Skip to main content

Hall of Divas

The most important night of the year is fast approaching. Here are some things to know about the Tony Awards:

*There seems to be an annual tradition brewing at PBS. Last year, in the Fridays running up to Tony night, PBS aired concerts by significant Broadway names: Sutton Foster (pretty good), Andrew Rannells (fabulous), Stephanie Block, and Leslie Odom.

*This year, PBS will give us Cynthia Erivo (Friday this week, iconic, and close to an EGOT, for her interpretation of "Celie"), A. Ashford (fine in "Sunday in the Park," but she wasn't Bernadette), and M. Hilty (why does anyone ever try to replace Ellen Greene in "Little Shop of Horrors"--?)

*When people say that Bernadette Peters has three Tony Awards, they sometimes fail to observe that one of the three is like a "humanitarian hero" award. This fact seems important to me.

*One of Bernadette Peters's Tony wins was for "Annie Get Your Gun," and people didn't really love her in that show. Quiet as it's kept, people feel Bernadette's replacement--Reba M.--did a better job.

*It is shocking that the following people do not have Tony Awards: P. Soo, S. R. Scott, Judy Kuhn, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ellen Greene, and Joshua Henry. Yes, read that again. JUDY KUHN DOES NOT HAVE A TONY AWARD.

*Christian Borle married Sutton Foster, and then there was a divorce. EACH HALF OF THIS FORMER POWER COUPLE HAS TWO TONY AWARDS. Sutton's awards were for lead roles; Christian's awards were for supporting roles. Wisely, the honchos behind YOUNGER paired the divorced couple as co-leads in a few episodes from Season Five. There was a strange, unpredictable, un-feigned chemistry between these two, which you maybe wouldn't see if they hadn't had an actual history. Borle's character didn't fare well.

*People forget that "Avenue Q" defeated "Wicked" for Best Musical. And "Music Man" defeated "West Side Story."

Mark your calendars....Nothing is more important than this particular night in June....

 P.S. Taylor Trensch should have a Tony, as well, but he is young and will get one soon enough.

 P.P.S. Raul Esparza should also have a Tony.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

Raymond Carver: "What's in Alaska?"

Outside, Mary held Jack's arm and walked with her head down. They moved slowly on the sidewalk. He listened to the scuffing sounds her shoes made. He heard the sharp and separate sound of a dog barking and above that a murmuring of very distant traffic.  She raised her head. "When we get home, Jack, I want to be fucked, talked to, diverted. Divert me, Jack. I need to be diverted tonight." She tightened her hold on his arm. He could feel the dampness in that shoe. He unlocked the door and flipped the light. "Come to bed," she said. "I'm coming," he said. He went to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. He turned off the living-room light and felt his way along the wall into the bedroom. "Jack!" she yelled. "Jack!" "Jesus Christ, it's me!" he said. "I'm trying to get the light on." He found the lamp, and she sat up in bed. Her eyes were bright. He pulled the stem on the alarm and b...
1 comment
Read more

My Favorite Pop Song

  One thing I admire about Prince is his weirdly pretentious verses: Dream, if you can, a courtyard-- An ocean of violets in bloom. Also: Touch, if you will, my stomach. Feel how it trembles inside. No one else writes like this. Did people try to shoot down these choices? Did a producer say, "We'd like to rethink this one... Touch, if you will, my stomach...."  I can't help but wonder. But it's the chorus that makes this a classic. It's direct and universal--and it ends with that bizarre flourish, the allusion to "the crying doves." (Prince's song was number one in America for quite a while; it defeated Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark.") How can you just leave me standing-- Alone in a world that's so cold? Maybe I'm just too demanding. Maybe I'm just like my father--too bold. Maybe you're just like my mother; She's never satisfied. Why do we scream at each other? This is what it sounds like when doves cr...
Post a Comment
Read more