The least watched Tony Awards, ever!- Page 2

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:30am

Meh. The Tonys can never win for losing. The speeches are too long! The winners get cut off too early! The show is too cheesey! The show is too serious! Why is someone non-Broadway performing! Why is a Broadway performing singing something they are starring in, but it was part of last season? Why can't all the new musicals perform whether they are nominated or not?

It doesn't matter what the Tonys do, it will never get high ratings and it will never make theatre people stop bitching and whining.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:31am

Matt, you find what makes theater people stop bitching and whining, and I'll give you a million dollars.

[chicolini]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:32am

b12b, correct as usual! None of the performances inspired me to go see a show. I enjoyed Company and Raul's performance when I saw the whole show, but to just jump into that rendition of Being Alive made it come off too over-the-top. You have to build up to something like that, and a few minutes on tv doesn't allow for it.
Audra was very good, but it still didn't vault 110 to my must-see list and I didn't think my husband's take on the Curtains number "the Thriller video set to show tunes" was that far off the mark.

The Tony Awards should decide what sort of broadcast they want. Are they trying to pull in a new audience and entice people to come to Broadway or are they catering to already established theatre fans? Right now, it seems too split-personality, so nobody winds up satisfied.

Updated On: 6/11/07 at 11:32 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 12:24pm

Yes, yes, B12B, "Revolutionary Costume," verses cut and laden with the monologue material, seemed non-musical in extreme. And they dragged in the set piece, but it did little to help Ebsersole's context.

"Another Winter" is haunting and as you opine, about a universal human experince. The central metaphor of one leafe on a tree is poignant, in or out of context (I first heard it on the album and it was wreching, without having seen the show.) And it SINGS, and soars; it has such a hook of a melody -- you could imagine it being covered by great ladies of yesteryear, from Rosie Clooney to Nancy Lamott.

But they are so afraid of selling "dark" emotion, when people supposedly want musical theater to be upbeat and funny.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 12:27pm

First off, it was up against The Sopranos which was the series finale. Everyone tuned in to see how the show would end.

Second, the Tony Awards are becoming irrelevant. They are boring and everyone other than die-hard theater fans tunes out.

This year was a 3 hour broadcast. With these ratings, expect next year to be back to a 2 hour broadcast.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 12:28pm

a list of instantly forgettable names

Hey, somebody said thanks to someone named Beowulf last night. I didn't forget that one!

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 12:35pm

Hey, there's a huge Fantasia in The Color Purple side-bar on my screen right now!

And why has the CURTAINS logo been displayed right beneath the BWW logo for the past few days? (I'm sure this has been discussed, but I haven't been around.)

Anyway, these things should tell us something.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 12:47pm

It's like with every other award show. It just goes on . . . and on . . . and on. What they need to do is just go on with what they came there for. Hand out awards, let the shows do FULL NUMBERED performances and go home. I didn't watch last nights telecast, but I am getting a tape of it this weekend to watch the performances, but I don't understand why they have a 3 hour show to give away a few awards and do a few performances. Cut all the other bull crap out, and maybe it will do well again.

One of the best ones I have seen (and granted I have only started watching them a few years ago) was the year that Hugh Jackman hosted when he was nominated for BOY FROM OZ. I actually enjoyed that evening.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 1:16pm

I found every single person from Spring Awakening, utterly dull and completely off-putting. Like they were trying to exclude everyone from some inside joke. I couldn't stand a single one of them. It is the only awards show I still watch, but I think this may have been my last year. It's just not entertaining. Not in the slightest.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 1:31pm

I liked Mayer's speech, and Gallagher, Jrs.

I repeat, stop with the "greatest hits" montages of the shows. Dont bastardize your show into a crappy commercial.

[James885]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 1:33pm

I Tivo'ed the Tonys last night and watched the broadcast this morning. I think I got through the whole thing in an hour and a half. I'm sorry, but this year's Awards show is up there with last years as being among the dullest IMHO. I hate to compare, but I had a much more enjoyable time watching Ellen host this year's Oscars. The entertainment factor for the Tonys was just not there for me. I don't know if it's because there wasn't a host again or what, but it's just not very fun to watch.

The performances for the most part were ok. Audra McDonald in particular gave a great one. But I have yet to see Spring Awakening and based on the performance that I saw, it didn't exactly suck me in. I think that too much time is given to speeches and not enough time to performances. I would love to see the shows perform FULL NUMBERS instead of songs that are truncated and hodge-podged together(SA & Mary Poppins) .

I think the CBS has got to realize by now that no matter what they do or who they bring on, the Tonys are never going to become a ratings juggernaut like the Oscars or the Grammys. I think they would be wise to move the Tonys to Bravo or PBS, where they wouldn't have to worry about ratings.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 2:07pm

I didn't even tivo it. I can watch the clips on youtube I guess.

It just seems so pathetically arrogant anyone bothers to air this.

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 2:09pm

Are the Tony's an awards show or an entertainment for the mass market? Are they for the people who are nominated? The outsiders who want to be insiders? The industry elite? The small audience viewing from their living rooms? The audience in the venue? The producers who are looking for a commercial for their productions? The fan-girls and boys who can't see beyond their idol du jour? The jaded members of the theatre community who love to laugh at the losers. The gay men in Peoria who can't wait to see someone kiss their partner or thank their beloved? The viewers who can't wait to see how old, fat, thin, hideously dressed, beautifully coiffed, poorly introduced, under-rehearsed, the presenters are?

To me it's an awards show nothing more...they're all alike in their format...from the Tony's to the Emmy's to the Oscar's. The only thing that ever changes are the faces. The writing is nearly always stale and trite, people always say stupid things, the speeches go on too long. I've been watching them since the late 60's... and attend several during the 90's and only occasionally have they been great...sometimes good...but mostly mediocre.

It's my opinion that the awards shows are for the nominees and the winners, who should be able to say whatever they want in their acceptance speeches, for as long as they want. Too bad if the speeches are boring, too long and meaningless to the viewers...it's not really about the viewers, it's about the people who have won the award. If they bore you...turn the channel. The people receiving the awards won't care. And you'll have the satisfaction of not having to listen to them.

All the awards shows have become bloated over produced, underwhelming events. I'd be perfectly happy if they cut to the chase, did away with the "celebrity" presenters, put it in a venue that's not a barn, limit the musical numbers to the nominated shows, cut the extraneous b/s that adds time but not substance and just hand out the awards. Any director worth his salt should be able to pull together an awards show that would run no more than 90 minutes and still highlight what the evening should be about...the winners.

Updated On: 6/11/07 at 02:09 PM

[xxnewgirlxx]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 2:39pm

I havent' seen any of this years shows, since I haven't been to New York since last summer. Based solely on last night's performances, the only show that caught my attention was Grey Gardens.

[mirramar]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 3:20pm

I hate watching self-congratulatory awards shows. I think they're all stupid.

I watched Food Network Challenge: Villian Cakes instead!

[vbplayer]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 5:19pm

"It's just not entertaining. Not in the slightest."

I couldn't agree more.....plus this is the saddest statement of all for an awards show honoring entertainment.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 5:37pm

I think technically, the "least watched Tony Awards, ever(!)" would have been 1947. But that's only because Angela Lansbury and Susan Anton weren't there. And Raul. It's hard to believe there were any Tony awards before Raul.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 7:15pm

Put it on cable & broadcast it from a legitimate theater

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 7:27pm

I couldn't agree more with Best12.
I thought the Jane Krakowski understudy schtick, Audra McDonald rocking the stage with "Raunchy," and the "Show Business" performance by CURTAINS were the only parts of the show that were worthy of watching in terms of so-called "entertainment." I still have absolutely no idea why the Jersey Boys were singing up there or why Fantasia performed "I'm Still Here" for the 30th time on National TV (there was a rumored she's sing "Home" which I would have enjoyed listening to).
I may be stoned to death for saying this but Christine Ebersole's Tony performance was atrocious. Yes, a big part of it had to do with the fact that they picked one of the worst songs they could choose to do out of context; but I found the performance itself to be awkward, dull, and uninspired, as if she was going through the motions of the song without caring much.
Raul Esparza's "Being Alive" was rather embarrassing, you could tell he was pretty nervous and perhaps if they had allowed him to perform with the rest of his cast he might have done better. As it stood his performance was just hard to get through.
I didn't get what MARY POPPINS was doing, nor did I care to.
And explain to me why they did the whole headshot thing if they didn't even pretend to have the real actors behind the photo? When they announce Anika Noni Rose and there's a white man holding the headshot there is a problem.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 7:41pm

I enjoyed the Drama Desk simulcast so much, while the Tonys felt like a bad 1950's shriners convention (no offense to the shriners who are tremendous community citizens, BTW). If they really want to celebrate theater, they should skip the speeches and the so-called excitement of seeing four unfortunate losing nominees get through a tough 2 minutes. Let each show put on one full, uncut, razzle dazzle number - and have the context explained to the audience. Or re-create scenes from classic musicals - like a living page from musical theater history. Find a way to put full length straight plays on TV again - that's how many people saw Shakespeare and other inspired theater. But most of all, don't make the shows pay for the honor -

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 8:03pm

What's with all that "bleating" like a goat?

So this was obviously the very first time you've ever heard Raul sing.

On the positive side, "Curtains" and Audra's number from "110" came off really well.

I thought Curtains suffered from exactly the same problem that others have said Grey Gardens suffered from. I'm sure Debra Monk crossing the stage like Flotilla Debarge makes sense in the show, but ripped from it, the first thing I thought when I saw her doing her Mermanesque thing was, "This is why people hate musicals. They think musicals are like this."

Matt, you find what makes theater people stop bitching and whining, and I'll give you a million dollars.

You should hope it takes Matt a long time. You probably shouldn't take on any more debt right now.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 8:39pm

"So this was obviously the very first time you've ever heard Raul sing."

...and the last, I'm hoping, Namo. That was seriously painful and embarrassing.

...Flotilla Debarge...

My partner wanted to know who that was playing the set. Zowie!

So which is better? Leftover "ham" crossing the stage like a Macy's float parody of Merman? Or a bunch of bratty kids hopping around cussing... in a "revolutionary show"(???)... who look like Holly Hobby, and the love-children of Tom Waits & Lyle Lovett? I guess I'd rather have my traditional parade floats over singing Bratz dolls, but I'm sure that's more a sign of my age than anything else.

I wanted to have a good time, damn it, and I tried to enjoy myself. But I'm hoping there's a lot more in the ice box to chose from next year.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 9:20pm

I really loved the energy of the Spring Awakening performance. And if the same theoretical person who would tune in and see the Curtains thing and say, "This is why I hate musicals" would NOT tune in for the Spring Awakenings bit and say that. So that's a big old plus in their column, if you ax me.

[Chita1933]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 9:27pm

Guys, what the Tony Awards telecast needs is...

[tazber]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 9:34pm

I enjoyed the SA clip, but the camerman seemed to be having a siezure towards the end of it.

Overall I thought the show was entertaining. I am however a very easy critic. I mean, I thought the Mary Poppins # was fun.