Sunday, June 07, 2009

It's show time!

7: 44- The Tony live feed isn't working for me, so I'll start blogging at 8.

8:01- So excited! Those Billy Elliot boys are amazing dancers. Something is off with the sound. At least they are showing one of the decent scenes from Guys and Dolls. I'm not loving the opening though. Where's Neil Patrick Harris?

8:05- Horrified about Stockard Channing and Aaron Tveit. How did they decide which songs would go together for this opening? I love Shrek, the most underrated show of the season. I love Dolly too.

8:09- Ladies and gentleman, the best looking cast on Broadway right now- the cast of Hair. It's a Hair dance party with everyone!

8:12- Neil Patrick Harris needs to sing at some point tonight.

8:17- Roger Robinson deserves this award. I also loved Stephen Mangan and Paul Ritter. But this speech is really touching. I'm one for one so far.

8:27- I'm glad they chose a Christopher Seiber number for Shrek, but I wish they went with "The Ballad of Farquad." Is it going to take Brian D'Arcy James 45 minutes to get out of his costume or keep his costume on the whole time? Wow, they kept the "Defying Gravity" bit in, but kept it off the CD.

8:31- I love Angela Lansbury, but I would have liked Amanda Root to win. But how cute is Angela Lansbury?

8:34- I'll admit, I really enjoy Mamma Mia, but I would have rather seen the presentation of the other awards.

8:44- Will Ferrell is really funny. He just announced that Lee Hall won for best book. I thought Billy Elliot would edge out Next to Normal for best score, but I was wrong. I'm going to say for the record, Shrek was my favorite score of those four. As much as I don't like Next to Normal, I feel bad for Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey for getting drowned out.

8:49- Smart of West Side Story to showcase the dancing, which was the best part of the show.

8:58- Matthew Warchus should have won for The Norman Conquests, not God of Carnage, but either way, he is a brilliant director of comedy. I don't get a point for that.

9:01- I was really hoping Diane Paulus would win, but I did really like Billy Elliot.

9:04- Watching the Rock of Ages medley makes me want to watch Glee again.

9:17- Oliver Platt and Lauren Graham have to announce Guys and Dolls instead of performing with them. The guy running to give Tituss Burgess a microphone was my favorite moment so far. It was a real shame this production wasn't better.

9:27- Best orchestrations was a tie between Next to Normal and Billy Elliot. I think there should be more ties.

9:31- Like best supporting actor, for example. I wanted them all to win. I checked Will Swenson on my ballot even though I thought Greg Jbara would probably take it. That was really sweet. I love him, but I didn't think that role was as memorable as some of the other ones. He should have been nominated for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, but I'm really happy for him. Will Swenson will be nominated again. So will they all, I imagine.

9:33- Karen Olivo was really sweet too. I'm really happy for her too.

9:44- First Jeremy Piven joke of the night.

9:46- Raul Esparza will have his day. I thought all 5 of these performances were terrific. This was overall an amazing season

9:48- I missed Dividing The Estate. I haven't seen Mary Stuart, Godot, or any of the special theatrical events besides You're Welcome America. I've actually seen everything else that was nominated, I think that's a personal best.

9:57- I expected these Tony Awards to be more entertaining. I'm mildly disappointed, but there's still an hour to go.

9:59- Frank Langella is cracking me up. Is this a dig at the fact that the Tonys barely nominated anything from the fall?

10:10- Best performance of the night so far, Billy Elliot. I think I might need to see it again. For some reason, it didn't have as lasting an impression on me as some other shows, but I did really enjoy it.

10:17- Let's thank Kevin Spacey for getting best revival of a play televised. I saw The Norman Conquests marathon yesterday and if you can see it that way, you must.

10:19- As expected, God of Carnage won. I'm afraid reasons to be pretty (which I think is a better play) might close soon without this win.

10:32- Jerry Herman is adorable.

10:37- Everybody in this apartment is very happy right now. Everything in the audience at Radio City Music Hall seems to be enjoying the Hair performance as well. And of course Hair wins. And the whole cast goes onstage. It is not possible to love a cast as much as I love this cast.

10:40- I am loving Anthony Hollock behind Oskar Eustis right now.

10:47- Edit: I thought Alice Ripley had won for Side Show, but that was the year Natasha Richardson won for Cabaret, so I was wrong. I think it's funny how before the Tonys I would say that I thought Alice Ripley was crazy, and nobody believed me, and now everyone seems to be saying it.

Alice Ripley kind of scares me sometimes. Though I'm not a fan of her show or her voice, I can't help but be happy for her.

10:50- I was sort of rooting for Gavin Creel, but the Billys are adorable. Everyone is standing. This is amazing. They don't know what to say. New best moment of the night. I thought that Tony nominators should have seen all three actors, so that they weren't just voting for the role, but whatever, these boys are incredible. At first they couldn't say anything and now they can't stop talking.

11:00- Liza is happy for Billy Elliot. So am I. I got 18.5 out of 27, not bad. It was a fairly predictable Tonys. I can't believe Neil Patrick Harris didn't sing. And I'm signing off. Good night.

11:03- False alarm. Neil Patrick Harris is singing. And the night is saved. He needs to come back to Broadway soon.

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