Kevin’s 2010 Tony Awards Commentary

2010-06-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

(complete with original formatting and spelling errors)

8:05 Are we squeezing every show into the opening? What does that leave for the rest of the show? Shouldn’t the host… well host? Why is he silent and behind a piano that keeps sliding offstage with him?

8:07 I think it’s telling that a record is a symbol for so many of these “new” shows.

8:09 Why did the Tony Awards suddenly turn into the MTV awards?

8:14 Sean Hayes – I don’t care if you are gay or straight, but if you want me to believe you are sexually attracted to Kristin Chenoweth, you better TRY HARDER.

8:16 Yes, poor Nathan Lane – he just doesn’t have

8:18 Is Katie Holmes that tall or is Daniel Radcliffe that short? And Katie – YOUR DRESS IS TOO DAMN TIGHT – you boobs are squished and it’s not attractive. Where the hell are the dressers?

8:19 Wouldn’t it be nice to have presenters and hosts that are famous because of their stage work and have also worked in film and TV instead of famous for film and TV who have also done work on stage?

8:22 Ricky Martin – clear your throat BEFORE you go on stage.

8:24 Some one smack the cameraman who can’t keep still. You can’t help Quartet look any more interesting – it just isn’t. Wait – is this Quartet or Memphis? They look the same… does it matter?

8:25 is this really the best number Memphis had to offer for the Tony’s?

8:26 This camera work is terrible – did the director not see this in rehearsal?

8:27 Dancap obviously blew their budget buying airtime – they sure as hell didn’t spend it on a set or lighting for their spots.

8:29 Two more Dancap spots – one just a repeat of what we’ve seen. I’m guessing these aren’t live? IS there another channel I can switch to and avoid this crap? PS Aubrey – no one cares who you are, leave your ego at the door… and you look orange – who the hell lit you?)

8:30 The theatre front door set is kind of interesting – but why not feature backstage view designs – isn’t that what’s being celebrated?

8:24 Kelsey Grammer has had some work done. His face is stretched so tight that he looks like Neil Patrick Harris. The wig isn’t helping – does the designer know his character isn’t 20 and on Happy Days?

8:36 Mathew Morrison seems to be getting more airtime this year then in years he was actually in a Broadway show.

8:37 Wow - La Cage looked lackluster. Stage West could do better.

8:38 For a man playing Albin on Broadway – he’s very poor in heels. He’s galloping around the stage like a bull in a china shop. WOW– did he just loose his final note halfway through, take a breath and start again? OUCH!

8:45 Nice bitchy quip about the movie Nine.

8:46 I think it’s funny they have a set full of doors and no one actually walks through them.

8:45 I’m guessing you had to be black to work on Fella?

8:49 On accepting a Tony for directing La Cage Aux Folles - “I’d like to thank my fellow nominees without whom I’d have written a speech” – NICE!

8:51 If you are going to use projected CGI scenery – could it NOT look like a bad PC game from 1998?

8:53 HOLD THE DAMN CAMERA STILL. This back and forth shit is annoying. Your viewers aren’t A.D.D. suffering 19 year olds more accustomed to MTV - we can watch a person talk and not glaze over.

8:55 Gee Chris Noth, I guess all those years ensuring Law, order and sex in the city didn’t prepare you for stage so much.

8:55 Bon Jovi gets camera time from another city? Really?

8:57 Why are there commercials for the Tony Awards DURRING the Tony Awards? Nice move, Dancap. It’s worth noting that is noticing that the only shows that are featured in these bad Tony Award TV spots, are the ones that Dancap invested in. Hmm.

9:01 David Bryan – if you are gong to pretend to give Angela Landsbury a standing ovation, at least make sure you are looking at her and clapping instead of look for something in your pocket – just in case the camera sweeps over you… because it did and you weren’t.

9:03 Okay, I’m pretty sure Kelsey Grammer has had enough screen time now.

9:05 Note to Tony Award Winners yet to come – the “When I was a kid I wanted to be on Broadway and now look at me because here I am and dreams do come true” speech has been done to death now, find something new.

9:07 I miss seeing scenes from plays on the Tony Awards - I have such fond memories of Shirley Valentine, Lettice and Lovage, a Walk in the Woods and more. More plays less rock star and sitcom star shit.

9:08 Listening to Memphis I keep hearing other songs – Whitney Houston in particular. A bit of Hairspray too. They “borrowed” quite a bit, didn’t they? That’s a lot of arm choreography. Great costumes though.

9:17 Cute Chenowith bit.

9:19 You GO Barbara Cook!

9:21 Catherine Zeta Jones: I love you and want you to be good, but what are you doing with your neck? You look like a goose bobbing its head. Pick something to look at and focus n. Oh – and more vowels, don’t sing your consonants. And what accent is that? The last line is “Well maybe next year” not “Well mmmaybe nnnnext ye-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-”. I hate to say it but Bernadette is going to kick your ass in this come the fall.

9:26 Yeah, I'm sure if we cut a few shots of Kelsey Grammer, Bon Jovi and Mathew Morrison we could have squeezed in scenes form Fences and Red.

9:30 Wow Idina is looking manly in that dress – she could be in La Cage.

9:31 Mother in Ragtime – what the hell is that wig doing? It’s like Fantine from Les Miz was getting her hair partially done in a Gibson upsweep for Hello Dolly but had to rush out before it was done. Oh – and glue your lace down ya lazy bitch.

9:33 Holy crap this CGI projection is bad. I’m expecting Final Fantasy characters to jump onstage any minute. Seriously – it looks like it’s from a cheap Agatha Christie DVD game.

9:49 Nice little tribute to the cops who keep Broadway safe.

9:50 It would be helpful if the British guy who is in South Pacific (the one dressed like a refuge from Guys and Dolls) mention who the hell he plays.

9:44 Sean Hayes in drag as Annie and/or Bernadette Peters: “She’s the BP that isn’t ruining the planet”

9:45 Helen Mirren just gave a shout out to the tech booth. Class.

9:50 Are will and Jada on the Tony’s because they produced a show or are they on there because they have been in blockbuster films? I don’t see the rest of the producers introducing their own shows.

9:51 Fella = Rent meets The Lion King… only not half as interesting as either on their own.

10:00 Why would you show a billboard for Rock of Ages while introducing Michael Douglas? I’m guessing the only reason he’s on this year is because his wife is too.

10:14 I didn’t know June Havoc died this year. Could they have chosen more obscure clips of Dixie Carter and Rue?

10:19 Yo, Carol – if you’re going to the Tony’s for Fences, wear something nicer than an old shawl made out of a curtain and a dress cast off from Minnie Mouse.

10:30 It's not even a song from a show nominated this year? Mathew Morrison has apparently forgotten how to sing and pace his breathing without prerecording his song. Tulsa’s have been doing it for years. I wonder if Glee chick is heading up the revival of Funny Girl. I hope she knows Fanny Brice didn't pull the pop vocal trick shit she is. I also wonder if she gets that the point is to be Fanny Brice - not do Barbara Streisand karaoke.

10:35 Sean Hayes sending up Spiderman the musical before the show is even out – nice.

10:36 Describing Rachael Welch as the star of Woman of the Year hurts me. She was the nasty, talentless stunt casting replacement for when the REAL star – Lauren Bacall – left. And learn to read – bitch.

10:42 Rock musicals can actually be more than idiots jumping around on stage while giving themselves whiplash and accompanied by strobe lighting.

11:00 I don't love what I see or hear of Memphis but at least the Tony Best Musical has an original book and an original score.

11:02 Well, that was boring. No need to go to New York for a bit.

Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein - Canon Theatre, Toronto

2010-06-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Avery serviceable production of a solid show, if not very exciting.

I found Act I was a bit slow to get going and the beginning over all the cast lacked a feeling of a village and felt more like a chorus. (Laura turned to me after "the sons" did their bit and said "Are ALL the sons gay?"). It wasn't until much too late in act I began to feel more Anatevka and less a bunch of actors on stage. TRadition should have done this but I felt the chorus actors hadn't found solid individual characters at all to make up the residents of the village. The 3 main daughters all seemed too similar in age (and from where I sat, in look). I also found Fyedka and Perchick tended to blend in too much as well and could have used more distinct characters and costumes, as well as costumes that retained a similarity through the seasons and scenes so that they were still identifiable. All three suitors were fine but kind of bland. Motel can get more laughs (and have more joy), and both Perchick and Fyedka should have more passion.

I liked Harvey at Tevye, it was a solid performance though didn;t give any new insight to the character. He milked some nice comedy out of new ideas and had some nice pathos as well. I felt for him. Golde (an understudy) was again serviceable but rather flat and boring, many missed comedic moments here. She sort of stepped aside for Tevye and played the role very straight - too straight. Yente too missed out on some laughs. Her comedy came form her look rather than her delivery. SOme nice business in the original staging was lost as her lines were rushed through. I think that’s direction more than anything.

The sets were fine, though not as colorful or exciting as they could be (the mish mash lighting didn't help at all) and the main show curtain and portal looked like they were rented from stock and not part of the same show. The costumes were fine but often seemed too pastel. Not enough patterns and certainly not distressed or poor enough. Shiny clean black boots n all the girls that had obviously never seen a barnyard. I'd prefer much richer tones - whether earth tones or Chagall jewel tones. AS I menioned, I disliked the lighting - too many follow spots, too much electric blue or hooker red and a backdrop that seemed unevenly lit and unsure what palate it wanted to be or for what reason. For a show where time of day is often so important (the begining of the Sabath at sundown, sunrise/sunet, etc.) it was very indecisive often opting to go for either popsicle colours or a dull grey.

Over all the production was fine, but didn’t hold a candle to Stratford's Fiddler a few years ago.

Still, Fiddler is one of my favorite shows and I enjoyed the eveninb over all. I found it interesting that I was constantly reminded of how so many of the Broadway classics are much better constructed than the Rock of Ages/We Will Rock You crap we have nowadays. They took bigger risks as well - like basing a musical comedy on a fragmented collection of depressing stories and then ending both first and second acts in fearfulness and uncertainty, trusting he audience to forgive them and enjoy the drama instead whining about a Barbie and Ken ending for everything. The characters went through genuine emotional torment (not just "will he get the girl" when you know he will before the lights go down). This show let me get emotionally involved instead of just viewing it like a theme park ride, or oohing and ahhing at the performers vocal hoop-jumping the way so many of the new shows do. It was nice to feel that way in a theatre again.

My - what a tirade!

Bejeweling the Elephant

Kevin’s 2010 Tony Awards Commentary

Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein - Canon Theatre, Toronto