This year's Tony performances- Page 2

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 11:20am

I doubt Honeymoon in Vegas would perform considering the money they lost in the run. It costs so much to perform at the Tonys now. Unless the producers want to plop down another $100,000 or more depending on number of performers, I doubt we will see any closed shows perform. If they do it will be a solo or duet (a la the Ragtime revival, where they only had to pay Christiane Noll). but they would need a nomination in the top category first...otherwise what's the point?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 11:46am

^If Rob McClure and/or Tony Danza are nominated, I could probably see them performing Forever Starts Tonight or Come to an Agreement.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 11:59am

Aren't the shows that perform generally the ones that are nominated for best musical and best musical revival? Also if the Last Ship gets nominated they should perform the last ship sails. And does anyone think Lin Manuel Miranda will do a hamilton performance? I know its not on broadway yet, but it would be a good build up to the broadway run.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:08pm

^Yes, but every year since 2008, the Tonys have found ways of incorporating other musicals from the season that weren't nominated to perform (if they were still running).

2008:
The Little Mermaid
A Catered Affair
Young Frankenstein

2009:
9 to 5: The Musical

2010:
Promises, Promises
Come Fly Away
Everyday Rapture

2011:
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

2012:
Ghost the Musical
Godspell

2013:
Motown: The Musical

2014:
If/Then
Rocky
Cabaret
Bullets Over Broadway

Updated On: 4/12/15 at 12:08 PM

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:09pm

I would be shocked if there wasn't a Hamilton performance.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:11pm

Does anyone think the Tonys this year might present a special performance from Mamma Mia! since it'll be closing in September? Rent did it back in 2008.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:16pm

Jeffrey its not that the Tonys "found a way". The producers paid for those performances. Even if you are nominated for the top category you still must pay. Shows like Rocky, Bullets, Mermaid, etc performed b/c they missed on the big prize but producers still wanted to take advantage of the biggest advertising night of the year. 

 

Will Mamma Mia perform? If the producers say hey Tonys, we've got a few hundred thousand dollars to give you, then yes they will. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:19pm

If they were going to do something for Mamma Mia I think they would be best served by incorporating that into the opening number.  It seems you are more likely to get people to tune in and stick with an awards show if you give them something that will excite them at the start, rather than dragging out the promise of "coming up soon."  And yes, I do think a number from Mamma Mia will pull in more of the casual viewers/theatre-going public than an something unknown.

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:20pm

Would ottc not be better to do more of a big production number that will please the crowds and highlight their leading lady? So veronique or Babette? 

Updated On: 4/12/15 at 12:20 PM

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:36pm

Agreed that it's tough to pick a number that, in isolation, would represent "Fun Home" well. Which is why I think they go with the showstopper, delivered by the show's most-talked-about performer: "Ring of Keys."

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 12:39pm

"Would ottc not be better to do more of a big production number that will please the crowds and highlight their leading lady? So veronique or Babette? "

 I don't know On the Twentieth Century that well, so I can't speak as to which song would be an appropriate choice, but your line of reasoning there is sound.

Ultimately the performance on the telecast is a commercial.  It's a chance to sell the show to a much larger audience, especially tourists outside of the NY area who will most likely have made their choices by the time they get to NY and could be swayed by local advertising.  So if a show is really attempting to make ticket sales on its star (as is the case with Twentieth Century and Chenoweth) then they are going to want to make sure she is showcased on the telecast in a big way.

It's not about showcasing who was nominated; the people in the audience who are voters have already cast their votes and made their decision.  It's about showcasing the number that is going to make people say "I want to see that show."  There have been many cases throughout the history of the telecast where people who were nominated, and ended up winning, didn't perform on the show (Natasha Richardson for Cabaret and Mary Louise Wilson for Grey Gardens to name just two off the top of my head).

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 1:00pm

Shows like Rocky, Bullets, Mermaid, etc performed b/c they missed on the big prize but producers still wanted to take advantage of the biggest advertising night of the year.

Try telling that to Michael Riedel who just keeps assuming that CBS wants to put out more entertainment.

If they were going to do something for Mamma Mia I think they would be best served by incorporating that into the opening number.  It seems you are more likely to get people to tune in and stick with an awards show if you give them something that will excite them at the start, rather than dragging out the promise of "coming up soon."  And yes, I do think a number from Mamma Mia will pull in more of the casual viewers/theatre-going public than an something unknown.

While you do have a good point, I think a much more exciting opening number for this year's Tony Awards would be the cast of On the Town performing New York, New York.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 1:15pm

No argument from me on that one, Jeffrey, that would be a great opening number.  Though when was the last time that they had a show-specific opening number like that? (I honestly can't recall off the top of my head).  But I was just thinking along the lines of a director/television producer and the best place to put a Mamma Mia performance/tribute.

One of my favorites is still the year 42nd Street was revived, with the pre-recorded segment of the cast starting on stage at the Ford Center, down into the subway heading uptown to Radio City (loved the associate choreographer as the random subway passenger who starts doing the leg kicks with them), and then cutting back to the live portion as they came down the aisles and up on to the stage.  That was the way to do an opening number.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 1:17pm

 Though it isn't representative of the show as a whole, I bet Fun Home will do Come to the Fun Home. It could easily be set up by adult Alison, and when I saw the show it got a really great response. I'm sure Something Rotten! will do A Musical, although I wonder if it will suffer from being cut down, since the full number is certainly too long to do on the telecast.

 

Also, I know plays rarely perform on the telecast, but if I were a producer of Hand to God, I would fight to get Tyrone and Steven Boyer on the telecast somehow, even as a presenter- didn't Avenue Q do that with John Tartaglia and Rod?

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 1:50pm

^wonderfulwizard thats a great idea and I hope Hand to God does something like that. Have Boyer perform a small bit to introduce something. If they do show clips from the plays, as they've done in the past, a Jason/Tyronne skit describing the play could be hilarious and sell it well.

[letyourfreakflagwave]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 3:29pm

I agree that it's really to accurately represent Fun Home by only performing a single number. I personally would love to see "Ring of Keys" being performed at the Tonys but I don't know whether they will actually go with that song. 

"A Musical" seems like the obvious choice for Something Rotten! but just as it has been pointed out, the song will suffer from being shortened.

And I really hope Finding Neverland won't choose "Live by the Hook/Stronger". Despite the effective staging, I felt like it was the musically weakest part of the show and doesn't do the overall score justice.

As far as The Visit goes: I don't really find anyone of Claire's song captivating but I can't them not featuring Chita. I would most love to see "Yellow Shoes".

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 3:41pm

"Friend Like Me" also suffered from being shortened, and since both shows have the same director, perhaps he will recall that and pick something else? Plus, if Borle is nominated (anyone know he if he will be lead or supporting?), "A Musical" doesn't include him. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 3:47pm

The nominating committee hasn't made determinations for Something Rotten yet.  So for now he is considered where ever his billing places him.  Now that can of course change should the producers decide to petition him to a different category and the nominating committee agrees to the petition, but that won't be determined until the show opens and the committee has its final eligibility meeting of the season.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 5:43pm

Though when was the last time that they had a show-specific opening number like that? (I honestly can't recall off the top of my head).

2003: Movin' Out
2007: A Chorus Line
2008: The Lion King*
2012: The Book of Mormon*
2014: After Midnight*

*Does anyone of them count?

[A1st]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 6:11pm

How was 2014 specific to After Midnight?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 6:17pm

Thanks for the list, Jeffrey.

The use of The Lion King and The Book of Mormon in 2008 and 2012 respectively would point more towards putting Mamma Mia into the opening, citing those years as precedent for not using shows that are competing for awards that year in the opening.  Last year was a bit weird, with that hopping bit that then led to the performance for After Midnight (I missed the first fifteen minutes or so of the telecast last year and had just watched the opening now on Youtube).

In 2007 it made sense to use A Chorus Line as the basis for the opening.  For a long time that show was synonymous with Broadway for a lot of people all around the country thanks to the numerous touring and regional productions.  

Like I said, I agree that "New York, New York" (or some variation on it) would work great for the opening, but it would also make sense to me if they did choose to put a performance from Mamma Mia into the opening as a tribute to the show's run.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/13/15 at 11:13pm

What if this year's Tonys opened with the cast of Something Rotten! performing 'A Musical'? It was an idea I was just thinking about since that number is suppose to be about the conception of the art form.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/13/15 at 11:47pm

Something tells me that, nominations pending, SOMETHING ROTTEN will be doing a medley. #hearditherefirst

Updated On: 4/14/15 at 11:47 PM

[A1st]

Posted: 4/14/15 at 12:14am

No idea on timing of the piece and who will be nominated, but they could start with willpower, let Nick bottom see shakespeare so Nick goes Into I hate shakespeare, followed by going to the soothsayer for a musical. Just a thought

[A1st]

Posted: 4/14/15 at 12:14am

Sorry double post 

Updated On: 4/14/15 at 12:14 AM