Some Enchanted Evening...
Yay!! The 2008 Tony Awards aired Sunday, June 15th, and I thought enormous improvement had been made from last year's show. Whoopi Goldberg was the host, and I thought she did a pretty good job. However, nobody will ever beat Hugh Jackman, but what can you do? The program was obviously created to be more interesting and user-friendly, with more singing and less of the "boring" awards (I definitely do not consider them boring, but things such as scenic design, costume design, and even play revival were given before the broadcast).
Final Awards Tally:
South Pacific - 7
In the Heights - 4
Gypsy - 3
Boeing-Boeing - 2
The 39 Steps - 2
Passing Strange - 1
The Seafarer - 1
Mad props to South Pacific, which took home Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Paulo Szot), Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Sound Design of a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical. Bartlett Sher was the award-winning director of this successful revival, and has been the Artistic Director of the Intiman Theatre here in Seattle since 2000. Represent!
Best speeches of the night would have to go to Laura Benanti for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Mark Rylance for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Lin-Manuel Miranda for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre, and Patti LuPone for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. These winners, as well as all the others, completely deserved their Tonys and had inspirational, funny, or just plain cool speeches to boot! Great job, guys!
Stephen Sondheim received the Lifetime Achievement Award, but wasn't there to accept it. HUH?!?!? According to a quote from Mandy Patinkin in the Chicago Sun-Times, Sondheim is a "shy man." Really though? Dude, if you're going to be getting an award of this magnitude, at least be there to accept it. Although, I gotta admit that I did enjoy his heartfelt speech, and Patinkin's facial hair. :-)
Have to say that my favorite performance of the evening was Megan Mullally's "Deep Love" from Young Frankenstein. I saw her in that show when it did its pre-Broadway tryout here in Seattle, but I don't think her performance will ever get old for me. She is just so fantastic, with an amazing voice and incredible charisma. I also enjoyed the selection from In The Heights, and loved seeing Cheyenne Jackson in the Xanadu number!
Well, I know that I may be quite alone in this statement, but I did enjoy this year's Tony Awards. Most of the speeches were interesting, and there were some really great performances. I really want to see In the Heights now, because I thought it was pretty fantastic! I also want to see Xanadu, Little Mermaid, Gypsy, and South Pacific! I believe the only appropriate response to this evening would be "Oh, What a Night!" (I know, I know...)
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