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shadowkatThe Tony Awards - the 77th.
Watching Live, but also recording. Mother called to remind me - because alas I forgot about it again. I was watching Welcome to Wrexham S1 episode - A Journey Through Wales, and about how many castles Wales has. I watch partly to see if there's anything I want to attempt to see. I have TDF - which means I can get discounted tickets to various shows but don't always know where the seats will be.
So far, we've had a performance from Alicia Keys, and the cast of Hell's Kitchen (I still have no idea what that musical is about - it feels like a jukebox musical - which usually doesn't work for me), and an on-stage riff from Pete Townsend for Pinball Wizard from the Who's Tommy (I adore the Who, but I saw the original version in 1992 and also the film version with Roger Daltry and Elton John), complete with his red beanie.
Townsend still has it. Some folks are Clapton fans, I'm a Townsend fan and a Who fan. (It was well done presentation - so I'm tempted. The lead looks a lot like a young Daltry and has the same charisma.)
Kara won for Purlie Victorious after three years of noms and no wins, and she let loose on her tony win.
Ah, and we got Jonathan Groff, Lindsey Rand, and Daniel Radcliff singing Old Friends from Merrily We Roll Along. (eh, the musical doesn't enthuse me - it's about an egotistical composer and his relationship/friendship with his put upon lyricist and another play write with unrequited love. I can't help but wonder if this was Sondheim's half autobiographical musical about his relationship with Bernstein and another friend.) I don't like the Sondheim musicals that are too close to his life - such as Company and Merrily We Roll Again. I find them cringe-inducing and overwhelmingly self-indulgent. I prefer the ones based on others material - such as Sweeny Todd, West Side Story, and Into the Woods.
As much as I adore Groff and Radcliff, and Lindsey Rand - it's not enough to spend $249-400 for the musical. Which has been sold out. And hard to get tickets to.
The Tony's are re-enforcing the view that having relatives in the biz helps you get a job in the biz. The Best Director for a musical is also the niece of Julie Taymor (directed the Lion King on Broadway and won for it, also was the film director behind flims like Titus Adronicus.)
Water for Elephants could be fun, although the lead (from the Flash) isn't really strong enough, I think, to pull me in. I could barely hear him in the big group number. And the focus was on the acrobatics not the music, like the others. Nor on the love story - which is the central focus of the story.
Well, that's lovely, Daniel Radcliff won his first Tony for Merrily We Roll Along. He took to the Broadway Stage ages ago to become an actor and push the Harry Potter role behind him.
Once again, I hear the advice - this time from Best Supporting Actress in a Musical stated "After forty-four years of striving for this - I can tell you this, Never Give Up."
Illinois - I'd been flirting with because of the choreographer is Justin Peck (he did the choreography for Spielberg's West Side Story) and for Carousel (which I saw) and his work blows me away. Just saw the performance on the Tony's - and that blew me away. I cried during it. It was amazing. They managed to get across a great deal with just a song and a dance number. Although I might want to get close enough to see it - so that could be an issue.
[As an aside, The Tony's have better commercials than the Super Bowl did.]
Sterophonic - is the most nominated, and broke a record with 13 nominations for a Play. It's a play with music - so it got nominated for Best Original Score. It didn't win - Suffs did. It's tempting - it's about the process of recording music and the breakdown of a band in the recording sessions.
Cabaret and the Kit Kat Club - looks interesting. It has Eddie Redmayne in the MC role, and is very different than what Minelli/Fosse's version looked like. Much more decadent, and more biting satire from the performance I saw at the Tony's.
I think that's why there's better energy this year? Better plays and musicals. 14 new ones were introduced. The most in years. Makes me happy, knowing that. That the theater is thriving.
[I watch this solely for the performances, I don't care who wins. And it has some great performances this year.]
I was confused by Gutenberg: The Musical skit - apparently it's been nominated for best revival of a musical, because it's a classic that has been performed off and on Broadway with various interpretations and remastering.
They did a tribute to Chita Rivera - who I got to see on stage, about six rows from orchestra in A Kiss From a Spiderwoman, in 1992. She was amazing.
And in her fifties at the time. My mother loved her and wanted to see her on stage so got us tickets. My mother is also a theater geek, actually my parents, and various members of my mother's family (her youngest sister, and her cousin) are theater geeks. We've all done theater in school and all love it.
I always thought people often fall into two groups - theater geeks and live performance music geeks. My brother, niece and sister in law are the later, like the majority of folks or so it seems, and I was a theater geek like my parents, and various relatives on my mother's side of the family. It's harder to find theater geeks, or so I've found. Most people seem to like to have sound blasted in their ears, with no rhyme, reason or story to it.
People bewilder me.
The Tony's are more diverse this year in both presenters and nominations.
It has made me want to see various plays, specifically - African Hair Braiding, Stereophonic, Appropriate, and The Mother Play. Stereophonic won best play. They are doing a good job of spreading the wealth at least.
The difficulty with Broadway this year - and lately - is they close too quickly. We have lots of limited runs, maybe six weeks sometimes six months, and then gone. And the tickets aren't affordable - it's why I've not seen one in a while. But I'm thinking I need to change that soon and find one to see.
And now, we have the Tony Nominated Producer of Suffs, Hilary Clinton. She's wearing a beautiful sheath dress and looks lovely - since it is Broadway, she got a standing ovation. Broadway is liberal. The musical "Suffs" is about getting women the right to vote. They sing a rather moving song entitled "Keep Marching" which explains why it won Best Score. But the staging isn't the best.
The Outsiders - introduced by Producer Angelina Jolie, has an mind-blowing fight sequence/dance scene that is gritty, and real, and gets across the mindlessness of violence and the senselessness of it. Along with the loss. But the opening number "Greasers" was hard to hear and it was hard to tell who was who. I'm tempted but - it's a story I have memorized?
I read the book numerous times as a pre-teen in the 80s, adored it, and saw the movie numerous times in the early 80s. I was in love with C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy. But it is tempting. That dance sequence was good. Broadway theater works well for folks who love dance. I appreciate and love dance - took numerous dance classes, never was any good at it though, I've two left feet.
I was right, Merrily We Roll Along got best revival of a musical. Which is interesting and ironic, considering it bombed when it was first shown. A lot of first wins tonight? Sarah Paulson got it for Appropriate.
There's also a lot of film stars on Broadway. Which I've always had mixed feelings about it. Apparently JJ Abrahams produced Appropriate as did Bad Robot, so there are film producers involved now?
In Memoriam had an excellent song - "What I Did for Love". One of the better ones. This was better done than the Grammys, Daytime Emmy's, Emmy's and Oscar's - I thought. Simple and to the point.
Apparently Hell's Kitchen is getting the musical wins for best lead actress, supporting and featured. Which is interesting.
Jonathon Groff won - first win - for Merrily We Roll Along - which also makes me happy.
Oh, wow, the Outsiders won the Tony. Which makes sense. I think Peck got best choreography? I'm right he did. So to be fair, they all won for their strengths. Outsiders was all around, Illinois best choreography, Suffs best score, Stereophonic - Best Play. S.E. Hinton who wrote the Outsiders at the age of 16 in high school, in 1967, was sitting in the audience.
It's getting late, I'm signing off.
Watching Live, but also recording. Mother called to remind me - because alas I forgot about it again. I was watching Welcome to Wrexham S1 episode - A Journey Through Wales, and about how many castles Wales has. I watch partly to see if there's anything I want to attempt to see. I have TDF - which means I can get discounted tickets to various shows but don't always know where the seats will be.
So far, we've had a performance from Alicia Keys, and the cast of Hell's Kitchen (I still have no idea what that musical is about - it feels like a jukebox musical - which usually doesn't work for me), and an on-stage riff from Pete Townsend for Pinball Wizard from the Who's Tommy (I adore the Who, but I saw the original version in 1992 and also the film version with Roger Daltry and Elton John), complete with his red beanie.
Townsend still has it. Some folks are Clapton fans, I'm a Townsend fan and a Who fan. (It was well done presentation - so I'm tempted. The lead looks a lot like a young Daltry and has the same charisma.)
Kara won for Purlie Victorious after three years of noms and no wins, and she let loose on her tony win.
Ah, and we got Jonathan Groff, Lindsey Rand, and Daniel Radcliff singing Old Friends from Merrily We Roll Along. (eh, the musical doesn't enthuse me - it's about an egotistical composer and his relationship/friendship with his put upon lyricist and another play write with unrequited love. I can't help but wonder if this was Sondheim's half autobiographical musical about his relationship with Bernstein and another friend.) I don't like the Sondheim musicals that are too close to his life - such as Company and Merrily We Roll Again. I find them cringe-inducing and overwhelmingly self-indulgent. I prefer the ones based on others material - such as Sweeny Todd, West Side Story, and Into the Woods.
As much as I adore Groff and Radcliff, and Lindsey Rand - it's not enough to spend $249-400 for the musical. Which has been sold out. And hard to get tickets to.
The Tony's are re-enforcing the view that having relatives in the biz helps you get a job in the biz. The Best Director for a musical is also the niece of Julie Taymor (directed the Lion King on Broadway and won for it, also was the film director behind flims like Titus Adronicus.)
Water for Elephants could be fun, although the lead (from the Flash) isn't really strong enough, I think, to pull me in. I could barely hear him in the big group number. And the focus was on the acrobatics not the music, like the others. Nor on the love story - which is the central focus of the story.
Well, that's lovely, Daniel Radcliff won his first Tony for Merrily We Roll Along. He took to the Broadway Stage ages ago to become an actor and push the Harry Potter role behind him.
Once again, I hear the advice - this time from Best Supporting Actress in a Musical stated "After forty-four years of striving for this - I can tell you this, Never Give Up."
Illinois - I'd been flirting with because of the choreographer is Justin Peck (he did the choreography for Spielberg's West Side Story) and for Carousel (which I saw) and his work blows me away. Just saw the performance on the Tony's - and that blew me away. I cried during it. It was amazing. They managed to get across a great deal with just a song and a dance number. Although I might want to get close enough to see it - so that could be an issue.
[As an aside, The Tony's have better commercials than the Super Bowl did.]
Sterophonic - is the most nominated, and broke a record with 13 nominations for a Play. It's a play with music - so it got nominated for Best Original Score. It didn't win - Suffs did. It's tempting - it's about the process of recording music and the breakdown of a band in the recording sessions.
Cabaret and the Kit Kat Club - looks interesting. It has Eddie Redmayne in the MC role, and is very different than what Minelli/Fosse's version looked like. Much more decadent, and more biting satire from the performance I saw at the Tony's.
I think that's why there's better energy this year? Better plays and musicals. 14 new ones were introduced. The most in years. Makes me happy, knowing that. That the theater is thriving.
[I watch this solely for the performances, I don't care who wins. And it has some great performances this year.]
I was confused by Gutenberg: The Musical skit - apparently it's been nominated for best revival of a musical, because it's a classic that has been performed off and on Broadway with various interpretations and remastering.
They did a tribute to Chita Rivera - who I got to see on stage, about six rows from orchestra in A Kiss From a Spiderwoman, in 1992. She was amazing.
And in her fifties at the time. My mother loved her and wanted to see her on stage so got us tickets. My mother is also a theater geek, actually my parents, and various members of my mother's family (her youngest sister, and her cousin) are theater geeks. We've all done theater in school and all love it.
I always thought people often fall into two groups - theater geeks and live performance music geeks. My brother, niece and sister in law are the later, like the majority of folks or so it seems, and I was a theater geek like my parents, and various relatives on my mother's side of the family. It's harder to find theater geeks, or so I've found. Most people seem to like to have sound blasted in their ears, with no rhyme, reason or story to it.
People bewilder me.
The Tony's are more diverse this year in both presenters and nominations.
It has made me want to see various plays, specifically - African Hair Braiding, Stereophonic, Appropriate, and The Mother Play. Stereophonic won best play. They are doing a good job of spreading the wealth at least.
The difficulty with Broadway this year - and lately - is they close too quickly. We have lots of limited runs, maybe six weeks sometimes six months, and then gone. And the tickets aren't affordable - it's why I've not seen one in a while. But I'm thinking I need to change that soon and find one to see.
And now, we have the Tony Nominated Producer of Suffs, Hilary Clinton. She's wearing a beautiful sheath dress and looks lovely - since it is Broadway, she got a standing ovation. Broadway is liberal. The musical "Suffs" is about getting women the right to vote. They sing a rather moving song entitled "Keep Marching" which explains why it won Best Score. But the staging isn't the best.
The Outsiders - introduced by Producer Angelina Jolie, has an mind-blowing fight sequence/dance scene that is gritty, and real, and gets across the mindlessness of violence and the senselessness of it. Along with the loss. But the opening number "Greasers" was hard to hear and it was hard to tell who was who. I'm tempted but - it's a story I have memorized?
I read the book numerous times as a pre-teen in the 80s, adored it, and saw the movie numerous times in the early 80s. I was in love with C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy. But it is tempting. That dance sequence was good. Broadway theater works well for folks who love dance. I appreciate and love dance - took numerous dance classes, never was any good at it though, I've two left feet.
I was right, Merrily We Roll Along got best revival of a musical. Which is interesting and ironic, considering it bombed when it was first shown. A lot of first wins tonight? Sarah Paulson got it for Appropriate.
There's also a lot of film stars on Broadway. Which I've always had mixed feelings about it. Apparently JJ Abrahams produced Appropriate as did Bad Robot, so there are film producers involved now?
In Memoriam had an excellent song - "What I Did for Love". One of the better ones. This was better done than the Grammys, Daytime Emmy's, Emmy's and Oscar's - I thought. Simple and to the point.
Apparently Hell's Kitchen is getting the musical wins for best lead actress, supporting and featured. Which is interesting.
Jonathon Groff won - first win - for Merrily We Roll Along - which also makes me happy.
Oh, wow, the Outsiders won the Tony. Which makes sense. I think Peck got best choreography? I'm right he did. So to be fair, they all won for their strengths. Outsiders was all around, Illinois best choreography, Suffs best score, Stereophonic - Best Play. S.E. Hinton who wrote the Outsiders at the age of 16 in high school, in 1967, was sitting in the audience.
It's getting late, I'm signing off.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-19 03:53 pm (UTC)I'd almost rather watch it on streaming - because I can see the facial expressions and hear it better.