolly Parton... sang Allison Janney's part. :( Bret Michaels ran into a set piece. Headlines read things like 'Bret Michaels Injured by Set Piece in Tony Opening'. Um... He ran into it. Let's not make it the set piece's fault, hmmmm?

Yay Angela Lansbury! I love her SO MUCH. And now I really really want to go to New York and see her and Rupert Everett in Blithe Spirit. SO MUCH.

Of the musical revival numbers, Guys and Dolls was boring, West Side Story was mediocre, Hair totally rocked. Gavin Creel being sexy at Anne Hathaway was ADORABLE. I bet she's going to be great in Twelfth Night this summer.

Of the new musical numbers, Shrek SUCKED (I love you Sutton Foster, I tried to love you here, I failed), Next to Normal looks great if very much a downer, I probably don't really want to see Rock of Ages but you do 'Don't Stop Believin' and I kind of have to get on board, and... I really was totally unimpressed by Billy Elliot. First off, it's a musical about a boy doing ballet, so for the Tonys you picked... the tap number. Way to make no sense. Also, blah blah cute kids, blah blah Elton John, blah blah, does that really make it the year's best musical?

Did I mention Angela Lansbury? And that I love her? 'Cause I do. Also, Geoffrey Rush. And Alice Ripley, even though, I admit, I was pulling for Ally Janney. Who looked fantastic. A-mazing. I also loved that when they were showing Jerry Herman clips, 'Put on Your Sunday Clothes' was listed as from Hello, Dolly and Wall-E.

Neil Patrick Harris was great, the little we saw of him. Next time, fewer commercials, more host, hmmm?

Which brings us to the PROBLEMS. CBS, I'M LOOKING AT YOU.
Unecessary camera work during the In Memoriam. Not Cool. We don't care what your cameras can do, what's important here is the tribute to the people the community has lost. And it would help if we could tell who they were. Just show us the frickin' film.

We don't pick and choose who gets long acceptance speeches. Just because the people who scored Next to Normal are not as recognizable as Liza Minnelli, doesn't mean that she gets more acceptance speech time.

I still strongly disapprove of the tech awards not being televised. I find it offensive that even on a night developed to showcase theatre talent, the so called 'creative arts' are still second class.

And the big one, OMG WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SOUND? No one was well mic'd. You would think that whoever was running the board had never done a live show before. You have to run a handheld out to someone during a number, I don't think we caught the beginning of a single number, the girl with the one solo line in the Shrek number's mic was on for the entire number, heard her not the rest of the chorus, the miccing for the tour numbers was universally awful, sound went in and out, it was static-y, it was CRAPPY. Way to show us that you care about live theatre there, CBS. Way to go.

In conclusion, congratulations to all the winners.

Comments

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

Didn't watch it, no TV, but I totally get you on that not broadcasting technical awards BS. Those are the people who'll have to explain to their family that yes, they won a Tony, but not a real Tony. Or, "Did you not see me on TV? I was totally there."

They don't broadcast the technical Emmies either. Either these people are doing something important and deserve to be recognized or they aren't. And didn't they screw up the In Memorium on the Oscars this year too?

[dramaturgca.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they did. *hulksmash* I am so sick of the BS. It's cause the tech are nerds. Heaven forbid we should put nerds on TV.

The sound design of a play winner was really cute in the clips, he was like 'there's only one problem with winning this Tony, now I have to explain to my parents that I don't actually work in a bank...'

[ladybretagne.livejournal.com]

Oh the technical thing, don't even get me started. At least you used to be able to watch the creative arts Tonys on PBS, now they don't even do THAT which I think is bullshit. And the sound was beyond bad, it was absolutely inexcusable. Alice Ripley though, she was awesome as always. And did you notice Cheyenne Jackson molesting Marc Kudisch during the Hair number? It was fab.

[dramaturgca.livejournal.com]

All the molesting during the Hair number was great. Am looking forward to the soundtrack, which is currently $9.99 with pre-order price guarantee on Amazon. Doesn't come out until 7/7 :(

[heart-of-man.livejournal.com]

Fairly much ditto to everything you said there. What really pissed me off about the In Memoriam section was that they made the exact same mistake at the Oscars, and it's like no one bothered to learn from it.

[dramaturgca.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know why they think we really have to see whoever's singing the sad song. If the person singing is that picky about their air time, they're the wrong person to do the In Memoriam montage.