Grade the 63rd Annual Tony telecast performances!

Hair - A+
Rock of Ages - A
Next to Normal - A- (camera angles were, for once, fantastic)
Jersey Boys - B+
Billy Elliot - B
West Side Story - B-
Legally Blonde - C+
Guys and Dolls - C
Opening - C-
Mamma Mia - F+

Opening Number: (no grade - just missed it)
Billy Elliot: C (disappointing - gave me no interest to see BE)
Guy and Dolls: D (how can you blow Sit Down is beyond me)
Hair: A- (finally gave some life in the Tony show)
Legally Blond: C- (dumb)
Mamma Mia: C- (dumber)
Jersey Boys: C- (dumbest)
Next to Normal: A-(making plans now to see)
Rock of Ages: B+ (and I hate music of this era)
Shrek: B (fun choice)
West Side Story: B (safe choice)
NPH Closing: A- (Oscar has Billy Crystal, Tony has NPH)

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The opening, closing and Hair were the only good ones. Shrek (Surprisingly) was pretty cute. The rest were really pretty bad.

Next to Normal came off like a Saturday Night Live sketch about a wildly inappropriate musical.

Opening Number: A (loved it!)
Billy Elliot: B
Guy and Dolls: F
Hair: A+
Legally Blonde: D
Mamma Mia: C
Jersey Boys: B-
Next to Normal: B+
Rock of Ages: B
Shrek: B+
West Side Story: B
NPH Closing: A-

I will say this, of the touring shows, Leggaly was the best, and Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia are tied at worst. Really, both were truly horrible.

Opening Number: A- (It was a brilliant idea!!)
Billy Elliot: B- (Great effort by trent, just not the right song)
Guy and Dolls: C+ (It was just average. Titus' vocals give it the extra plus)
Hair: A+ (This number kicked major ass)
Legally Blonde: C- (needed to be longer, did anyone notice Tracy Jai edwards up there?)
Mamma Mia: D (It was okay, nothing too exciting
Jersey Boys: B (not painful, just unnecessary)
Next to Normal: C (I really wanna give this show a chance, I don't know much about it, but I wasn't fond of the performance)
Rock of Ages: F (didn't bother watching
Shrek: B (I loved this song, just wanted them to sing Who I'd Be)
West Side Story: A+ (really well executed)
NPH Closing: A (excellent)

Does anyone know if the ratings were strong this year?

Opening A
Mamma Mia D
Legally Blonde C
Next To Normal A
Shrek B
Hair A
Billy Elliot B+
Rocky of Ages A
Guys and Dolls (incomplete or repeat course next year)
West Side Story C
Jersey Boys C

Cool beans!

Updated On: 6/8/09 at 11:46 AM

So interesting how these grades are all over the place !!

All I will say is that "Mamma Mia" made me cringe- thought "Hair" and "N2N" were very good, and NPH (closing) was excellent-- he sounded great !!!

Opening Number: C- (Didn't like it. It seemed a little sloppy and all over the place)

Billy Elliot: B (Trent was great, I just would have picked a different number)

Guy and Dolls: B (It would have been a C, but Titus is amazing, and even with mic problems, he still rocked it out, so did Mary)

Hair: A++++++ (Loved, loved, loved, loved it!)

Legally Blonde: C (I wanted to see a different number. I like "So Much Better", but I wanted to see something different)

Mamma Mia: D (The tour cast I saw was amazing, and they were not as good. was underwhelmed)

Jersey Boys: B (I liked it. Not needed, but very nice)

Next to Normal: B+ (The plus is for J. Robert Spencer. I just love him)

Rock of Ages: C (Not as bad as I expected. But the narrator guy (sorry, I'm not too familiar with the show) was funny)

Shrek: B+ (Love Chris Sieber. The plus is for James Gandolfini :) )

West Side Story: B+ (Karen Olivo, your amazing. Matt Canvenaugh is good, but in my opinion too old for the part)

NPH Closing: A+ (Adorable, and a memorable way to end the evening)

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NEXT TO NORMAL: B (Alice could've been better, but J. Robert and Aaron were pretty good. They should've showcased Jennifer.)
BILLY ELLIOT: C (WHY did they choose 1-to use one Billy and 2-to do a non-song?)
HAIR: A- (Best performance of the night but was too late in the telecast so I was bored)
MAMMA MIA!: D (awful)
LEGALLY BLONDE: D (awful, and HATE Becky)
JERSEY BOYS: D- (all those non-Broadway Frankies were deadfaced and bad)
OPENING NUMBER: C (a big mess, especially using Elton and Dolly and Stockard [who was as boring as a rock])
WEST SIDE STORY: B- (Should've done the Quintet. WHYYYYYYY does Matt have that bizarre accent?!? God, he's bad. Joesfina is stunning though.)
GUYS AND DOLLS: C- (Go away Tituss. Also, Mary was annoying. And the sound glitch ruined everything.)
ROCK OF AGES: C- (Booooooooooooring and a mess. Would've been better if we saw Bret get knocked out again.)
SHREK THE MUSICAL: B- (Eh, whatever. Not as funny as it should have been. But Christopher was decent. Stupid dialogue at the beginning and the "Defying Gravity" joke is tired.)
NPH CLOSING: A- (Only good because we got to see the only exciting part of the show again: Neil. He was poorly underused. Too bad it came after all that crap.)

A+ : Hair, Closing Number
B+ : Next to Normal
B : West Side Story, Billy Elliot, Opening Number
B- : Rock of Ages, Guys and Dolls
C : Shrek
D : Pointless Tour Performances (averaged)

Next to Normal came off like a Saturday Night Live sketch about a wildly inappropriate musical.

I think that makes it sound even more awesome than it actually was.

Opening Number: B: I really liked the idea, but combined with not being able to hear the very beginning and the messy execution I wasn't too impressed. Also, was anyone else cringing during the Pal Joey/N2N combo?
Billy Elliot:--: Only caught the back half (my recorder failed...), and had no idea what was going on.
Guy and Dolls: B+: Overall enjoyed it, although the mic screw-up had me laughing/cringing.
Hair: A: Don't really see Gavin Creel as a hairy guy, but still an awesome performance :)
Touring Performances: D: WHY?!! Mamma Mia especially made me cringe. I'd maybe bump Jersey Boys up...
Next to Normal: A: Might have been just because the production itself lends to an easier presentation on screen, but I thought this performance came off the best. Still wish they could've done Just Another Day though.
Rock of Ages: B: Wasn't impressed, but I do like the song and it wasn't particularly bad either.
Shrek: C: Why this song?! Might've been cute/funny for about the first minute, but quickly soured for me. Seriously, you're going to pick that as your Tony performance song when you have Brian D'arcy James and Sutton Foster?!
West Side Story: B+: Wish they would've performed Quintet, but overall thought it was done well.
NPH Closing: A: I honestly wasn't too impressed with NPH as host (Whoopi Goldberg still fresh in my mind), but the song/presentation was great.