Another Tony Awards is in the history books. Marred by technical difficulties, this wasn't the best broadcast ever, but it was definitely not the worst. At least there were some close races, nice speeches and a charming host.
Before I discuss random award show highlights, I do need to take a moment to address the ongoing technical issues. It makes the broadcast look cheap when the sound repeatedly goes in and out. Yes, I realize it's not easy to produce a live show, but other award shows manage without this much trouble. The Tonys need to get a team in there that can handle putting on an awards show. There weren't one or two isolated incidents, there were recurring inexcusable issues. There is no reason Karine Plantadit's name went up during Katie Finneran's speech (after Plantadit had just lost). So many moments smacked of bad producing. Sure, you can have a gaff like the Chris Noth one in any award show, but, once there are this many mistakes, you have a real problem.
That said, there were good moments. I loved Finneran's speech. I also am a fan of the Catherine Zeta-Jones win. While I received many emails questioning the sincerity of her shock, I believe her emotion was genuine. She acted how you want a star to act. She was touched. This wasn't a Julia Roberts/Erin Brockovich moment -- there were a lot of people who didn't think Catherine Zeta-Jones would win. Leave her alone.
I was very sad that Jan Maxwell didn't win, but I also know that if she had it would have been more a career achievement award than an award for her work in Lend Me a Tenor. There was part of Scarlett Johansson's speech that made me smile, when she thanked Joe Machota of CAA. This is only because Joe Machota of CAA is also Joe Machota of Mamma Mia! and I feel maybe there was a point where he thought he might one day be on that stage.
Of the performances, La Cage came off well. They had a lot of time (more than four-and-a-half minutes), and Douglas Hodge was charming (despite the fact that his last moment didn't land). The La Cage team is wise to try to capitalize on the fame of Kelsey Grammar -- he does all the commercials and, tonight, he introduced his own show as part of the number. Memphis also came off well I thought -- entertaining and rousing. The award for worst performance goes to Fela!, with a number which I think may have actually caused people not to want to see the show. I can't discuss it fully because I don't know what they were going for. A political statement? An artistic one? No idea. I am fairly sure however they did not succeed in attracting a large number of ticket buyers.
What can I say about American Idiot? The broadcast almost ran like a commercial for American Idiot, which is surprising based on its number of nominations. Including the Green Day performance, the production had more than seven minutes of musical airtime, at least two minutes more than any other show. So, while I thought the cast's number represented American Idiot well, I spent most of it marveling that they were being allowed to keep performing.
Overall, Hayes was a winning host. His shtick with costar Kristen Chenoweth was very cute, and his piano playing impressive. I could have done without the lamppost bit, but that wasn't his fault.
A lot of the dialogue was forced, especially the play moments. I know they were trying to introduce the plays in a creative way, but the non-witty banter was a bad move. Another iffy choice was the adjectives used to describe every winner. They weren't just winning for a performance, they were winning for a "wonderful performance" or a "radiant performance."
There must be a way to film these numbers better. Someone must have known Hodge was going to take a walk. The Promises, Promises introduction, which is one number that pops onstage, could have been filmed to have a similar effect onscreen. It wasn't.
Michael Douglas' short tribute to The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center was nice. The snubbing bits that Chenoweth, Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane did were amusing. I liked that there was an effort to include numbers from shows that didn't receive big nominations, though the flipside is that it made the absence of an Addams Family number somewhat glaring to those who had been keeping track.
I was bummed this was another In Memoriam without Farrah Fawcett. The Bobbi Boland press agent could have fought for her.
I didn't quite understand the length of the Glee number. They were both good, but it seemed random. My friend informed me that the performance followed an old Tony tradition of having TV stars do unrelated songs. I still don't fully get it. If you're giving them that long a chunk of time, I think it should tie into something.
The finale was also perplexing. I guess it was a cute idea to have the Best Musical winner perform, but it was poor execution.
As always, there is vast room for improvement when it comes to the Tony Awards. I hope they'll learn by next year. I fear they will not.