The Tonys

Let's be honest here folks: The Great White Way didn't offer much this past season, which made for pretty pathetic/boring Tony awards.

I will be basically reviewing the performances at the Tonys because I hardly know anything about the actual shows (because they all sucked and I didn't take the time to look at them)

The performances at the Tonys, as you probably know, are the nominees for best musical, and a few other sprinkles of delight. Let's take a look, shall we?

Opening Act

The opening act was a compilation of the shows on Broadway. I think of all perfomances at the Tonys, the opening number usually is a good one. Some genious maches up all of the msuical songs, and gives each show it's turn in the spotlight. It is also where the host gets to show of his/her dancing/singing skills. (In this case it was Sean Heayes this year, who can play a wicked piano-never knew that) Overall, this was a fairly good number. Not much to evaluate here, as each show gets about...oh....ten seconds....if that. All in all though, "Come Fly With Me" had the best display...

Green Day

I must admit, I'm not a HUGE Green Day fan (I like a FEW of their songs), but this was AWESOME. Green Day certainly knows how to put on a show. They had the cast of American Idiot introduce them, and then the cast sang back-up vocals to Billie Joe, and the sound was awesome. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been there. Besides the amazing pyro-technics and light show, the vocals...were suprisingly good. Most performers sound AWFUL live (or they lip-sync, meaning the SUCK BUTT), but Billie Joe held his own up there-and was pretty darn good. Of course, the rock/punk/metal/screamo tone doesn't raelly impress me all that much, and I am convinced that those people will have no voices by the time they are 45....but regardless of that, it was very entertaining.

Matthew Morrison

Um...how can this man NOT be good?! He's SUPER attractive, he sings, he dances, and he's straight. How often do you find that in theater?! NEVER! I'm pretty sure I'm going to marry him one day...not that we're discussing this man's COMPLETE AWESOMENESS....we are of course focusing on his performance at the Tonys. He was on perfect pitch the whole time, danced the whole thing perfectly, and gave it his all. He was slightly out of breath (who wouldn't be after that AMAZING dance number?), but was still able to hit/belt the last note. AMAZING.



Lea Michelle

Again, how can we go wrong here? Unbelievable talent (plus, she looks like me) ;) and a GORGEOUS voice. Lea NAILED "Don't Rain on My Parade". That's just the plain truth. Although, if I had one negative comment, it is that she isnt' really with the music, but I don't blame her. I personally have a hard time hearing my music sometimes, and she was out in the audience. Forgivable. The one thing I noticed was that she sounded older than she sounds on the Glee soundtrack...probably because she's a 22 year old playing a 17 year old, and I think she makes her placement a but younger for the role...anyway! She's amazing.

American Idiot



This was okay...a bunch of angry faces, screaming, and pounding on the floor...American Angst I would call it...it seems like an interesting show...but not exactly my cup of tea. The performance itself however was pretty good.

Fela!



Can you say, BORING!!! Their main singer had NO energy and NO life, and the dancing was...okay...(but nothing compared to Twyla Tharp's choreography for "Come Fly With Me"-Brilliant). In short though, they were on pitch, and hit everything, but the performance was boring. I checked out a minute into it. And I understand that it is a big "culture" show...but the music is hard to connect to, and this was a hard number to jump into if you weren't already familiar with the show. I feel like the Tony performances need to put up the number that is the most accessible without ever seeing the show. The Tonys need to advertise. This number was not good advertisement.

Memphis



This was pretty darn good. (It won best musical, it had better be). The two lead singers were really good, energetic, and gave a great performance...except, they didn't have a whole lot of chemistry on stage...they seemed to be doing their own solo performances...while dueting...whatever. But dancing, vocally, and energy wise, a great performance.

Million Dollar Quartet



Again, BORING! Just four guys singing with guitars. I don't know how anyone would sit through the entire show, because I couldn't even sit through one number. Although, there was one guy who sat ON the piano and played AT THE SAME TIME, and was NAILING it. Gotta respect that.

Catherine Zeta Jones: Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music



Okay...I LOVE this song, and I mean LOVE. I am currently preparing a Sondheim post, but I am taking my time because he is the greatest composer to ever live...and I'm pretty sure Catherine Zeta Jones ruined this song for me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Julie Andrews version, and I was excited to see Jones do it because I think she is a great actress, and her voice in Chicago is phenomenal, but she TOTALLY failed to deliver the night of the Tonys. However, I'm pretty sure she was sick...which is evident by her pursed lips, breathy voice, and overacting with her head spasms (trying to compensate?) I don't know...I have A LOT of respect for Jones, but this was a real let-down.

Overall...I enjoyed last year's Tonys more...better host, better shows, and better nominees...but this year was still enjoyable overall.