Grade the Tony Musical Performances — Page 2

munkustrap178-- agree with you 100% about 110. By far the best performance. Surprises me that other users aren't raving about it...

Ebersole is tired, and who can blame her? She is incredible...

Mary Poppins was ok- laura michelle kelly was so fabulous in London and based on that performance, Ashley Brown seemed forced and plain. Though I do love Gavin...

Am I the only one that was freaked out with Company's performance? I think John Doyles dissatisfied face during the song explain my feelings about performing that particular number. So much works up to Being Alive to make it climactic for Bobby as well as his "Company". Without the ensemble, emotions are forced, the piano is awkward, and the vibrato is ridiculous. Not like its not already ridiculous... don;t get me wrong I love company and Raul, but that didn't work...

Chorus Line was over with a blink of an eye. Thought it was good, I guess...haha.

Curtains performed There's No Business Like Show Business, oh wait...well it sounded like it...

S A is my favorite show to come up in years but their clip made no sense. Weird. Totally ______ was too weird and there were harmonic problems. The orchestral transitions were good, but it didn't give the audience any sense of story.

A CHORUS LINE | C
Boring. Seriously, I've seen this number like three hundred times, and the cast acted like it was their three thousandth time. Honestly, I think this number has just gotten too much exposure (Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, anyone?) and people are tired of it. I would have preferred for them to do "What I Did For Love" since it hasn't been as showcased as this.

CURTAINS | B
Not their best. Everyone seemed tired. Also, David Hyde Pierce's voice was irritating for me in a way it wasn't on the cast album. I also feel that this is probably NOT the best song for them to do from the show. It felt like it was trying to be a show stopper but wasn't.

110 IN THE SHADE | B
Audra is always great, but her soprano notes sometimes got in the way of the lyrics, and I lost out on what she was trying to say. Kudos on her cartwheel, though, which amazed me for a woman of her age (which isn't old, I realize, but at a young age I can barely do what she did).

MARY POPPINS | A
I know a lot of people are marking this number down, but I felt it was the best performance of the evening. The two songs were great. I also feel this had the strongest vocals out of any of the numbers tonight... and a lot of energy, which I felt was lacking from the telecast as a whole. I do feel that the numbers somewhat suffered from being taken away from the New Amsterdam, in that obviously the choreography had to be readjusted and rescaled.

COMPANY | B+
Raul Esparza's voice shone at the end of the number. I'm going to strangle John Doyle if he takes another Sondheim show and adds instruments to it. I don't think Raul is a good enough piano player to do both well, and his singing suffered at the beginning. It was by no means bad, but he didn't really go full out until he got away from the piano.

GREY GARDENS | C
Um, was I the only person that noticed that Christine Ebersole went off key twice? She acted the song well, and she obviously can handle the difficult patter with the timing. And I'm sure she deserved her award. But this was not a good performance of the song. It was sort of like when Idina massacred "Defying Gravity" at the Tony's despite doing a great job in the role. I would presume Christine earned her victory, so it must just have been an off night.

UM... JERSEY BOYS?!?!? | D
Terrible. Simply terrible. If you're going to pick a song, don't do this one. And honestly, I feel it's retarded that they got to sing, yet other shows that are going on this year didn't. I would have rather seen Legally Blonde and LoveMusik get a chance to perform than have this unecessary two minutes of music.

SPRING AWAKENING | A-
Lea Michele is a goddess...not only is she highly photogenic, but her voice was lovely. Bitch of Living was good, but not amazing. I think it's ironic that they can say the word "bitch" but they can't say "breasts." The ending was NOT good, though. Obviously this is an edgy show with risqué lyrics, which should make them pick more "acceptable" songs that don't have to be censored.

FANTASIA | C
Is it wrong that the whole time I was wishing for Jennifer Hudson to take the stage and sing "And I Am Telling You"? Seriously, I don't like Fantasia to begin with, and I felt her performance was poor. I also don't understand WHY she's singing to begin with. I think with her four or five minutes, The Apple Tree should have been given a chance to perform.

How you can't see Fantasia's brilliance is beyond me.

But I disagree about GREY GARDENS. It wasn't the best, but Ebersole didn't go off-pitch. Are you talking about "STAUUUUUUUUUUNCH?" She purposely goes off-pitch there. If you knew anything about the show or about the real Edie Beale, you would understand that it's a character choice.

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A Chorus Line- B
That business in the street was ridiculous. It made no sense. Very awkward.

Curtains- B-
I liked the song (I'm not terribly familiar with the show), but it seemed a bit frenetic and some of the singing was troubling.

110 in the Shade- A
I really enjoyed this performance. Could it have been better? Certainly. But Audra was in great voice.

Mary Poppins- A-
Again, don't know much about this show, but I thought they all sounded great.

Company- A
Raul's performance was intense. I think he has a strange interpretation of Bobby, but nonetheless, he really did a raw performance that I enjoyed. How does his voice stand up to that kind of singing every night?

Grey Gardens- A-
I think, as others have said, that this was not perhaps the wisest choice of numbers for the show, but it was still great.

Spring Awakening- B-
Wow, that jumping around is just schizophrenic and chaotic. I "love" how random stuff makes shows "edgy". I get the buzz around Spring Awakening and the show has its merits. I even enjoyed the performance but it wasn't orgasmic.

Fantasia- B+
I see why she's doing well in the role of Celie, but the little ha ha's and other sound effects she tries to color her performance with are BAFFLING. Its not necessary. If she would just relax, and stop acting like she was in a church revival, she would sound that much better. But, Idina and Taye's expressions afterward were priceless. I kept rewinding, just to see the WTF/horror/irritation they couldn't act well enough to hide.

A Chorus Line- B-

Curtains- A-

110 in the Shade- A

Mary Poppins- B+

Company- A+

Grey Gardens- A

Spring Awakening- A

Fantasia- B+

Jersey Boys- F, that was when I went to the bathroom.

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Updated On: 6/11/07 at 12:52 AM

Are you guys DRUNK?

Watch Idina and Taye's reactions again. They're not reactions of "What the F*CK?", horror, or disbelief. They're were both moved. Watch it again. It's clear.

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"Is it wrong that the whole time I was wishing for Jennifer Hudson to take the stage and sing "And I Am Telling You"?"

Yes that is wrong and literally impossible. If you noticed during that entire dreamgirls run which seemed like forever, all of jennifer's tv appearances she never performed that song LIVE. She had every opportunity to do so, Oscars, Oprah, Today Show, View the list goes on and on. Now, if she didn't sing it live at any point during the run on national tv, what would make you think she'd have the guts to even attempt it live in the world of LIVE theatre in front of 3000 folks? Let's get serious now.

You j hud fans can bash fantasia all you want, I'm not saying you've bashed her but a few up thread have, at least Fantasia is performing her show stopper live and in front of huge crowds. Something Jennifer never had the guts to do. Anyone can take a recording for a movie and lip sync to it or record in a million times until they get it right.

Updated On: 6/11/07 at 12:56 AM

A Chorus Line- B
Loved their "I Hope I Get It". Their "One" bored me.

Curtains- C
Boring.

110 in the Shade- B+
Thought it was pretty good.

Mary Poppins- C
Put me to sleep.

Company- A
Would've gotten a + had they MORE ACTORS FROM THE SHOW.

Grey Gardens- D
The most boring song.

Spring Awakening- C+
One question: why can Lea Michele look like she's in a soft core porn video but Skylar Astin cannot say "breasts"? "Totally F*CKed" ruined it. They should've gone into "Touch Me" or "Purple Summer", especially the acapella part.

Fantasia- A
Wow!

Jersey Boys- F+
Sorry guys, I love you four, but what was that? And anyone notice Christian go the other way when they got back into the song? Just poorly done.

Probably the most electric one was SPRING AWAKENING. Their "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)" and "Bitch of Living" were fantastic.

I had seen every single show that performed.

-Curtains....felt it lacked some extra energy, but overall liked it

-110 in the Shade...audra is sooo incredible. i just think it confirmed the difference between live theater versus watching it on a television. she did a really good job, but i wasn't mesmorized in the same way i was when i saw it....but that wasn't a reflection on audra

-Grey Gardens....christine ebersole is amazing. 'nuff said

-Spring Awakening....hated the medley....the cast usually sings a thousand and one times better. they were out of tune. and the totally (awkward silence) was so sily

-Company....i think raul did a really great job....wouldn't have been my choice for a performance simply because it's not a "show-stopper," but he did really well

-A Chorus Line....they did really well

A CHORUS LINE B

CURTAINS A-

110 IN THE SHADE A+

MARY POPPINS B+

COMPANY A

GREY GARDENS A-

SPRING AWAKENING B

Idina's face after "I'm Here" had me rolling on the floor.

A CHORUS LINE (Missed it while fighting over the television)

CURTAINS B+ (The number isn't so amazing televised...)

110 IN THE SHADE A+ (I officially need to go see it!)

MARY POPPINS A (It was enjoyable and I can see from just a glimpse why it won best scenic design... and why people have been arguing for choreography)

COMPANY A (Raul as Bobby is really something.)

GREY GARDENS B+ (Taken out of context, it went over my head.)

SPRING AWAKENING A-/B+ (The lyric changes bothered the heck out of me, the censoring was inevitable but...)

JERSEY BOYS - Why were you there?!?! Ditto on FANTASIA, although she did sound amazing. Oh "special performances"...

I KNEW GG chose the wrong song. I just knew it wouldn't work as good as other songs could've worked.

People who haven't seen the show, and aren't familiar with Edie are just going to think it's a crazy lady singing out of tune. But as Munk explained earlier - Ebersole clearly channels the real Little Edie and her singing perfectly in that song. If you've heard the real Little Edie sing - you would completely get why Christine sounded like that.

Anyway, I still think ANOTHER WINTER would've been better. Would have been very touching, and could've featured Mary Louise!

A CHORUS LINE A

CURTAINS A

110 IN THE SHADE A+

MARY POPPINS A

COMPANY A+

GREY GARDENS A

SPRING AWAKENING F