2009 Tony Award Wrap Up

The 63rd Annual Tony Awards was a wonderful celebration of the 2008-2009 theatrical season on Broadway. With new producers at the helm, the telecast promised to be a little different than other years and succeeded in many ways:

1. The opening number gave even the more casual theatre fan some identifiable celebrities from other mediums to show how inclusive the Broadway community can be. Of course, it also gave viewers Bret Michaels getting hit in the face with a drop (which was one of my favorite moments of the evening; one I will enjoy on YouTube for years to come. In case you missed it...)

2. Congrats to Billy Elliot! Although I haven't had the opportunity to see this musical yet, it seems that across the board, the piece was rightfully recognized. It is nice to see a piece that won a suitable amount of creative and design awards win Best Musical. In some years, 2005 for example, a show can not win in those important categories and still win Best Musical, which I deem hypocritical.

3. Congrats Next to Normal! Although I picked this to shock the world and win Best Musical, I'm sure the creators were happy for Best Score and Orchestrations, as well as Best Actress for Alice Ripley. These honors should be an indication that audiences enjoy an original contemporary musical and producers can take more chances with contemporary material.

4. Neil Patrick Harris was a WONDERFUL host, with what he was allowed to do.

WHICH, brings me to my Tony "Thoughts For Improvement"

1. Why wasn't Neil Patrick Harris used more?! We have a wonderful song & dance comedian and he barely was allowed to do anything until the credits rolled and sang a great parody. A perfect opportunity would have been that opening number. What if he played a role in each segment, accessorizing to the current show, and then moved on to the next one? This would give him a tour de force moment that features the shows, as well as our host for the evening.

2. On a night that celebrates Broadway theatre, it's pretty surprising that the sound for the telecast was pretty terrible. With Elton John's mic being cut out of the beginning and Titus Burgess' mic freaking out during the introduction of "Sit Down, You're Rockin the Boat," they just couldn't get the sound right. Hopefully this will be remedied for other years.

3. I cannot tell you how dumbfounded I was that three touring companies were allowed to perform on the telecast while other important awards were assigned to the creative awards. With the 10-15 minutes that were wasted on showing us shows that are selling fine, they could have done a montage about touring shows, then presented at least two more awards. My suggestion would be Best Book and Best Choreography. In a medium that is grounded in storytelling, it is unbelievable that Best Book was not included on the telecast.

4. This is more of an observation, but wasn't it shocking that Best Play was announced at 10:15pm? I seem to remember when that would be the second to last award of the evening. It's miraculous how much our attention has turned to musicals and not look at the plays at the Tony's. As a musical theatre nut, you might be surprised for me to say this, but I believe that each medium of storytelling should have their moment on the telecast.

Overall though, I was ecstatic to hear that the ratings were up for this year's telecast. Although many will not agree with this, I believe that the popularity of shows American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars, and You're the One That I Want has increased exposure to the performing arts and it can only help the future of the musical theatre for these people to be watching the Tony Awards

Feel free to leave your comments on what you thought about the Tony Awards!