I too found Tracy Letts' speech to come off as pretty obnoxious and not very heart-felt at all.
Oh, and I have no problems with Andre Bishop, I just couldn't believe how boring the speech was.
Leading Actor Joined: 12/18/05
I loved when DHP got up there and finished his acceptance speech from last year. I still think Raul deserved it, but I just gotta love DHP.
I know I'll get flamed for this since it sounds anti-Patti, although I worship her.
But that "shut up. It's been 29 years" seemed so self serving. What about all the people who have never won a Tony and still haven't? While I'm thrilled she won and still love her -- it seemed as if she were saying "tonight is all about ME, ME, ME!" Why should she be given more time than any other winner?
Lin's! He was just so adorable and the flag was perfect! It was so great at the end where they won for best musical and he tried to make way for the producers and whoopi pushed him forward. So cute and so humble, i love him!
Laura's and the ladies of August: Osage County...Deanna Dunagan, Rondi Reed, and Anna D. Shapiro.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Laura Benanti, Anna Shapiro, and of course Patti.
Swing Joined: 7/8/05
very insightful Patash. I thought it was funny at first, but after reading your post i kinda agree with you.
Anyway, my favorite was Deanna's. I loved how she mentioned that she used to just sit at home and watch the Tony's and now she was up there on stage receiving an award. It was just very cool and down to earth I thought.
But that "shut up. It's been 29 years" seemed so self serving. What about all the people who have never won a Tony and still haven't? While I'm thrilled she won and still love her -- it seemed as if she were saying "tonight is all about ME, ME, ME!" Why should she be given more time than any other winner?
I absolutely agree with you and I love Patti. I watched the show with my sister who enjoys musical theatre but doesn't breathe it 24/7 like I do and she said, "is this woman a walking ego? why does she get more time than every other deserving person here!" It made me sad because, uh, Patti is AMAZING!
I really loved Lin and Laura's speeches. Also, not really an acceptance speech, but I was very warmed by Sondheim's letter. He truly is a god among men.
i loved patti's speech, it was my favorite
Patti's!
Laura Benanti. She seemed so gracious and shocked that she won.
Stand-by Joined: 11/18/06
I found several of the speeches rather moving. Anna Shapiro's was probably my favorite. Least favorite - hands down - Patti LuPone. Saying "Shut up!" during your speech is *so* classy. I know the Patti worshippers here will say, "but but but but but it's PATTI! She should talk as long as she wants!" Perhaps people think that theater "royalty" (if there is such a thing) deserve special treatment. But the thing is - if someone like Angela Lansbury or Julie Andrews were to win a Tony, they would have been respectful of the time limit. Doubt you would have heard a "Shut up!" from one of them.
Now I've done it. Here come the hate mail from the Patti fans.
Stand-by Joined: 6/23/06
Lin-Manuel Miranda's!!
Patti, Lin and Mark Rylance. And I thought the promotion for the ATW was wonderful and it did really inspire me to drive the passion further so that gets a nod!
Mark Rylance, without a doubt. Then Lin. And Laura was adorable.
Mark Rylance's speech was brilliant and the looks of "what the hell is he doing?" coming from the audience were hilarious.
Understudy Joined: 5/17/08
I felt bad, I usually find Lin so endearing but his acceptance speech bothered me. Ehh.
I thought Rondi and Laura were lovely. Paulo Szot was charming and endearing. Rylance is bonkers, but I kinda adore him.
Can I just say how much I loved Kerry, Stew, and de'Adre's shots when they announced their names?
Benanti
The fact that Patti was gracious enough to thank all of those producers, people that weren't even associated with Gypsy (Lincoln Center, etc.), her singing teachers, the singing teacher that got her through Evita and so forth is far from "Diva-like." And it has been 29 years, which is too long. She's giving the most celebrated performance of the season and likely the most celebrated of her career. Her speech was not rude, it was not nasty and her Stritch-esque "SHUT UP! IT'S BEEN 29 YEARS" was not uncalled for in any way. Good for her!
That aside, I enjoyed her speech. I thought Laura Benanti's speech was genuine and lovely. Boyd Gaines is a class act. Miranda seemed shocked and overjoyed and he gets brownie points for referencing "Finishing the Hat." And then there's Rylance, who gave a screamingly funny, er, speech.
I liked Sondheim's letter. It would have been nice for him to show up, but I totally "get" why he didn't and if you don't, you weren't listening to the letter.
Laura Benanti's - The emotion was just so genuine
I like Patti’s! Laura’s was very sweet!
Lin-Manuel Miranda – I’ve never heard anyone rap their thank you speech. Even on OTHER award shows (maybe MTV?)!! I personally didn’t like it. I guess as others put it, he’s just being him.
After his speech, I was thinking the older audience (like 60’s, 70’s or 80’s) were probably like “what? What did he just say? He was going too fast?” lol
And I apologize in advance if I offended any old people in that age range. This board is so sensitive, so I’m apologizing in advance.
Honestly Rylance was my LEAST favorite of the night. I thought his speech was pretentious and dumb. My favorites were Deeana Dunnagan and Bart Sher. Both very genuine, showing their love for their respective crafts.
Rylance with LuPone a close 2 nd.
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