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DIVA TALK: 2008 Tony Awards Recap, Butler and Akers on CD and News of Buckley, LuPone, Peters
By Andrew Gans
20 Jun 2008
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Patti LuPone and her second Tony Award.
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| photo by Aubrey Reuben | News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
62nd ANNUAL TONY AWARDS
Let's face it. How much a theatre fan enjoys the annual Tony Awards has a great deal to do with how many of the shows/performers he or she was rooting for actually won. And, since most everyone I had hoped would win did, I thought the 62nd Annual Tony Awards were pretty darn good!
Certainly, there were about as many musical performances presented as the running time would allow. Would I have preferred a Stephen Sondheim tribute rather than another performance of "Circle of Life"? Yes, but I'm still not sure that would have been enough to induce the greatest composer-lyricist of our time to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award in person. And, I actually had forgotten just how visually thrilling the Lion King opening is.
More than any other Tony ceremony in recent history, the 2008 Tony Awards seemed to strive to include most every musical production currently running on The Great White Way. Not only did we get the chance to enjoy musical numbers from the eight nominated productions, but the telecast included brief performances from The Little Mermaid, Young Frankenstein and A Catered Affair, spotlights on Chicago, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia! and Jersey Boys as well as Phantom of the Opera, Spring Awakening, Mary Poppins and Spamalot segments featuring host Whoopi Goldberg.
The first award presented on air went to Chicago actress Rondi Reed for her work in Tracy Letts' August: Osage County. Reed, who played her final performance the afternoon of the Tonys, seemed shocked by her win, repeatedly saying, "Oh my God," but it was her final statement that touched me as she raised her Tony up to the heavens and said, "This goes, part of it, to [the late] Dennis Letts. Happy Father's Day."
Cry-Baby was the first Best Musical nominee spotlighted. James Snyder led the cast in "A Little Upset," which allowed the audience a chance to see some of Rob Ashford's terrific choreography. I appreciated that all of the nominated musicals were given a decent amount of air time and didn't have to rush through their numbers or offer shortened renditions of songs that never make quite the same impact as the complete version.
Jim Norton was awarded the Best Featured Actor in a Play Tony for his performance in The Seafarer, which preceded Adam Duritz's (of the Counting Crows) introduction of friend Stew's Passing Strange performance. I was again impressed by Daniel Breaker's work and the purity of his tone, although I wondered how the number played in the heartlands. "This is how Passing Strange does it," Stew said at the end to an enthusiastic response.
Following Bartlett Sher's acceptance of the Best Director of a Musical Tony — for the Tony-winning revival of South Pacific — Jack Klugman introduced what would be the evening's highlight, a performance from the current revival of Gypsy. Klugman's inclusion was a terrific idea and lent a great sense of theatre history to the evening.
Okay, now to LuPone: It was a great choice to allow LuPone to perform a brief part of the scene that precedes "Everything's Coming Up Roses." It made what was to come even more powerful, and powerful it was. I've watched the now-two-time Tony winner's performance several times since the Sunday broadcast, and it's thrilling each and every time. I'm particularly struck by the ferocity and madness that overcome LuPone (as Rose) as she rips June's letter before belting out with tremendous force the final, "Everything's coming up roses for ME and for youuuuuuuu!" Even if you weren't watching the Tonys, I still think you would have heard that final note. One criticism, though: Who was the cameraman that didn't capture LuPone's response to the standing ovation? We could hear LuPone say, "Let's take a bow," but where was the shot?!! I did enjoy, however, the camera panning to Laura Linney, Liza Minnelli and Mandy Patinkin, who all seemed equally amazed by LuPone's breathtaking performance.
During the "Year in Plays" sequence, I was reminded how many non-musicals opened this season. I had already forgotten that The Farnsworth Invention, which I quite enjoyed, was part of the season, as was the revival of Old Acquaintance that featured a hilarious turn by Cry-Baby's Harriet Harris.
One of the evening's most emotional speeches followed: Lin-Manuel Miranda's acceptance of the Best Original Score Tony. At first I thought a spoken acceptance would have been better than a rap, but by the time he got to "Mr. Sondheim: Look, I made a hat/where there never was a hat/and it's a Latin hat at that . . . Thanks for being here today Vanessa, who still leaves me breathless/Thanks for loving me when I was broke and making breakfast," there were tears rolling down my face. The look of joy on the faces of his co-creators/producers/co-stars was also extremely moving.
Harry Connick, Jr. introduced the production number from South Pacific, a particularly effective medley that included the spirited "Nothin' Like a Dame," the lush baritone of Paulo Szot in "Some Enchanted Evening" and the glorious soprano of Kelli O'Hara in "A Wonderful Guy." It's also amazing to think that those three songs are only a fraction of what the Rodgers and Hammerstein score has to offer.
Some of host Whoopi Goldberg's funniest lines of the evening were delivered during the segment that saw her flying through the air as Mary Poppins. "Yeah, I can watch the kids," Goldberg deadpanned in full Poppins garb, "but I won't be cleaning your house." And, whe she was finally airborne, she joked, "I'm higher than the momma from Osage County!"
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Laura Benanti and her Tony
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| photo by Aubrey Reuben |
The always lovely Kristin Chenoweth presented the Best Featured Actress in a Tony to the equally lovely Laura Benanti, who also delivered a memorable speech. I was particularly moved by her reference to her mother, "the anti-Mama Rose and the most amazing woman I know."
Also lending a touch of history to the proceedings was Barry Bostwick, who created the role of Danny Zuko in the original production of Grease. Bostwick introduced the performance from the Tony-nominated revival of the fifties-set musical, which came off quite well. The medley of "Grease Is the Word" and "We Go Together" was simply entertaining and fun.
Brooke Shields presented the Tony for Featured Actor in a Musical, and as the camera panned each of the nominees, I thought, "This is the happiest group of people!" All five men looked so thrilled to be there: Both Danny Burstein and Boyd Gaines kissed their wives as their names were read, Robin De Jesus pointed to his mom, and Christopher Fitzgerald and Daniel Breaker also enjoyed their Tony moments. Gaines, who won the award, is now a four-time Tony winner, and I was pleased that he acknowledged the other actors in his category, giving a special nod to Burstein, saying, "You will not find a finer actor or a finer person."
Marisa Tomei introduced the snippets of songs from The Little Mermaid (Sierra Boggess singing "Part of Your World"), A Catered Affair (Faith Prince offering "Vision") and Young Frankenstein (Megan Mullally belting out "Deep Love"). Of the three, I thought Mullally's powerful belt and terrific comic timing was the most effective, although in the theatre it's Prince who's offering one of the season's greatest performances.
Whoopi Goldberg's introduction of the four nominated plays — which featured striking visuals of the show's sets — was quite effective, and that was followed by Gabriel Byrne's presentation of the Best Director of a Play Tony to August: Osage County's Anna D. Shapiro, who drew laughs when she said, "I would really like to thank my six nieces and nephews, who mercifully think of me as just Aunt Anna and don't care about any of this. They just wanted tickets to Little Mermaid. And I got 'em!"
Mary Louise Parker presented the Best Leading Actor in a Play Tony to Boeing-Boeing's Mark Rylance, who confused the entire audience — including his co-stars (the look on Mary McCormack's face was priceless) — with his speech, which turned out to be the prose work of Minnesota poet Lewis Jenkins.
Another Broadway debuter who won a Tony Award was Chicago actress Deanna Dunagan, who was honored for her tremendous performance as the monstrous, pill-popping mom of August: Osage County. Dunagan also recognized her fellow nominees, including her August co-star Amy Morton, and ended her speech stating, "Since I was a little girl, all I've ever wanted to do was get people together and put on plays. And now I get to do it on Broadway!"
The musical number from In the Heights, "96,000" — the spirit-raising song about the hope of a lottery windfall — followed. Not only did the song allow audiences the chance to enjoy the many talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the soaring vocals of Karen Olivo and the sass of Andrea Burns, it also clearly demonstrated the collaborative process that is musical theatre: how the score, the performances, the choreography and the lighting coverge to create an extremely powerful moment.
Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe — who will arrive on Broadway this fall in the revival of Equus — presented the Best Play Tony Award to August: Osage County. It seemed a good portion of the audience joined playwright Tracy Letts onstage to accept the award; in fact, the now Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer joked, "I don't know all these people. I assume they're associated with the play."
Mandy Patinkin then read a gracious and refreshingly candid letter from Lifetime Achievement award winner Stephen Sondheim, who was not in attendance. Patinkin, who had co-starred in the original production of Sunday in the Park with George with the one-and-only Bernadette Peters, introduced the stars of the current revival, Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell, who delivered a powerful "Move On."
Glenn Close presented the Best Revival of a Musical Tony to the producers of South Pacific, and then Lily Tomlin introduced the Xanadu production number, "Don't Walk Away," led by Cheyenne Jackson, who sounded as great as he looked. Kerry Butler was also in fine voice, and it was a cute touch that the Radio City Music Hall stage — like the stage at Xanadu's Helen Hayes home — featured audience members.
One of the more moving sections of the evening was the celebration of Rent, which will end its lengthy run at the Nederlander Theatre in September. Particularly touching was the inclusion of the show's original cast members, who spoke about the late creator of Rent, Jonathan Larson. And, I have to admit I'm a sucker for "Seasons of Love." My eyes fill up with tears just at the sound of the song's opening chords. Continued...
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