Quick Notes on the Tony Awards

[fauxklore]

Could "Passing Strange" really be as uninteresting as the excerpt made it seem?

Why would anybody make "The 39 Steps" into a farce?

Lin-Manuel Miranda's acceptance rap was hysterical, especially his reference to Sondheim. I don't even like rap, but I might decide to see "In the Heights."

The speech that topped it was the rather odd one by Mark Rylance. I have no idea what he was talking about but I couldn't stop laughing. Talk about deadpan delivery. I might also decide to see "Boeing Boeing." (And I think the last non-musical I saw on Broadway was probably "Equus" some 30+ years ago, though I've seen a few in other places over the years.)

Comments

[agedwiz.livejournal.com]

"In the Heights" certainly rocketed to the top of my interest list. If the excerpt they did was typical, it's a better fusion of the urban beat and traditional musical styles than "Passing Strange," which I agree was passing strange.

I'm probably more tolerant of "The 39 Steps" than most I see great humor in mellerdrama (maybe I've seen "Dirty Work at the Crossroads" one to many times) and could see from the excerpt that it might be hilarious.

Ryland was amazing. I'm not convinced about "Boeing Boeing," though.

Was it just me, or did the excerpt from the revival of "Grease" lack totally in energy. "Xanadu" ought to be cleverer than it seems to be.

Kelli O'Hara deserves better. She just does.

[fauxklore]

Oh, I'm sure The 39 Steps is funny enough in its way, but I just can never really get into the whole bit of people rapidly switching parts.

The excerpt from "Grease" definitely seemed off to me, too.

I can't figure out "Xanadu." The concept sounds funny, but the excerpt was pretty blah. And, really, I can't imagine what good could come of a Broadway show with roller skates.

I thought the excerpt from "Cry Baby" was fairly promising, also. At least it looks like it might have interesting choreography.

Judging from an excerpt is tough, of course. "Deep Love" was one of the funnier songs in the mediocre "Young Frankenstein" but was humorless out of context. (The entire joke is that she's singing about the monster's physical endowments.) I'm not convinced that it was a good idea to do songs from shows that weren't nominated.