Reactions to the Tonys

by Gray on June 16th, 2008

In a word, disappointed.

Passing Over Passing Strange

One award: best book of a musical. Now, don’t get me wrong - Stew is probably quite pleased to have gotten that. He’s on record as saying that he considers himself first a musician, and that the idea of getting a Tony is pretty far removed from most musicians.

Maybe that’s why I wanted him to sweep the Tony’s. Something to do with the underdog, the newcomer, something capturing the imagination rather than dominating to distraction with some huge Disneyesque production. Yes, yes, I know that Miranda winning Best Musical for The Heights is also an underdog, a tale of a young kid coming out of nowhere making it big on the Great White Way…but The Heights was a more traditional musical, and I was kind of rooting for something new to shake things up. Must be my performance art background.

Living in the Past

I have to confess that I’m also quite disappointed that the lion’s share of the awards (and some of the performances, to boot) went to established, safe musicals. Look, it’s all well and good to have Gypsy and South Pacific still playing - though I really dislike the latter, Gypsy has lots of charm. But the thing is: they’ve both been done for decades. It’s not that there isn’t anything new to do with them - I fully respect the art of the Revival. But because they’ve been around so long, a lot of the dead ends and mistakes have been made. In some ways, putting these actors and crew in the same race as some new piece like August: Osage County (which didn’t too shabbily, either, adding Best Play and four other awards to the Pulitzer already on the shelf) seems like having a high school basketball star playing alongside Kobe Bryant - no matter how good the kid does, experience will tell.

I did take secret delight in Katrina Lindsay winning best Costume Design- Play for her work on the period piece “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” I know, that completely makes the previous paragraph hypocritical - but I dated a costume designer who specialized in that period of costume, and it holds a soft spot in my heart.

Taking Suggestions

Then again, I’m just grumpy because the Tonys - always a great advertisement for Broadway - is a reminder of the shows I wish I were seeing. But I’ll get my chance…in a few weeks I head out to NYC for a couple of days. If I could only see one show: what should I see?

Image Courtesy of Newscom

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