Cast of Neil Patrick Harris-Led COMPANY to Perform on Tony Awards Telecast! — Page 2

"This is the most exciting thing that's happened to the Tony awards in decades."

A good summary of the problem, I think.

Which number from Legally Blonde will be performed?

Songs generally have a beginning, middle, and end. Snippets from plays...not so much. I completely agree that plays should have their place on the broadcast, but I have no idea how they'd do it.

I think scenes can be done from plays quite effectively. One of my favorite moments on any Tony telecast in history is the Maggie Smith/Margaret Tyzack scene from "Lettice & Lovage."

They have to be edited down, just like musical numbers do. I don't think it worked in all cases ... some plays they featured looked downright silly (and unintentionally so). That's probably why they stopped featuring them. Too much work for mixed results and not enough payoff (either on the broadcast or at the box office).

As far as showing Company, it's a mistake. That isn't a Broadway production of the show, and that's what the Tony Awards are (supposedly) about. Next they'll start showing the Hollywood Bowl version of some show, because it has a high profile cast.

This decision is solely for ratings, not because it's showcasing the best of Broadway. It isn't even Broadway.

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The best-ever Tony snippet from a play was when Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack performed this scene from Lettice and Lovage.

http://youtu.be/LDRyHYDH7xI

And they BOTH won Tonys for it! Maggie for best actress and Margaret for best featured.

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Yeah, but for most people a "Broadway show" is pretty much synonymous with a musical. That's why musical numbers will most likely be featured in every Tony Awards ceremony no matter how many failed musical numbers there have been in the past.

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This is Broadway enough for me.

You should all be grateful it isn't the cast of Glee performing a medley from Company.

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"Coming up next ... Lady Gaga sings The Worst Pies in London!"

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I'm happy Company gets to perform on the Tony Awards. But this also blows all the complaints about Spider-Man or Priscilla getting to perform out of the water. Take one, take them all.

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