Well, dear readers, we had us some Tony Awards Bash here at haineshisway.com. Over eight hundred postings, which were fun, funny, pointed, intelligent and put the blather at Facebook to shame. I must say, Facebook really does bring out the ridiculous in people – they post and post as if someone were actually reading what they were posting beyond one or two people who see it before it goes down so far in the news feed that no one even knows it’s there. THIS is where the action is, baby, and this is where the action has always been. In fact, I feel safe in saying that soon we will be the most popular site on all the Internet. If you missed any of the merriment and mirth and laughter and legs there are twenty-seven pages of it for your reading enjoyment.
As to the show itself, sorry, it just didn’t do it for me and it hasn’t done it for me for a very long time. I’m told on Facebook that if I don’t love it that I’m a philistine and a pig and I don’t love theater. While I may, in fact, be a philistine and a pig, not necessarily in that order, I do love theater, but I don’t love the Tony Awards broadcast – sue me. It began with a very long, loud, big number that I was told repeatedly was brilliant and the best number ever. I don’t necessarily equate long, loud, and big with best – it was fine and marred by some truly bad choreography by a choreographer I don’t happen to care for at all.
Then they had this awful thing of the casts of currently running musicals introducing the numbers from this year’s nominees – in character. Why? But the broadcasts of the last decade seem to be about everything BUT the Tony Awards. It’s all smirky and winky and there’s no dignity or style or class (save for some of the winners and some of the presenters). And the director of the broadcast doesn’t seem to understand that the show isn’t about him and his ability to move the cameras in meaningless ways, like having them circle behind a performer who’s doing a proscenium number. Note to director: Why do you do that? It’s a number on a proscenium stage – when you circle behind and show the backs of the performers and the audience, it’s not only pointless and inept, it’s WRONG for the number you’re shooting. And then in the In Memorium section, to constantly be moving the camera while we’re, you know, trying to read the damn names, is disrespectful and bad. And I’m sure he’ll win an Emmy for it. We lost some of my favorite theater people this past year and I got a little emotional reading the names, several of which belonged to people I’d worked with and liked a lot.
As to the numbers from the nominated shows – well, I sort of enjoyed Pippin, but it’s funny to me to hear all the blabbing about “visionary” and “reimagined” only to see that while they’ve taken Fosse’s original circus concept that he discarded back in 1971 and called it their own, they can’t quite go all the way and they keep the Fosse style in the choreography. Why? Why not go all the way? It’s baffling to me. Kinky Boots was busy and didn’t come off that well, but the Billy Porter is a favorite of mine and I was thrilled for him. The Bring It On number was not to my liking at all. The Matilda sequence was not that appealing, at least on the broadcast. I’m sure it’s better in the theater.
Annie – choreography that was nowhere near as creative and special as Peter Genarro’s original – just pointing and posing and moving randomly. But I find that with all the choreography today. And does no one know what a rideout followed by a button is anymore? For me it doesn’t work when you build a number and then just end it with one beat on the final lyric – imagine the end of the Hello, Dolly! title song that way – “Dolly will never go away again” with the note held for one count followed by a button. The rideout is what gets the audience on their feet. Funnily, the only number on the entire show that had a proper rideout and button was the number with the most traditional choreography – A Christmas Story. I didn’t think the number was great, but they got that part of it right and the tapping was fun. Some of the speeches were lovely, and I could have lived without the “special material” that had nothing to do with the Tony Awards. All in all, not the worst of the recent broadcasts, but certainly not a patch on the butt cheeks of any of the broadcasts from the Alexander H. Cohen era.
And take this thing out of the Radio City Music Hall, that elephantine place that is apparently used so the Tony people can make money by selling tickets to fans and teens, and not cheap tickets. The awards were so much nicer when they were in a real theater without all those teens and fans screaming like they were watching American Idol – I’m sure they’ve been instructed to do just that, just as I’m equally sure that some of that is canned. There were some upsides – it did make me want to see a few things, like the Durang play, the revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Trip to Bountiful, and, I suppose, Pippin. And that’s my view of the thing and if that makes me a philistine and a pig so be it and be it so. I was glad to see several friends in the audience – that part is always nice and happy for all the winners.
Prior to that I’d gotten another good night’s sleep, did a three-mile jog, had a sandwich and treated myself to some onion rings, and later during the broadcast I had some popcorn. I also watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Mr. Sardonicus. It’s a William Castle movie so you know what you’re in for, but the two excellent male leads make it kind of fun. I missed this one when it originally came out – I’d seen a still of the perpetually grinning Sardonicus and it gave me the willies so I didn’t go. Near the end of the film, Mr. Castle has the audience participate in the Punishment Poll – it’s like that was the entire reason for making the film, and it is kind of fun. The transfer is terrific. But that grin still gives me the willies and why should I be the only one?
Today, I shall, of course, be up at eight – it’s the final two days of the workers. I’ll jog, I’ll eat, I’ll write some liner notes, I’ll finish an edit road map, I’ll hopefully pick up some tapes for an upcoming project, hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, I’ll eat something light but amusing, and then I’m seeing Girl Crazy at the Alex Theater in the evening.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals and going and doing. On Thursday night I’m seeing the opening night of the play Barry Pearl co-directed, Night Hawks, and I think I have other things to see, and then I get ready for my short trip to Washington DC.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, write, maybe pick up tapes, maybe pick up packages, eat, and then see a show. Today’s topic of discussion: Here’s one we haven’t done in quite a while – what LP that you loved still hasn’t, after all these years, come out on CD that you would love to have come out on CD. And what movie that you love that hasn’t had a DVD and/or Blu and Ray release would you love to see released? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall dream of the kind of Tony broadcasts I used to love.