Just wish COME FROM AWAY would announce what they're doing.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Is there ANY chance that this whole "Penny In My Pocket" thing could just be a big tease? It's performed in front of a curtain, so is there any possibility that after his song is done the curtain will rise to reveal Bette doing the title number?
hellobroadway said: "Is there ANY chance that this whole "Penny In My Pocket" thing could just be a big tease? It's performed in front of a curtain, so is there any possibility that after his song is done the curtain will rise to reveal Bette doing the title number?
I bet most people watching will be holding on to the glimmer of hope that the curtain will rise to reveal Bette and the waiters while DHP is performing, thus not really paying full attention to "Penny in my Pocket".
If we had a biting comedian hosting the awards, you know they'd have so much material over this. Alas...another missed opportunity.
I'm curious how they're going to explain the headscratcher of Penny In My Pocket to the fans watching the Tonys who are expecting to see Bette and haven't been following passerelle-gate.
JudyDenmark said: "I'm curious how they're going to explain the headscratcher of Penny In My Pocket to the fans watching the Tonys who are expecting to see Bette and haven't been following passerelle-gate.
hellobroadway said: "Is there ANY chance that this whole "Penny In My Pocket" thing could just be a big tease? It's performed in front of a curtain, so is there any possibility that after his song is done the curtain will rise to reveal Bette doing the title number?
"Imagine...but the producers of the TONYS don't think creatively in that manner
"Anything you do, let it it come from you--then it will be new."
Sunday in the Park with George
Short of absolutely having everyone involved sign an NDA in blood, there will be no "Bette" surprise...not happening; CBS would promote the hell out of that if it was going to happen.
As for the Anastasia FB thing, maybe they are trying to do something nice for Mary Beth Peil if she wins. (We do still have some nice people around here).
Still, just so happy that Patti and Christine are performing.
ACL2006 said: "Just wish COME FROM AWAY would announce what they're doing."
Same here! Every appearance I've seen they've done "Welcome to the Rock" which is great but I'd like to see them bust out something different. If the plan is to segue into "Me and the Sky" I'd think they might have to do something else, as "Rock" leading to that would be strange out of context - although they could always reverse it like Pippin did a few years back, continuity be damned.
I think CFA is doing "Welcome to the Rock" (or I suppose it's not completely out of the realm to do a snippet of the "Finale" if a medley were involved?).
Chad Kimball posted a photo of Jenn Colella sitting at a table during rehearsal last night and there's a teleprompter visible in the background. Although fuzzy, I'm pretty certain that's part of Joel Hatch's lines ("On the northeast tip of North America on an island called" )
I mean, the photo of Jenn at rehearsal made it look like she was in position for Me and the Sky. I would assume they'll do a group number with a transition into Me and the Sky.
It looked more to me like she was resting on the chair where Caesar Samayoa usually sits.
Based off Gerard Canonico's Instagram story showing the Groundhog Day crew getting their microphones backstage while Great Comet rehearsed, Great Comet's performance will include "The Abduction." You can hear them singing "Goodbye, my Gypsy lover..."
From Jordan Roth's Instagram story today...It seems that Falsettos is doing "A Day in Falsettoland" I'd imagined a much shorter version. So heppy Betsy and Tracy will get to perform!
Steve C. said: "Short of absolutely having everyone involved sign an NDA in blood, there will be no "Bette" surprise...not happening; CBS would promote the hell out of that if it was going to happen."
Obviously nothing's happening on the Radio City stage because it would've leaked from the rehearsals by now. But...(this is my Hail Mary) maybe DHP will do a verse of Penny in My Pocket and then kick it over to "live from the Shubert!" I know I'm wrong, because you're right about CBS promoting it, but I still just cannot believe that they are representing that lavish show with Penny in My Pocket. It's just so weird.
Hmm. Everyone has been assuming Great Comet will do a medley, but couldn't they just do a slightly shorter version of "The Abduction," the first five minutes? They might try to do something to include Denee Benton, but the song features the two male nominees, the ensemble, and a whole lot of energetic dancing and fun. It would be a Hamilton type of approach, showcasing the show as the star.
Given the effort being made to recreate, as much as possible, the setting and the inclusion of the extras, it wouldn't make much sense to do all that for a couple minutes of a dance number and then segue into a truncated ballad. And an extra consideration: Like Hamilton, the big star is leaving in a few weeks. A Josh Groban-as-Pierre ballad kind of works against the musical's long-term hopes. The Great Comet producers don't mind using Groban's star power, but they should want the TV viewers' takeaway to be: That show looks and sounds really fun! I want to see that, Groban or no Groban.
@bear88, that NYT article about Bette not performing mentioned that Great Comet would be doing a medley of something featuring Josh Groban, and something featuring the whole cast.
I was originally thinking of something like "Balaga" and "Dust and Ashes." But if it's going to be "The Abduction," Josh Groban has a prominent role in that. I still remain skeptical of a medley, because I just think it will have to be chopped up into little bits that won't do justice to the songs they pick. Even the biggest hit shows get six minutes max, and usually less.
If they're really going to stick with the no-Midler plan, I guess the Tonys could lead off with a tweaked version of Comet's "Prologue," adding the lyrics, "And Dolly isn't here."
More seriously, I do think everyone is going to look bad if David Hyde Pierce is trotted out to sing "Penny in My Pocket." The Tony show will be blamed. Bette Midler will be blamed. Scott Rudin will be blamed. Hello, Dolly will disappoint fans and curious folks who just want to get an idea of what the fuss is about. And DHP, who seems like a consummate professional, will get stuck in a terrible position, singing a song no one knows or cares about as the sole representative of the season's biggest musical revival. Part of me just can't believe that everyone would be so shortsighted and stubborn, but I undoubtedly don't know showbiz well enough.
If I was a Tony producer, and had to deal with Rudin's antics and was petty as hell, I would have tried to get a younger celebrity in good voice and physical energy and charisma recreate and adapt the title song of "Hello Dolly!" with some of the finest Broadway dancers who are not otherwise performing on stage. I would have a recognizable name introduce the number and name all the great actresses who played the part and performed it at the Tonys in years past as well and emphasize what true Broadway icons they were.
I also would do what I could to minimize the current production's presence in the show even though I obviously can't control whether it wins any awards. I'd encourage camera cut aways to the audience during speeches and DHP's performance and make the host and presenters talk up the other revivals and new musicals and say less than the bare minimum about Hello Dolly! If at all.
Of course if I was a producer I probably would have caved and let them do it at the Schubert and found some other way to get back at Scott Rudin and deal with the "precedent" set by my caving next season.