Consistently fine Tony Awards show

[Ritterskoop]

I didn't get to watch it live much because of work, but what I've seen and read since make me think this was one of the most consistently good Tony shows in quite a while.

Most of the performances showed you why you might want a ticket to their show (except maybe "Fiddler", which is a good enough show but a weird song choice) and as a group, these folks strike me as genuinely grateful rather than entitled.

Highlights for me:

1. Cynthia. Damn. Erivo.

Kay and I got to see her last month live and she tore it up. I didn't even realize how well she had sold her deep grief and sadness throughout the first 3/4 of the story until she breaks through at the end and carries us with her to the land of self-respect. We got to see a talkback after the show and she said she is trying to do that, to convince everyone in the room that she or he is worthy of love and respect and that we are all beautiful.

It's a lot less sappy than it sounds. It's powerful.

I also loved Heather Headley as Shug and Danielle Brooks as Sophia. And that the set is eight chairs, two baskets, and four sheets.

2. Sara Bareilles and Jessie Mueller doing "She Used to Be Mine" - I got to see Sara do this in concert a couple of years ago, when it was the first song she had written for "Waitress". I was a little distracted by some of Mueller's acting choices tonight that I maybe was not close enough to see in the theater last month, but Sara's part was awesome.

3. James Corden's opening number, especially the closing part where he sang directly to the fifth graders who were watching and said this could be you someday.

[Pastor Fireball]

I didn't watch the Hamilton Awards--you know, because I don't do theater--but I did look at the winners list this morning.

The only real surprise was that Lin-Manuel Miranda didn't win Best Leading Actor in a Musical. The award went to his equally talented Hamilton co-star, Leslie Odom Jr. I don't think that Miranda will be crying in his beer, though, considering that he won just about everything else last night.

[Ritterskoop]

Odom was always favored to win lead actor by those who have seen the show (not me but I trust them).

Miranda is a brilliant writer and a decent actor but not the best singer. Many folks prefer Javier Munoz, who plays Hamilton in the Sunday matinees and is likely to take over as lead in a few weeks.

Odom brings it all to the part of Burr. This award was rewarding for those of us who loved him in a smaller role on TV's "Smash".

[Estonut]

Skoop, I'm not sure whether or not you're familiar with James Corden's Late Late Show. One of his most popular recurring segments is "Carpool Karaoke," where he (ostensibly) recruits celebrities as additional bodies in his car "to allow him to use the carpool lanes and get to work on time." In the L.A.-taped shows, he has yet to get on the freeway.

Last Monday, he did a Tony Award version, prior to the awards show. I think you'll like it.

Broadway Carpool Karaoke

There are several others available on the web. He even got a prime-time special out of these.

[Ritterskoop]

My butt was parked in front of the TV when this aired last Monday night, and I watched it probably five times again right then. I howled at the shenanigans in the backseat during "One Day More," and marveled that Audra MacDonald hit the high C sitting down in a car!

Kay and Mom and I got to see Jane Krakowski on that May trip in She Loves Me, and she was really good comic relief and a skilled dancer. That show is closing soonish but not because of any troubles:

1. They got extended once already.
2. Zachary Levi has a family thing and other work scheduled.
3. Mostly, though, the nonprofit that's producing it (Roundabout) needs the house for a show opening August 1 (I think Holiday Inn).

[Ritterskoop]

Thanks for posting - it gave me another reason to watch it again just now. Lin-Manuel Miranda needs a vacation.

His gig in the Mary Poppins sequel won't be released until Christmas of 2018 so he should be able to sleep a few weeks after his Hamilton job ends soon.

[ghostjmf]

Ritterskoop: "Sunrise, Sunset" was Fiddler's big hit back when show premiered. So while you think it a "weird song choice" its an obvious choice to me.

[Ritterskoop]

Yes, the song is classic "Fiddler" and it does showcase the choreography, but many viewers suggested other options that were just less, well, slow.

"Weird" was not my best adjective. If the point of performances on the Tonys is to sell tickets, which it is, then maybe something else would have fulfilled that goal better.