Post-Tony Thoughts

Ok, so Tony night wasn't exactly what I had hoped.  It was fun, but not as fun as I was hoping it to be.  I had the chance to see the awards in the city, which made me very happy.  My Broadway buddy and I decided to attend a viewing party at the new Green Room 42.  Now this was the first big event that was held at this space.  And you could kind of tell.  Everyone was super nice, but there were a few growing pains.  For instance, as soon as the Tony's started - in the very first number - they experienced technical difficulties.  These difficulties caused the television to randomly go to black - about 15 times in the first 5 minutes.  So the big opening number that everyone was ready for, was missed.

After they had the technical issues fixed, the rest of the evening - telecast wise - was smooth sailing.  The food on the other hand was less than stellar.  But at least my margarita was yummy.  And speaking of margaritas, if you paid the $100 like a lot of people did (we did not), you were treated to an open bar all evening.  This meant, that as the evening went on, most people got drunker and louder.  Even lovely theatre people are annoying when drunk.

Then there were the Tony's themselves.  Not a single thing that I predicted to win, won.  No one I loved won, and no show I loved won.  Well that's not true.  Bette Midler and Hello Dolly both won, but Hello Dolly stole the show from Falsettos so I was super sad about that.  On the upside the performances by Falsettos, Hello Dolly, and Come From Away were stellar.  All of the performances were stellar.  It's just that the host was less so.  Don't get me wrong, I love Kevin Spacey.  But James Corden seemed to set the bar so high last year, that I think anyone would have had a hard time hitting it.

In the end, we decided that we loved the idea of a viewing party, but maybe next year we need to find a crowd that's slightly older and less likely to get ugly-drunk.  But we also decided that a night in New York City was definitely more of an experience to remember than any night just sitting at home on the couch and watching it.  At least we have a story to tell now and some fun memories.  

Friday Five

Warning: It's Tony's week, so there's a very good chance that everything I like this week, will in fact be Broadway-related.  Just give me this week, and I'll promise to go back to having other non-geeky (probably not.) interests next week!

1. This interview with the cast of Falsettos and Jenn Colella made my week.  I love all of these people and I just want to be their friends.  I'll join them for dinner the next time, if they need a 6th.  Though, I have this pesky habit of being starstruck, so it would be a quiet dinner for me I'm sure...

2. Oops, I forgot about this, and hey look at that!  Not Broadway : )  Anyway, I don't usually watch John Oliver, but as a British citizen, I wanted to see what he had to say in light of the attack in London last weekend.  His response was beautiful and perfect - just excuse a little of the language.  He said, what many of the Brits were feeling about the sometimes insulting American press coverage of the attack.

3. Now, back to Broadway : )  I may be gushing but the theater community as a whole this week has made me smile bigger than many things have.  They all seem to support each other so much.  My favorite thing has been the Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and the writers have all gone out to dinner with each other.  Each category has had a meal together to celebrate their nominations.  Now seriously, can you ever imagine Oscar or Emmy nominees doing that?  It's really beautiful the support and love this community has for each other.  It makes my heart happy - and since most of the news of today is full of awful things by our administration, my heart could really use a smile!

4. Thanks to BroadwayWorld my Broadway buddy and I were able to find a place to watch the Tony's in the city on Sunday while eating yummy food and drinking.  They provided an all inclusive list of all of the places in the city that were doing viewing parties, and luckily one still had seats available.  Woohoo!  Watching them alone on my sofa is pretty great, but watching them with other Broadway lovers should be pretty fund too!

5. I finally, finally, finally figured out the hows and whys of Instagram Story.  It's only taken me months and months.  Apparently I just touch a little picture, and up a "story" pops.  This is fabulous because Broadway people seem to love this feature, as evidenced by all of the Instagram story takeovers I've watched in the last week.  It's awesome.  Thanks to ridiculous advances in social media - which I usually whine about - Tony week has gotten so much more fun!  

Friday Five

1. It's been a rough week full of not feeling very well and lots of work stuff, but I'm hoping to get back on track now that we have a 3 day weekend.  The fact that an 8 week course that we've been working on at work is finally over, and that Monday is Memorial Day and work is closed, makes me a very happy girl in deed!  Bring on some relaxation and fun!

2. I love, love, love the idea of a Pretty Woman musical.  I knew it was coming, but I didn't realize they were this far in the process.  Hopefully, they'll cast it with amazing people though for the life of me I don't know who they should get.  Based on their description of the Richard Gere part, I'd say David Tennant.  Who else do you know that is quite so instantly likable? : )

3. This week in Tony coverage saw the Featured Actresses out for a group lunch at a lovely Midtown restaurant, and the Featured Actors posing for an epic selfie together at the luncheon.  At what other award show do you ever see the nominees all pulling for each other like they do in the theatre?  It's ridiculously fabulous and uplifting to see!

4. Yes  I do know that the Keepers on Netflix is unbelievably disturbing, but I also know that it was ridiculously compelling.  I was hooked after the first episode.  I'm not sure I buy some of the things that were said, but the researchers really did their homework on this case.  And since it doesn't look like the police are investigating, it's a good thing they've invested so much time into finding justice.

5. The fact that vacation is just about a month a way, is giving me everything I need to power through the next month.  It's so close I can taste it, however there's so much to do between now and then.  I'm just gonna put my head down and get things done, because London is definitely calling...

Tony Nomination Feelings

So the Tony Award nominations were announced today and I have to say, I have loads of feelings.  I've been anxiously awaiting this day for a while, because there was a chance that lots of shows I've seen would be nominated.  And that was definitely the case.  All in all I've seen 4 of the shows nominated for some type of award, and I have tickets for this month to see a 5th and 6th.  So I know personally just how wonderfully deserving these creatives are.

But there were 2 shows that I cared about so much more than the others so I've been keeping my fingers crossed that they'd receive the most love.  And, as it turns out, I needn't have worried.  Come From Away received 7 nominations and Falsettos received 5. Woohoo!  These were the 2 shows that touched my heart more than any other in this season. I collectively love the cast (and really would like to be their friend) and adore the music.  I listen to their cast albums on repeat constantly, and I tell everyone I meet to see each of them.  In my eyes they deserved all of the awards, but I'll settle for the 12 nominations they received.

What's even more fun to watch than the nominations is the reactions from these people that are so deserving of the attention.  It's been a non-stop love fest all day.  I love that the nominees are throwing hugs and congrats to their fellow nominees.  It seems everyone in the Broadway community is friends with everyone else in the Broadway community.  So it seems each nominee is rooting for a friend who's also nominated.  This is how award season should be done.  The heck with that cutthroat bashing of competitors - love and fun all around!

The only part I didn't enjoy about today was the price of tickets to the show.  I foolishly thought tickets wouldn't be too expensive so I was going to try to buy 2 for my friend and me.  However the lowest price ticket was $381.  That's insanity!  So it looks like I'll be watching - what should be an awesome show - from the comfort of my cozy couch.  There are worse ways to watch the Tonys...

The Lullaby of Broadway

There's just something about Broadway.  I'm not sure what it is.  I can go for months without singing it or scheming to find tickets.  But the second I get in the mood by, say, watching The Tony Awards for example, and I'm back in the groove.  It's happy, and fun and an absolutely fantastic time.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't understand people who don't get live theatre.  It's about 300x better than television and movies.  If after watching 3 hours of singing, dancing and Hugh Jackman rapping, you're not at least tapping your toes, you're a little dead inside.

What's even better than the talented performers, the heartfelt songs and awesome set pieces, is the community they've built up around it.  Where else can the 2 biggest performances of the night; the ones that brought down the house, be a 50 year old man in pasties and suspenders, and a 40 year old man in a mini skirt and 3 inch heels?  (Love me some Alan Cumming and Neil Patrick Harris!)  The performers and artists are strictly in it for the art.  They don't judge each other and everything goes. It's a free for all and it's fabulous! 

No matter how bad the day is, belting "Defying Gravity" and "Take me as I am" always makes me smile.  No matter how many times I've heard them, "For Good", "Cover Me", and "Could We Start Again Please?" always bring a tear to my eye.  And no matter what, I will always, always sing every single word, every single time to, "Herod's Song", "Seasons of Love", "Betrayed", and "Music of the Night".  But that's so not a bad thing.  I may sing completely off-key, and I may not be able to dance to save my life, but I still feel part of the great big Broadway world!  And I'm so darn happy I live so close to NYC! 

A Night at the Theatre

The bestie and I went to see "Clybourne Park" this evening at Centerstage in Baltimore.  She had read the play and was hoping to catch it on Broadway, but I on the other hand, not so much.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect so I was not looking forward to it as much as she was.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  The writing is superb and completely real and it was easy to see how it won the Tony for best play last year.  Fantastic play kudos to the cast!  Can't wait to get back to Centerstage to see another one. (Seriously, how can you not love a theatre that covers its walls with clever quotes like the one below? : )