2005 Tony Performances

closed shows have performed before. Judy Kuhn and Dick Latessa did Rags. And the looks on their faces afterwards were so pitiful I thought they'd take the gas pipe.

Updated On: 5/26/05 at 02:45 PM

Bobby, then perhaps Sutton WILL perform!

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The general rule is that only the shows nominated for original or revival of a musical get to perform. Heather did perform for Aida, she and the cast performed The Gods Love Nubia. Exceptions have been made in the past. The year Rent won, both Big and State Fair performed even though they were not nominated in either category.

A couple of years ago, some pretty amazing people did a Rodgers and Hammerstein Medley.... Lea Salonga, Harry Connick, Jr, I believe were among them. Perhaps if there's something like that this year, Sutton would be a part. I think it would be a really nice gesture to involve her somehow.

However, I had to laugh at 525600's comment - Sutton's not going to perform simply because she's "OMG SO AMAZING!" nor just because she was nominated for best actress. It's usually the shows nominated for best musical and revival (the ones that are still open, to be more exact) that perform. But of course, someone who was asking why she'd perform, probalby based on that is crazy and must be new to the scene!

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Updated On: 5/26/05 at 02:54 PM

Politics do play a part...The revival of SHOW BOAT performed (via Satelite from Toronto) before it opened on Broadway and I REMEMBER MAMA got a huge segment though it wasn't nominated because they were doing a celebration of Richard Rodgers that year.

It may be interesting to note, that until the early 80s, not every nominated musical performed on the Tonys. The selection was much more arbitrary. A lot of the most popular musicals of the 1970s -- THE WIZ, NIGHT MUSIC, FOLLIES didn't perform.

Updated On: 5/26/05 at 02:57 PM

Michael Bennett: That god-awful number from I Remember Mama got on because Alex Cohen produced that musical and the Tony Awards that year. Cohen engineered the special Tony for Richard Rodgers so he could get that number on the air and hopefully increase ticket sales. It didn't work.

Yeah I think it was a slow year. They did a few clips from tryout productions, I seem to remember a Hello Dolly! clip and a Master Class clip. I think but am not positive that it was the year Smokey Joe and Sunset were the 2 best musical noms.