All in Broadway Musical Musings
The Broadway Theatre Community did a commendable job this week, using the spotlight of the Tony Awards to gracefully pay tribute to the victims on the senseless shootings in Orlando. Whether it was James Corden’s sincere and appropriately somber opening remarks, Frank Langella’s eloquent acceptance speech that deflected attention from himself and shed light on the atrocity, to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s now oft-quoted sonnet reminding us that “Love is Love is Love is Love.” It’s nice to know that the we (the theatre community) can hold each other up in times of darkness. It’s what we’ve always done.
Well, we are almost to the end of our wait and the Tony Awards will be given out this weekend. There has been a tremendous amount of hoopla leading up to the awards, something I affectionately refer to as “Tony Baloney.” I don’t know if there have always been this many publicity stunts surrounding the awards, or if certain theatre websites are just running out of other things to talk about, filling the void with the news of every photoshoot and luncheon that the awards season brings. I always liked that New York theatre took a reserved approach to handing out accolades, keeping it classy and about the work, without getting too caught up in the flash and trash aspect. Certainly, these hardworking artists deserve to be recognized for their work, I just hope that the current trend of over-promotion is not a necessity born out of keeping up with other awards shows. Surely, the trophy is enough
To quote Oscar Hammerstein (or is it Leslie Uggams?), “June is bustin’ out all over” and we are inching ever-closer to the Tony Awards and the inevitable crowing of Hamilton as Best Musical. I am not spinning my psychic abilities here, as this had been a foregone conclusion since the show moved to Broadway and became the sensation that it has. It has, however, skewed the Tony Awards toward being a somewhat uneventful night that appears to have few surprises in store. I hope that we will still be startled a few times, but I am pretty much prepared for a non-event where awards are concerned. The best we can hope for are great (if predictable in choice) musical numbers from the nominated shows. I’m not blaming Hamilton’s success for this assertion, but rather that I merely prefer an awards show where all bets are off. We shall see.
So, the devastating news of shows beginning to close has already begun and the Tony Awards haven’t even happened yet. It was recently announced that the musical Tuck Everlasting will close on My 29th, and I have to say that I find this somewhat unacceptable. No, it wasn’t the perfect musical, but it was a sweet musical with a touching story that should have at least found some success in the family market. I saw the show while it was in previews, and I understand a case can be made for some inherent flaws in the piece, but here I am over a month later and I find many of the songs, characters, imagery and performances are still with me.
