2025 Tony Awards Reactions Thread — Page 22

(double post)

I'm so late to shaing my reactions, probably because I was exhausted after being in the room all night last night but..

The Good:

> Maybe Happy Ending, Sunset, and Pirate's performances were my top 3 from this season, however...
> Hamilton is in a league of its own. I've never seen a room so thrilled at a performance for the Tony's. WOW. That was so thrilling, and as somebody who got into theater partially due to Hamilton I really loved the full circle moment. Though I do agree with the commenter that said the all black/white was serving Jamie Lloyd, but I do like that style.
> Kara Young's speech. AMAZING. The Eureka Day speech, and Hue Park's "I'm still single" running gag were all memorable.
> Jennifer Simard, national treasure.
> Cynthia was a fine host, I generally tend not to care about the hosts either way. I'm here for performances and awards!

The Mid:
> Audra on Rose's Turn was better in the theater. I feel like she changed things around because it was for a camera. Then again, Nicole's changes for TV weren't the best either.
> Dead Outlaw and Pirate's performances were fun, but fine. I didn't feel strongly about either.
> Real Women & Buena Vista I feel like would have benefitted from being closer up, but both of their performances got me slightly interested. Especially for RWHC.
> DBH was fine, but if they didn't feature both leads at that point feature neither and go with "If you want perfection." I get that it's pride but it didn't feel like the best choice.
> I think for Dead Outlaw, Smash, and BOOP, last night was really the end of the road.

The "Huh?!":
> What was going on with Operation Mincemeat's performance? Confusing and makes me even less interested in seeing it.
> Floyd Collin's might have benefitted from filming in their theater so Jeremy Jordan could use the vertical climbing thing from the theater. This performance makes it look like the show is a ton of him crawling about the floor and yodeling, and it's so much more than that.
> I think the song choices weren't good for any of these musicals, but Maybe Happy Ending spoiling the ending in their performances was bizarre. I wish they did something along the lines of an intro to "Hitting the Road" (as Marcus plays the strangers) and then had Dez Duran come in to do some of "Why Love" before or after, since they wanted to full cast involved. This performance was great but too spoiler-y.

I think what this thread has shown, is that the majority of posters on these boards, this broadway community, is not very in tune with what the larger public are interested in, or are drawn to.


Of course Hamilton was a huge draw, and frankly it was thrilling to watch them all reunite. This is a beloved show, and a beloved cast. And it’s the kind of show that many people know on a broader level.


If giving them a slot helps draw attention to the telecast, and all these wonderful new shows, we should be saying thank you to Hamilton!

Kad said: "Woah, I was not expecting such a jump. But I think there were a number of things working in favor for that this year: Erivo and the Wicked wave, a number of shows having big success on social media (it may not reliably translate to ticket sales, but going from TikTok to watching the Tonys makes sense to me), Hamilton’s reunion, competitive categories, and a higher profile season overall."

It doesn’t take too much to cause a ratings spike, as the numbers are low to begin with, but I suspect all of those factors played a role. They had one of the co-stars of a popular film (based on a Broadway musical, no less) hosting. The Wicked halo effect can’t be underestimated, especially with trailers for the next film being released. Nor can the Hamilton reunion - the other big Broadway hit that crossed over into the mainstream in recent years. They had a bunch of high-profile shows (even ones that weren’t nominated) to juice interest and more than a few big-name stars in contention. And the whole, ugly Best Actress showdown crossed over beyond Broadway folks - even if I’m not sure how many average people know who the players are. I am too old to gauge the TikTok effect but it’s a factor to some degree. My daughter thought Death Becomes Her erred in not taking advantage of that.

Having the cast of "Hamilton" perform may have helped ratings but Erivo has a black fan base from her movies. A friend of mine, who NEVER watches the Tony's, called me to say I would have been proud of him last night watching the entire show. He is black and tuned in for Erivo. He then went on to say he didn't realize how diverse the Broadway community was looking at all of the black people in the audience. My black family and friends all saw "Harriett" and the Aretha series. And raved. I was thinking last night that the Tony's knew what they were doing and that opening number had a Gospel tinge to it. Looking at comments on videos of the opening number, there are a lot of comments from her black fans. Just my thoughts.

^ This!

binau said: "Anyone remember in around 2009/10 was it when Hunter Foster started a campaign/petition to get Hollywood out of the tony awards? (Specifically, the award wins). That seems even weirder as time has gone on now that I think about it."

That was in response to the 64th awards if I recall- the year that Catherine Zeta-Jones, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Eddie Redmayne, and Scarlet Johansson won. It was an overreaction, and that was a notoriously weak year (especially for musicals).

Kad said: "Oprah has been a longtime Broadway booster and effusivelypraised both Audra and Nicole’s performances after seeing them. What are y’all getting pressed about? It isa good thing to have somebody like Oprah so willing to keep showing up."

But was it necessary to bring up the controversial discussions Patti etc? Why not just say I've seen several performances and they were all great or something like that?

Why continue to stir the pot?

Not everything is shade, but I know it when I see it. And that was shady. And delivered as such.

Let’s face it: this season has been really toxic. Nicole’s MAGA moment, Audra’s voice, Nicole vs. Audra, that Patti frenzy. I got the impression Oprah was referencing all that drama. There has been a whole lotta talk this season.

Puhleez--of course it was shady--and Oprah had to obliquely stir the pot for some reason---a mistake IMO- but she is a huge BWAY supporter- and one faux pas does not make her Satan- any more than Nicole's political views- whatever they may actually be- should cause so much online criticism. And even if her political views align with the current administration- so what? She is entitled to her political viewpoint as much as anyone whose POV differs from hers.

Updated On: 6/9/25 at 11:05 PM

Perhaps Oprah could have done a dramatic reading of some of the posts from the ‘LuPone on McDonald’ thread just to give an example of the civilized debates going on concerning the Best Actress in a Musical race.