Tony awards more entertaining than the Oscars
The Tony Awards for theater performances is not as popular as the Oscars in the Philippines and it's understandable. Very few Filipinos have ever been to Broadway to watch the stage productions so it's hard to relate to the Tonys which was aired on the Velvet channel Monday morning (Philippine time). But in the small world of show business, Broadway and Hollywood sometimes borrow from each other for material. Stage productions, mostly musicals like "Rent," "Chicago," "Mamma Mia" and "Nine" have made it to the big screen. Films like "Spider Man," "Ghost," "Billy Elliot" and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" have been turned into stage plays.
This year's big Tony winner "Once," with eight awards including Best Musical and Best Lead Actor is based on a little-known movie that won an Oscar for Best Song (Falling Slowly") in 2008. Its main competitor, "Newsies" started out as a film musical with the same title in 1992 and starred an 18-year-old actor named Christian Bale. Bale would graduate from playing a newsboy to portraying a superhero called Batman. Also in the cast was Max Casella who was the sidekick of Neil Patrick Harris in the TV series "Doogie Howser, M.D."
Harris is this year's host on the Tony Awards and compared to 2012 Oscar host Billy Crystal, he did much more to earn his talent fee. While Billy did a solo number where he poked fun at the nine Best Picture nominees in song, Harris went the extra mile. He did a complicated opening number that required him to sing, dance with a cast of thousands (that's figuratively speaking, of course), combined songs from Broadway musicals from the past 66 years in one number and even hung upside down a la Spiderman. Of course, Crystal cracked the usual one-liners which Harris matched with his own witticisms. One example had him combining titles of films and plays like "The Towering Inferno, No, Nanette," "The Exorcister's Act," "Field of Dream Girls" "Psycho Calcutta" and "My Left Footloose" as possible Broadway productions.
At the Oscars, I knew practically all the nominees and presenters. At the Tonys, the names of Danny Burstein, Jeremy Jordan, Steve Kazee, Norm Lewis and Ron Raines, nominees for Best Lead Actor in a Musical didn't ring a bell. I did recognize Hollywood stars who have also appeared on Broadway like Matthew Broderick, Amanda Seyfried, Ellen Barkin, Christopher Plummer and a few others.
Amazing performances
What sets the Tonys apart from the Oscars are the production numbers. This year, there were a staggering 14 of them. These were hard to stage for television because most involved singing, choreography and the usual figurative cast of thousands. It must have been a nerve-wracking experience for the TV director and his staff. Remember that the numbers were being staged live. It was a seamless production and I did not detect any error being made by the TV staff.
I also salute the stage manager(s) who had to control the huge cast for their entrances and exits and maintain order backstage. How about the stage crew who had to put up and change the sets? I realize, of course, that technology may have made their work easier. This was a big treat for viewers who have not been to Broadway. There were excerpts from "Evita," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Book of Mormon," "Porgy and Bess," "Godspell" and many others.
When it came to the acceptance speeches, some speeches were quite emotional and most stuck to the time limit of 90 seconds. Steve Kazee, winner for Best Lead Actor in a Musical, paid tribute to his late mother, "My mother always told me before shows to stand up and show them whose little boy you are. And I am here to tell you I am the son of Kathy Kazee who lost her fight with cancer on Easter Sunday this year. And I miss you every day, and I feel you here with me tonight."
British actor James Corden was a first time nominee and an underdog in the category—Best Lead Actor in a Play. He was up against a formidable group of actors—Phillip Seymour Hoffman, James Earl Jones, Frank Langella and John Lithgow. Add to that the fact that actors in a comedy have seldom, if ever, won in this category, even in Hollywood. Robin Williams won for Best Supporting Actor in "Good Will Hunting." but it was for a serious role.
The unexpected happened—Corden won. He couldn't contain himself as he spoke about her special friend "My girlfriend, Julia, gave birth to our son five days before we started rehearsals. She is my baby mama and I can't wait to marry her. .. I wouldn't be holding this (trophy) without her. She made me say us instead of I and we instead of me. I love her."
Audra McDonald who won her fifth Tony for "Porgy and Bess," her first in the lead actress category was just as emotional. She recalled her childhood when she had a pot belly and Afro puffs. "I was hyperactive and overdramatic and found the theater where I found a place to express myself. I'm so grateful to be part of this company, é to be in love with Norm Lewis every night, to get raped by Phillip Boykin and to do drugs with David Alan Grier." Then, she had a special message for her daughter Zoe, who was in the audience with her fiancé, Will Swenson. "This is an amazing night for mommy but Feb. 14, 2001, the day you were born, is the best night ever."
Hugh Jackman, on the other hand, got the biggest surprise of his life when she saw his wife Deborah Lee Furness onstage (she had told him she was going to the loo) to present his award for his humanitarian activities. After thanking the organizers, he asked Deborah to join him upstage and told her, "I know how much you hate public speaking. This is probably the greatest thing you have done for me."
