Against all odds, the show went on.
On Sunday night, the 76th Annual Tony Awards went unscripted as a consequence of the continuing writers’ strike and was staged far, distant from its usual downtown venue of Radio City Music Hall.
As a substitute, the ceremony to honor Broadway plays and musicals was held at the United Palace in Washington Heights, on 176th Street.
And with no professionally written lines, there weren’t any of the standard skits or banter that make awards shows suck. Well, almost none.
At one pathetic moment, host Ariana DeBose ripped off a bit of celebrity Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie but lost her train of thought.
“I do not know what those notes mean,” the Oscar-winner for West Side Story said awkwardly. “Welcome…who’s next on stage!”
Yes. Is it Tonys or Improv Night on a quad bike?
The actual problem, nevertheless, was not production issues. It was just the shows.
The 2022-23 Broadway season was loaded with small, area of interest, pretentious fares that nobody cared much about and that looked absolutely microscopic in a 3,300-seat theater. The nominees’ performances – the most important showcase of those musicals ever – is Ambientertainment.
“Kimberly Akimbo”, a blunder by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire, won the award for best musical. It’s the exact opposite of the red-hot “The Producers” or “Hamilton” – the struggling “Akimbo” is a few 16-year-old highschool girl affected by an endemic that makes her age rapidly and he or she looks 67 years old.
This plot – not quite “Guys and Dolls” – is a tough sell, and the production will proceed to be a tough sell, whatever the musical win, actress within the musical (Victoria Clark), lead actress within the musical (Bonnie Milligan), book and rating.
“Who’s going to this show?” he asked waving. “I do not care if he wins Preakness, Nobel and the World Series!”
Clark’s leisurely rendition of “Anagram” within the musical was confusing and out of context.
But few of its competitors fared a lot better on the TV show.
“&Juliet”, a spirited pixie stick from the jukebox featuring songs by Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry and more, performed a strangely lethargic version of Perry’s “Roar”. It’s much nicer on stage than it looked on Sunday.
“Recent York, Recent York,” based on the Martin Scorsese film, performed the famous “Start spreadin’ news!” title number, however it also had the smell of an expensive tourist trap.
And the retro “Some Like It Hot” shall be going uphill now that it has lost the best musical it desperately needed to win. His flashy songs and dances were enjoyable but generic and old-fashioned, and the show costs a hefty $950,000 every week.
The musicals that performed best and were capable of gain popularity because of the published were the famous “Sweeney Todd” starring Josh Groban and Neil Diamond’s “A Beautiful Noise”.
This biomusical had zero nominations and terrible reviews, but his rendition of “Sweet Caroline” was one among the few vivid moments of an extended night that felt like “The Ring Cycle.”
The nice musical comedy “Shucked”, the lovable home show with a humorousness “Hee Haw”, was energetic and filled with underdog charm. Nonetheless, he won just one Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor (Alex Newell).
While musicals struggled for trophies attempting to stay alive, a lot of the winning plays have already ended or will soon end.
Legendary British playwright Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt” won the Best Play award just before closing at the Longacre Theater in July.
The closed “Topdog Underdog” by Suzan-Lori Parks won the award for best play reissue.
Musical Revival was released in a limited edition of Jason Robert Brown’s Parade, starring Ben Platt, concerning the lynching of Leo Frank.
Several big stars were nominated – Jessica Chastain for “A Doll’s House”, Josh Groban for “Sweeney Todd”, Samuel L. Jackson for “The Piano Lesson” – but were rejected.
Nonetheless, Jodie Comer (TV series “Killing Eve”) won Best Actress for “Prima Facie.” Her Tony was well deserved. The daring role of the actress in a one-man performance a few lawyer whose life has turned the wrong way up is a sensation.
Too bad Will and Grace’s Sean Hayes won Best Actor in a Play for his performance within the awful drama Goodnight, Oscar.
What was the best thing concerning the Tony Awards? Legends honored.
96-year-old John Kander, who co-created “Chicago”, “Cabaret”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and lots of others with Fred Ebb, was moving, reflecting on his wealthy profession.
Similar to Joel Gray, who was portrayed by his famous daughter Jennifer Grey, who played Baby within the movie Dirty Dancing. The 91-year-old took the stage and commenced singing his signature song “Willkommen” from “Kabaret”.
It was also nice to see Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick presenting the award for Best Actor in a Play. In these two big stars of 2001’s The Producers, viewers finally saw something they hadn’t seen all night.
Blow.