Best/Worst Performance at the Tony's?- Page 5

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 8:34am

Sweeney--better you realize now that "Xanadu" isn't your thing rather than spending a lot of money and then hating it. It's definitely a love it or hate it show...having seen it four times, I guess I'm in the latter group.

Best: In The Heights, Sunday, Gypsy, Xanadu

Worst: Passing Strange and the non-nominated medley. Sierra has a really pretty voice, but I felt embarrassed for Megan. As for "Strange," it came off as an unpleasant crossbreeding of "Light My Candle" from "Rent" with the lighting and spaz dancing from "Spring Awakening."

[gonepishing]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 8:42am

Best: Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George
Worst: Passing Strange

[violet72]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 8:45am

1. tie Xanadu and Gypsy (liked Xanadu's performance and Patti blew the roof off of Radio City)
2. Sunday in the Park with George (it was an appropriate way to honor Sondheim and it was a great performance)
3. South Pacific
4. In The Heights
5. Young Frankenstein
6. Cry Baby
7. Rent
8. Little Mermaid
9. Passing Strange (should have done a different song)
10. Grease + A Catered Affair (AWFUL)

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 8:51am

I thought Faith's off note was painful. Wanted to do bad things to myself during Grease just cuz I've been against this production from the word go. Man, Cry-Baby was awful.

Everything else, I enjoyed...although now that my parents have seen Passing Strange, it's safe to say I'll never see it. Cuz THEY hated it.

[titleofusername]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 8:59am

BEST: Gypsy
Runner-Ups: In the Heights, Sunday in the Park with George

WORST: A Catered Affair
Runner-Ups: Grease, The Lion King

Updated On: 6/16/08 at 08:59 AM

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:00am

Lion King- not only have we seen this 1000 times before but was it just me or did the lead actress sound really offkey and her voice was incredibly shaky and biazarre?

Yes, ABSOLUTELY. Listening to her actually made me cringe (and the chorus didn't fare much better)...which is a pity, because it all looked nice. If that's what The Lion King sounds like in the theater, there's no way I'm seeing it.

The Tonys also made me want to give Sunday in the Park with George another try. I didn't like it the first time I listened, but that performance was gorgeous. Maybe I've matured more since then!

I would. I really disliked the OBC video the first time I saw it, and then I fell in love with the show listening to the cast recording and enjoyed it so much more when I revisited it. It's almost one of those things that doesn't make sense at first, and then one day some part roots in your head and you realize how gorgeous it is, and then it all starts to come together. It's possible that you still won't like it, but that might happen if you really liked "Move On" last night. I had that experience with Light in the Piazza, too, to an extent.

[JBSinger]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:03am

BEST:
Gypsy (Patti at full throtle - amazing)
In the Heights
South Pacific
Xanadu (Cheynenne Jackson - nuff said)

WORST/BORING:
Cry Baby (their set didn't keep them tight. all of a sudden they are dancing on this HUGE stage with nothing keeping them from being sucked up by it).
Passing Strange (just made me think - what's the big deal)
Catered Affair (sorry Faith - you couldn't hear the orchestra and went very off pitch).
Grease (why did they sing that stupid song from the movie?)
Sunday in the Park (should have done "Sunday". the abbreviated duet felt too small on that huge stage).
Lion King (please hire some people who can SING the role of Rafiki and those opening African solos).

I'm very glad that the show was so performance heavy. Definitely a treat for those of us who couldn't get up to see the season. Whoopi was wasted in those lame clips and the awards need to get back to being in a THEATRE, not Radio City. It's just too big and the performances get lost.

As a side note, I could just imagine Anthony Rapp's inner monologue when he heard the current Mark sing "La Vie Boheme" essentially mimicking his vocal style/mannerisms. The current cast just looked inauthentic and ridiculous. the tribute was kind of moving though.

OH - and I liked Steve Sondheim's comments via Patinkin.

[hairspraylover]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:13am

Best: Gypsy, In the Heights, The Little Mermaid(sorry i just LOVE sierra), Young Frankenstein, and (dont kill me) Grease. I just thought they had a lot of energy and they were fun to watch, except Max who was off.

Worst: Cry-Baby (it was REALLY boring), A Catered Affair (Faith Prince was agonizing), and Xanadu (self-explanatory)

[MarkK]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:30am

BEST (2-way TIE)

**** XANADU

**** Gypsy

WORST

** Catered Affair (sorry Faith,I love you! But,you had vocal problems)

*1/2 Passing Strange (sorry Stew, not the best showcase for PS)

* Grease (completely ameturish)





Updated On: 6/16/08 at 09:30 AM

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:34am

Best: Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, Xanadu and In the Heights
Worst: Cry Baby, The Medley, Grease and Passsing Strange (I don't understand the appeal of Stew...at all!)

[nmartin]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:37am

Sunday was good.
ITH was one of the worst things I have ever seen.
Cry-Baby was boring.
LuPone disappointed me.
Passing Strange couldn't pass for anything.

If the Tonys are a commercial for New York, I am going to New Orleans.

[James885]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:49am

Best Performances:

Gypsy - Patti LuPone was stunning!
In The Heights - loved the song
Xanadu - Ditto

Good Performances:

Sunday In The Park - great performance, but the song didn't really sell the show.
South Pacific - I really enjoy the medley they did.
Young Frankenstein - Megan Mullaly sounded pretty good.

Worst Performances:

Cry Baby - very boring presentation. Good choreography, bad music
Passing Strange - All I saw were people screaming. I don't know much about the show, but that number didn't make me want to buy a ticket.
Grease - the whole thing came off very high school-ish
A Catered Affair - Faith Prince had major pitch problems
The Little Mermaid - Sierra sounded great, but having her sing Part of your World on an empty stage with no set pieces or anything was just very dull.
Rent- very boring
The Lion King - ditto

[Tom1071]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:52am

I thought the performances from the non-nominated shows were pretty bad. I thought the cuts to "Part of Your World" were terrible. The bad Megan Mullaly sounded pretty bad and poor Faith Prince was just sad.

[RobinM]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:53am

JBSinger, agreed about Cheyenne Jackson. Goodness me!

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 9:56am

XANADU is the only show, besides GYPSY! that made me really go, "I must see this!".

Faith Prince, I love you, but what happened?!

[trinaaron]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 10:01am

GYPSY: Perfection, Amazing, etc.

Rent: very touching, especially tha audiences reaction to the original cast. I would have liked to here more though.

Xanadu: Strange choice, but I was impressed, Cheyenne Jackson was great. My husband thought she lost her skate by mistake and then just kept limpimg around.

In the Heights: Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't really understand a lot of the words. Other than that I liked it. Tons of energy.

Grease: HORRIBLE. The beginning sounded terrible.

Passing Strange: I do not like Stew at all.

Not one of the three from the medley came off well at all. Sierra Boggess has a very odd voice to my ears, Faith Prince was boring.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 10:51am

Overall, I'd say the performances on the telecast were FAR better than last year. They had energy, were well presented and shot well for TV. Even Grease and Cry Baby looked good going strictly by the broadcast. Good choices for the numbers, too.

I had only a few disappointments, one of them being Sunday in the Park. The set projections looked wonderful on TV, and I thought the mix of media on the stage was terrific. It looked fresh and surprising, even if it wasn't totally innovative. For Broadway, it's pretty innovative at least. The leads were kinda boring though. She had trouble holding pitch and exuding anything that looked like genuine warmth for George. And he looked like he was "high school crushing" on her. No real chemistry.

Faith Prince and the Catered Affair number were a washout too.

Gypsy was the only musical number that had any really "good acting" in it. And I think that's very risky on a Tony show. It's so hard to get into character, into a specific (and usually pivotal) moment in the show and manage to be convincing in that "barn" of an intimate space known as Radio City Music Hall. That's why I found Patti, Laura and Boyd so terrific. They were able to do it, and my hat's off to the three of them. Tonys all around!

South Pacific was good in the big numbers, but again the quieter "acting" moments of their medley fell flat.

I guess that's the lesson to be learned. Big and splashy is easier, and it works. Small intimate acting moments are definitely a risk. Proceed with caution, and don't try this at home. If you nail it, great! People will love you for it. If you miss the mark, people outside of NY will wonder what the fuss is all about with your heralded show and your nominated performers. The Tonys are basically a commercial to celebrate a given show, but also to (hopefully) sell more tickets for it. We don't have Ed Sullivan now, so this will have to do. And I think most shows will see a boost in sales after last night's telecast. Even Grease and Cry Baby.

[kate2]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 10:55am

Xanadu and Gypsy blew the others out of the water.

I thought Passing Strange was terrible and found In the Heights to be annoying. Do I even have to mention Grease?

[IsolatingAge]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:02am

Gypsy, In The Heights, and Passing Strange did their job of making me want to go see them.

South Pacific, Crybaby and Grease did not.

I really want to know what it was like for Laura Benanti. "Hey Mom, I'm performing on the Tony Awards... but I don't get to say anything."

Ah, well Patti belting in her face is a great consolation prize in my opinion.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:04am

"I really want to know what it was like for Laura Benanti. "Hey Mom, I'm performing on the Tony Awards... but I don't get to say anything." "

Yeah, but Laura was great and memorable regardless... because her acting during that entire truncated scene was terrific.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:06am

Best: In the Heights, Sunday (Gypsy being the runner up)
Worst: Grease (what was that? seriously), Passing Strange, and A Catered Affair/ the rest of that one minue segment

[dramaqueen2]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:16am

best: south pacific and in the heights

worst: the little mermaid. that one was ****e. i feel sort of bad. i was not a fan of sierra's voice in the least.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:23am

Best: Xanadu

Worst: A Catered Affair

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:37am

In my opinion, Gypsy and In The Heights were the only performances that would sell tickets. Another thought: Megan Mullally's talents have yet to be fully realized on a Broadway stage.

[jwonjy119]

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:47am

I loved Xanadu's performance. I kind of want to get the OBCR now.

I wasn't really into Grease's performance, Cry-Baby's performance, or Passing Strange's performance.