That closing number by NPH was almost the best part of the night....but I think the best moment was the luminous cast of "Hair"!!

The performances from the cast of Hair were the highlights of the show. I saw the original back in the 60's when I was about 10 years old and it was unforgettable. This production has really captured the spirit of the original.

I also think the sound engineer and the director of this Tony production should have a percentage of their pay cut for the multiple boners they pulled. It was truly painful to watch.

I've never seen a Tonycast so riddled with mistakes! If it weren't for the cast of "Hair" and Neil Patrick Harris, this ceremony would've laid a rotten egg.

And it is inexcusable for someone to f*ck up the SOUND element of the show, one of the most crucial elements of live theatre!!! The people in charge of the sound for this show ought to be taken into the back alley and shot.

No real surprise winners. Some performances were MUCH better than the others.

I liked the opening (except the bad sound) and LOVED the ending. But still, who would have thought that Poison would perform on the Tonys.

ROA & Hair had awesome performances because they drew the audience in. N2N because of the emotional heft was also very good. G&D didn't do much for me. I would have liked to have seen the leads performing. I wished Freak Flag & the Farquaad number (the name of which escapes me) would have swapped places, put Farquaad in the medley and Freak Flag as the Shrek feature. BE & WSS showcased dancing over music. I can kinda understand that with BE, although featuring the cast would have been nice, but this WSS revival hasn't been known for it's dancing. Showcasing Tony winner Karen Olivo would have been nice. But she gave a very touching speech.

NPH was a great host. Charming, hilarious, unafraid to go there. LOVED the Piven dig.

I want to see Hair and N2N now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BamaEd,

I just got done with Tom O'Neill's live chat and we basically stated everything that you guys have expressed here.

The sound department was obviously asleep, and half the performances were plagued by slow orchestrations or bad mic's. But N2N and Hair in particular were able to pull out some good performances despite that.

No surprising wins. The most unprepared speech, the three Billy boys, was actually my favorite speech of the night. Karen Olivo was a beauty to behold as well. Would have liked to see [title of show] win Book, but the fact that N2N won Score was enough to throw Billy's winning streak off a tad.

NPH had some quips, but he only really shone for me during the closing number. Funny stuff.

The best numbers of the night were "Next to Normal," "Rock of Ages," "Shrek," and "Hair." The touring productions numbers were a waste of time, and with Stockard Channing and Martha Plimpton at the telecast, they could have given them something on their own for "Pal Joey." The sound problems almost ruined the show altogether, from the awfully staged opening number to having to bring the microphone out for the "Guys & Dolls" number. The "Billy Elliot" number should have included all three of the leads. Neil Patrick Harris was a neglible presence for most of the show, but I loved his Jeremy Piven joke, a few of his opening monologue lines, and then his final number, which was worth the wait for him. Some great acceptance speeches from Karen Olivo, Angela Lansbury, a loud Alice Ripley, Geoffrey Rush, the awkward Billys, and Roger Robinson. Below average, anticlimactic show this year.

Congrats to all the winners! Especially Billy Elliot, God of Carnage, and Next To Normal! Congrats!!!

I had to miss the opening number, which i heard was really good, so hopefully I can catch it on like youtube...

NPH was a very good host though. And the Billy boys' speech was very funny... I'm happy for them!

Overall, I thought this was a very strong show: little to complain about in terms of winners, solid performances, good speeches. (That is, if you overlook the repeated sound goofs and insane direction)

PERFORMANCES
OPENING NUMBER: It didn't really cohere and get going until the end with "Let the Sunshine In" but whoa did it take off once everyone got on that stage. Best opening number since 2004, when they did something similar.

SHREK: Better than when I saw it live, oddly. It made the show look lithe and winning, which is really isn't. They did their job with this one.

ROCK OF AGES: It's sort of hard to lose with "Don't Stop Believin'". Nothing extraordinary or unexpected, and it did capture the central appeal of this show: solidly performed 80s hits.

NEXT TO NORMAL: Strongly acted and sung; played to a cavernous space and lost none of the intimacy or integrity it has in its much smaller home. Still, I fear taken out of context the song was inscrutable to anyone who hasn't seen the show.

BILLY ELLIOT: Blew it. They don't need to sell their show like the other nominees do, and the score may not be the show's strength, but it's still a bewildering choice to perform at the Tonys and not sing at all. (Did they figure they blew their wad with "Electricity" in the opening montage?) And there certainly should have been a way to get all three boys into the performance.

GUYS AND DOLLS: Talk about putting your best foot forward. Makes this production look so much better than it is. MVP? Mary Testa. Of course.

WEST SIDE STORY: When I heard they were doing Dance at the Gym I thought it was a weird choice given all the beautiful music in the score. But actually, considering the Tony-Maria chemistry is sort of the problem with this production, I preferred keeping them to a minimum and enjoyed this overall. Of course, JR choreography looked great.

HAIR: Most of the thrill of Hair is being there live, so some of the power was diminished in that, and the sound was mixed so strangely that the tribe's voices were practically drowned out by Swenson and Creel. Still, one of the best of the evening.

CLOSING NUMBER: Spectacular! An 11-o'clock number! Solved the problem of the end-of-awards-show anticlimax (Thank-you-the-news-is-next-goodnight). I was iffy on NPH until this, but he pulled this off with serious style. Sign him to a three-year contract! And let him sing all night!

SPEECHES
Best:
TOM KITT AND BRIAN YORKEY, BEST SCORE, NEXT TO NORMAL: Sheer joy, shared the mic like they'd worked the whole thing out beforehand but kept it spontaneous and humble.

GEOFFREY RUSH, BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY, EXIT THE KING: Most eloquent and funniest speech of the night.

OSKAR EUSTIS, BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL, HAIR: Most passionate speech of the night. Loved the excitement of the cast radiating from behind him.

THE BILLY BOYS, BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL, BILLY ELLIOT: They were everything we wanted them to be...flustered, overwhelmed, adorable. No smug precocious stage brats here.

Worst:
YASMINA REZA, BEST PLAY, GOD OF CARNAGE: "Maybe you missed my accent?" Wtf?

ALICE RIPLEY, BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL, NEXT TO NORMAL: Love her in the show, but wow. What a misfire. At least she looked great.

WINNERS

The only real complaint I have among the winners this year is Best Direction of a Play to Matthew Warchus for "God of Carnage". Totally the wrong show, but I suspect he benefitted from people being torn between the revivals. Still, despite he won for the wrong show, he deserves to have a Tony for the fantastic work he did this season overall and many seasons past, as well.

In all other cases, even though I may have preferred another nominee over the winner, I really didn't find a single person who got a Tony tonight undeserving. What a season this was! May we enjoy many more!!

Ps. Somebody get Liza Minelli under control, for the love of God.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. McPhearson:
I just got done with Tom O'Neill's live chat and we basically stated everything that you guys have expressed here.

The sound department was obviously asleep, and half the performances were plagued by slow orchestrations or bad mic's. But N2N and Hair in particular were able to pull out some good performances despite that.

No surprising wins. The most unprepared speech, the three Billy boys, was actually my favorite speech of the night. Karen Olivo was a beauty to behold as well. Would have liked to see [title of show] win Book, but the fact that N2N won Score was enough to throw Billy's winning streak off a tad.

NPH had some quips, but he only really shone for me during the closing number. Funny stuff.

Maybe Tom can do some snooping and find out about the sound. It was embarrassing. Plus you could hear audio from backstage or the control room. In Jersey Boys, you could way too clearly hear their feet dancing.

OMG, the Billy boys were so adorable!!!

quote:

GUYS AND DOLLS: Talk about putting your best foot forward. Makes this production look so much better than it is. MVP? Mary Testa. Of course.

Seriously? Better???

Because what I saw looked awful enough. You mean there's worse?

I'm surprised I wasn't kicked from the live chat; everytime Liza popped up, I complained about her. She was spontaneous tonight, and not in the good way. Will Ferrell's show was better, and his speech would have been too. All that was running through my head after her win was

Okay. O-okay, okay. Okay- see we - okay, okay, yeah. *breathes* Okay. So, okay -

Somebody's been sneakin' in sips of granddad's cough medicine.

Speaking of Granddad, I thought Frank Langella's riffs were hilarious. Finally, someone willing to swat Tony on the hand for wrongly snubbing them.

Ah, the opening number was exciting...if not great. Wasn't Liza the most Judyesque you've ever seen her. Not that on her best day she could be better than Judy on her worst day.

I've not seen any of these shows and heard only bits of pieces of the musicals...but I may say the music for the "Nex To Normal" number was awful...still I'm glad Elton John didn't beat out Dolly Parton.

Yeah for Angela Lansbury!

The "Mama Mia" & "Rock of Ages" numbers were bad, bad Karioke (spelling?).

The "Guys & Dolls" number was awful too...Nicely Nicely was a terrible actor and mediorce singer at best.

The "Hair" number was pretty good until the musical break. It didn't work for television and I have a feeling it didn't work for the majority of the live audience...I mean the actors trolling around the audience of course.

The closing number was the highlight of the show.

I feel the "Billy Elliot" trio was unfair...they should have just given them a special award and keep them out of competition.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JayDF,

Admittedly, I haven't sifted through every single post in this thread, but judging by the last few...was I the only one who noticed Trent Kowalik smugly rise out of his seat before the rest of the nominees were announced? He looked back at David Alvarez who looked mortified at his audacity. How on earth does this not qualify as "smug precocious stage brats"...

TELL ME I wasn't the only person to see this. What was happening was absolutely unmistakeable, this is not me blowing smoke out of your asses.

"Hair" and "Next to Normal" were the show's highlights. The "West Side Story" number was also great to see.

For the most part I really liked this year's show (aside from the sound problems of course), but I thought Elton John came off a little smug at the end when he addressed the writers of "Next to Normal". I may have misunderstood what he was saying to them, but I thought it came off very unlikable. And I thought that Frank Langella was funny up until he showed the audience his own newspaper ad. That seemed a little overboard. Many deserving people get snubbed every year (such as the disgraceful snubbing of this year's AMAZING revival of "The Seagull").

Neil Patrick Harris was a great host and I hope he comes back soon!

I'm glad the inept sound cues and direction for the show this year has been noted. What the hell happened?!

Gotta say, I hated the switching between camera angles during the In Memoriam segment, when the names of the some of those being honored were obscured behind the singers or band. Really in poor taste.

And confusing Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer? That's a stunning flub.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Bret Michaels' nearly beheading himself at the end of the opening number as he slid beneath the scenery as it dropped to the stage. He cracked his head on it or something, leading NPH to make a joke about it.

I'd like to give the one "Billy Elliot" kid the benefit of the doubt and assume he was just sliding forward in his seat in anticipation, but it sure did look like he was preparing to take the stage. And it sorta looked like Gavin Creel was laughing about it. Good sport.

I think Elton John's remarks to the "Next to Normal" writers was kind of classy, given he was expected to win, and he is, of course, part of a famous songwriting team.

All the remarks about getting Ms. Liza in line are hilarious; she wouldn't be Liza otherwise, people!

The numbers from touring productions fell painfully flat; "Legally Blonde" was fine, but "Mamma Mia!" and "Jersey Boys" flopped. It just felt strained and pushy.

Adored Karen Olivo's moving, emotional acceptance speech; Alice Ripley seems like she's a little bit on the nutty side, but her speech was corking.

Ms. Lansbury, "graciousness personified," as Jane Fonda remarked on her Twitter blog.

NPH: Have him back next year, given he had very little to do this time, and LET HIM SING.

I'd pair him with Laura Bernanti; she was like a stand-up comedian during the Creative Arts segment. I love a sexy dame who can crack a joke; Brian Stokes Mitchell couldn't quite keep up.

quote:

Originally posted by heyheyhey:
Admittedly, I haven't sifted through every single post in this thread, but judging by the last few...was I the only one who noticed Trent Kowalik smugly rise out of his seat before the rest of the nominees were announced? He looked back at David Alvarez who looked mortified at his audacity. How on earth does this not qualify as "smug precocious stage brats"...

TELL ME I wasn't the only person to see this. What was happening was absolutely unmistakeable, this is not me blowing smoke out of your asses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnfHqqvRFyM

Its hard to tell, but he looks a little confused. Idk, my friend has met Trent and knows his family, she was roommates with one of his sisters, and says he's a really sweet, humble kid, but who knows. I feel a little disappointed that everyone seems to not like the Billy Elliot performance because they didnt incorporate all the boys. I've seen them all perform on talk shows doing Electricity, which is always amazing, but I wanted them to show something different.(Also the mixing of their 3 voices isnt the best) Plus they opened the show, I thought all three of them were showcased quite well in that number.

Loved the whole opening of the show, some of it was kinda a mess, but it was worth it to see Bret Michaels getting taken down by the set. I dont know if it was just me, but the nominated musical performances seemed a lot longer than past years. All of them were great except for Guys and Dolls, that was a bloody awful trainwreck. I hate Guys and Dolls, but even i appreciate the amazing performance of that very song from the Nathan Lane revival, THATS how you should perform at the Tonys.

I love Jerry Herman, and I love even more that their video for him wasnt 10 minutes long, it got right to the point. Plus GEORGE HEARN!! He's the sweetest man alive.

I havent had much time to pay attention to this season really because I was too busy getting ready to graduate (with a Theatre Degree nonetheless) I kept hearing the title Next to Normal but never knew what it was about at all, and I was blown away by its performance. Wow! I need to learn more about this show. I have that same feeling about God of Carnage too.

And lest I forget Neil Patrick Harris, he did an amazing job hosting. I think its time for him to come back to Broadway for a bit, every time I listen to Assassins I'm blown away all over again. I dont know what it is about him, but I always forget how much of an excellent singer he is.

Highlights of the show:
LiZa (I dont care how much of a mess she is, shes still LIZA)
Billy Elliot (I'm so glad the boys won, they truly deserve it)
Next To Normal
Next To Normal ladys speech
NPH
I havent mentioned anything about it yet, but Hair blew me away. I've been recently listening to a LOT of Hair (ADing it this summer) I'm glad they didnt do Aquarius, its always amazing, but thank you for showing us something else!

It's official..Liza Minnelli is over and done..The nerve to have to see and hear her 3x..was pathetic...she craves attention like a kid..the Billy Elliot boys are more mature and talented for sure...Poor momma..must be rolling over in her grave...she can barely hit a note anymore (she really never could)...she cant dance or even move those fake hips..and her annoying chatter and rudeness during her winning show's acceptance speech was just plain rude...She just needs to be the center of attention..and at 63..its a very tired old act..and she needs to be sent out to pasture as they say...Such adoration for such a no-talent...makes me crave and love the talented ladies even more...Streisand, Audra Mcdonald, bernadette peters, chita rivera, patty lupone, angela lansbury, kelly o'hara, donna murphy, and Christine ebersole...I say...NO MORE LIZA MINNELLI!!!

Upon further reviewing I think the set attacked Bret Michaels for lip-syncing.

quote:

Originally posted by oscarnutlen:
It's official..Liza Minnelli is over and done..The nerve to have to see and hear her 3x..was pathetic...she craves attention like a kid..the Billy Elliot boys are more mature and talented for sure...Poor momma..must be rolling over in her grave...she can barely hit a note anymore (she really never could)...she cant dance or even move those fake hips..and her annoying chatter and rudeness during her winning show's acceptance speech was just plain rude...She just needs to be the center of attention..and at 63..its a very tired old act..and she needs to be sent out to pasture as they say...Such adoration for such a no-talent...makes me crave and love the talented ladies even more...Streisand, Audra Mcdonald, bernadette peters, chita rivera, patty lupone, angela lansbury, kelly o'hara, donna murphy, and Christine ebersole...I say...NO MORE LIZA MINNELLI!!!

Shut yer yap you ole queen! Saw Liza perform in Toronto recently and she was fabulous!

But what was up with the sound. What I heard didn't match the lips of anyone at the Tonys. Very distracting.

Nice to see the female legends trotted out with regularity - most of em oscar winners - Fonda, Lange, Minelli, Sarandon, Harden and the likes of Parton & Landsbury. At least on the stage these gals get the respect they deserve if not on the screen.