Andrew Lloyd Webber & Chita Rivera to Receive 2018 Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement
Posted: 4/23/18 at 12:27pm
F*** yeah, Chita! I really hope we can have a great tribute to her on the Tony Awards...although, I guess we can no longer call her our "Gypsy Queen"? lol
Posted: 4/23/18 at 12:29pm
CHITA! Incredible choice.
Posted: 4/23/18 at 12:29pm
The year they give it to Chita, she has to share it with a white man.
Posted: 4/23/18 at 12:32pm
Posted: 4/23/18 at 12:38pm
Check out their Kennedy Center honors if you want to see a good tribute (we won't likely get something of that calibre at the Tonys).
Posted: 4/23/18 at 1:16pm
Posted: 4/23/18 at 1:17pm
Why can't ... the Tonys give a special award to Julie Andrews, too?
Congrats to 2-time Tony winner Chita Rivera and multi-Tony-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber. Both very deserving recipients.
But I was secretly hoping that the Tonys finally would give the legendary and luminous Julie Andrews, now 82, her due.
Though she's a British dame, she'll always be a queen of the musicals for originating the roles of Eliza Doolittle and Guinevere on Broadway, not to mention her classic films ''The Sound of Music'' and ''Mary Poppins,'' for which she won her Oscar.
(Time for the Tonys to bury the hatchet over Andrews sticking up for her cast and crew in ''Victor/Victoria''; that was 22 years ago!)
Instead, it'll be another year of ''Just You Wait.'' This honor could've happened just days after the latest ''My Fair Lady'' opened.
Plus, Andrews gave her final performance as Eliza in that Lerner & Loewe show on Feb. 1, 1958.
An overdue Tony tribute could've marked Andrews' 60th anniversary of that. And wouldn't it have been loverly?
Updated On: 4/23/18 at 01:17 PM
Posted: 4/23/18 at 1:26pm
I love Julie Andrews and it's true that she originated two iconic roles. But she has exactly four Broadway credits to her name, all but one of which were over 58 years ago. I can see why a Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre award would not be bestowed on her.
Posted: 4/23/18 at 1:44pm
WayTooBroadway said: "Kudos to our Gypsy Queen!
The year they give it to Chita, she has to share it with a white man."
You do know that they each get their own award --- they are "sharing" anything.
Also I think it's pretty safe to assume that these awards (like all other Special Tonys) will be presented either prior to the televised portion of the awards .
Posted: 4/23/18 at 1:47pm
Broadway61004: Re-read my posting. I asked ''why the Tonys couldn't give her a special Tony.'' I did not specify Lifetime Achievement. Look through the list of recipients for Special Tony Awards (at Wikipedia), and you'll find that the first ones went to: the treasurer of the Martin Beck for ''unfailing courtesy''; Vincent Sardi for welcoming theatre folk at Sardi's; a couple for their ''enthusiasm as inveterate first-nighters,'' etc.
Through the years, special Tonys have recognized specific performances or anniversaries of actors. Barbra Streisand once got a special Tony for Star of the Decade (1970), even though she had appeared in only 2 Broadway shows. Other special Tonys have gone to Barry Manilow, Diana Ross and Marlene Dietrich. Even the creators of the ''I Love New York'' ad campaign got one.
Surely, Andrews is as worthy of any of those special Tony winners.
Updated On: 4/23/18 at 01:47 PM
Posted: 4/23/18 at 2:33pm
Wayman_Wong said: "Broadway61004: Re-read my posting. I asked ''why the Tonys couldn't give her a special Tony.'' I did not specify Lifetime Achievement. Look through the list of recipients for Special Tony Awards (at Wikipedia), and you'll find that the first ones went to: the treasurer of the Martin Beck for ''unfailing courtesy''; Vincent Sardi for welcoming theatre folk at Sardi's; a couple for their ''enthusiasm as inveterate first-nighters,'' etc.
Through the years, special Tonys have recognized specific performances or anniversaries of actors. Barbra Streisand once got a special Tony for Star of the Decade (1970), even though she had appeared in only 2 Broadway shows. Other special Tonys have gone to Barry Manilow, Diana Ross and Marlene Dietrich. Even the creators of the ''I Love New York'' ad campaign got one.
Surely, Andrews is as worthy of any of those special Tony winners."
Wayman, you're sounding pretty ridiculous (both here and on ATC). All of your examples above (in addition to being decades old), are examples of people who were either currently performing on Broadway (Manilow, Ross, Dietrich) or had dedicated much of their lives to Broadway --- neither of which Andrews has done. Andrews has exactly four Broadway credits to her name, all but one of which were over 58 years ago. She has no interest in coming back --- if she did, it would have happened already.
Posted: 4/23/18 at 2:35pm
I think what they do will be interesting. I remember the Hal Prince piece when he won was televised, but others haven't. I feel like it all depends on what else is going on at the Tony's, and who they are celebrating. You can do a musical number, or piece for Sondheim, Tommy Tune, Chita and ALW, but not Julie Harris, or James Earl Jones...even though some you could do something for, they didn't.
I can see something for ALW more than Chita, but I feel like if they do something for ALW, there would be an outrage nothing for our Queen.
Posted: 4/23/18 at 2:42pm
JSquared2: I believe Julie Andrews has made an invaluable contribution to Broadway history, and it would've been wonderful if the Tonys had recognized that, especially on the 60th anniversary of her last performance in ''My Fair Lady.'' If you think that ''sounds pretty ridiculous,'' that's your issue, not mine, and I could care less.
Posted: 4/23/18 at 11:19pm
