Award Shows: 2013 Tony Awards
She Said:
I was a little skeptical as to how much I would enjoy the Tonys this year. I love Broadway. I love theatre! But, I’m tired. We moved just a few days ago. I was sick during the worst and heaviest work. I’m completely worn out. I’m sick, depleted and exhausted- and now I have to unpack, clean and set up a new place. I’m just so tired. I didn’t know if I could enjoy anything right now. I’m also not a fan of some of the most celebrated shows of the season. I was really looking forward to seeing Annie and Cinderella, but I wasn’t looking forward to the Tonys like I usually am.
However, I really did enjoy some parts of the show. It was nice to get a chance to laugh and hear some lovely music. The 67th Annual Tony Awards may not have been my favorite Tony broadcast ever, but the show still had some great moments. Here were my favorite moments from the broadcast:
I really enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris as host, especially the opening number; he really did a good job. I didn’t enjoy watching him last year much at all. He still had some tasteless moments and he really did harangue Mike Tyson too much, but the opening number was great. I especially enjoyed his joke about “Tom Hooper close-up” and pointing out how Broadway performers didn’t need them to prove they could sing (stay tuned for our upcoming review of Hooper’s Les Miserables– which we’ve finally seen). I also loved the number about failed television shows featuring Laura Bennati (especially her part) and Megan Hilty. It was absolutely hilarious!
Bring It On: The Musical seemed really cool. I thought the dancing and stunts were fun and interesting. I liked the music. Lin- Manuel Miranda created another show that really feels like in the Heights, but in a good way. I would really be interested in seeing this show.
Annie was fun. I love “It’s a Hard-Knock Life” and the little girls were so cute! Jane Lynch does look like a great Miss Hannigan- but I hate that character. I think the song “Little Girls” is so creepy and it makes me mad! I know every work needs a villain or person of conflict, but Miss Hannigan really gets my hackles up with how she treats those children!
I always love hearing the acceptance speeches at the Tonys because they are moving. I teared up during Judith Light’s, Cicely Tyson’s and Andrea Martin’s- they were lovely speeches.
I thought Cyndi Lauper’s performance of “ True Colors” honoring all those that have passed away in the past year was beautiful! It was bittersweet and hopeful and perfect for a tribute.
My favorite part of the evening was just what I thought it would be- Cinderella! I want to see this show so badly. Laura Osnes and Victoria Clark are so talented and the show looks beautiful. I thought I would dislike any “freshening” or modifying that the script would go through, but I don’t. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella is my favorite version of the Cinderella story and this new production looks amazing! The costumes and sets are beautiful, the performances look skillful and fun and who couldn’t love that lovely story and music.
Who wants to take me to NYC to see Cinderella?
Look at those beautiful dresses from Cinderella!
The wonderful opening number!
He Said:
To be totally honest with you, I didn’t want to like this year’s Tony Awards. I haven’t liked Neil Patrick Harris as a host, and there weren’t very many shows that had really grabbed me so far this year. There weren’t any big surprises in the award winners, but it still wound up being an enjoyable award show.
Neil Patrick Harris really made this show for me. With a couple of exceptions, all of the best moments of the night were his. And only a few of his jokes flopped. He’s really come into his own this year. Previously, his singing seemed pitchy to me and his timing always seemed off. Not so this year. The opening number was really entertaining; as was a bit he did in the middle with Megan Hilty, Laura Bennati, and Andrew Rannells all about being a Broadway actor on a cancelled TV show. It was really funny. The rap he did at one point was very cool.
Cicely Tyson’s acceptance speech was amazing to watch. She opened by deferring to God, and continued on to give a moving and wonderful speech. She handled the inevitable swell of music letting everyone know her time was up with great grace and aplomb. It was really nice to see.
It’s always neat to see little chunks of shows too. Matilda really won me over with its performance. The children were interesting and cute. I now really wish I could hop on a plane right now and go see Tom Hanks in Lucky Guy. The song from Bring It On: The Musical seemed very similar to In the Heights, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing since we love In the Heights!
Those were all the favorite moments I can remember right now, but we did wind up watching much more of it than I had expected to!
All images from www.tonyawards.com
I was a little sad with the song they picked for Bring it on, there where better ones in the show. I missed seeing some of the people, that I’m guessing couldn’t make it for the tony’s.
Wow, I thought it was a pretty neat song. I’ll have to check out more from it.