Man In Chair should win Tony — Page 2

The gay agenda???????

What did know one tell me about a secret conspiracy that involves all gay people organising and promoting an agenda? Seriously I am very pissed as a good progressive liberal no-one mentioned it!

Suedenymes & Princeton --- If you feel that strongly... Where were you when they handed out all those record-breaking awards to "The Producers?"

That show has a handful of offensive characters that make Man In Chair look like the epitome of conservation and restraint.

...And I'm one who's very sensitive about things like this, and DID chime in about The Producers... and I don't find Man In Chair's performance to be either a grotesque caricature or offensive to my "gayness." Stand him next to Roger De Bris, Carmen Gia and their Village People entourage, and you'll see what I mean.

EDIT: I'm not saying you have to LIKE his performance or warm to it... but he isn't doing "Aunt Jemima" up there.

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Updated On: 5/21/06 at 11:08 AM

Martin's performance felt like stand-up to me, as well. I loved the material, but I didn't love the delivery.

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If we are worried about gay agenda's let's turn on the tv for a moment. Oh look we have 5 flaming queers trying to make the perfect metro man. That is pushing homosexuality back, not Man In Chair.

Isn't the whole, unabbreviated title of the award "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical"?. Actor, by the first entry in the dictionary, is defined as "A theatrical performer". As such, the award should go to the male lead who gives the best performance overall. I believe overall includes singing AND acting where applicable. As much as I loved Bob Martin, no way he should win it. He's my pick for Best Book though.

He still is

Okay, this thread has gone WAY out of its bound. We were talking about Bob Martin's Tony chances. Now, we're saying he is shallow and potentially homophobic?!! WTF?

ACTUALLY, I know TONS of guys like Man in the Chair - most through my community theatre group, etc. Single gay men in their 40s-50s who live alone and play showtunes when they feel sad, etc. Call them stereotypes if you want, but don't deny the fact that they exist in VAST NUMBERS!!

I'm a little confused. The Man in Chair is gay or supposed to be some representation a specifically gay musical theatre fan? Why? How? There's zero mention of even the possiblity of it in the script and it's even pointed out that he used to be amrried. I know that doesn't prove anything, but STILL........

And if you're suggesting that Bob Martin is "playing" him "gay," last week there was an ATW 90 minute seminar on Drowsy where Martin was very prominently featured and you know what? How he acts as the Man in Chair is PRECISELY how he is in real life -- same mannerisms, same inflections, same body language. There way absolutely NO difference between the character and the real man (which may be a reason for some people to oppose him winning the Best Actor Award -- he's playing himself). And, of course, we know that in real life, Bob Martin is a (presumably) heterosexual man who's marriage (to a woman) was the genesis of this entire show. He's also a huge fan of musical theatre, especially shows from the the 20s and 30s and loves his cast albums. Perhaps he's a bit effeminate, but that doesn't make him or the character gay. So before people castigate him and the show for promoting negative stereotypes and setting back the "gay agenda," perhaps you should take a step back and take a look at what's actually on stage (and behind the scenes) -- rather than imposing your own political agenda on it.

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And he also gets all mooney-eyed over a couple of the female one. You can call it gay diva worship, but that's a matter of interpretation, not explicitly spelled out.

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Aside from the whole misguided "gay agenda" issue...

...I can give you several names of actors who presumably have played "themselves" on Broadway (with a different character name, of course) who have deservedly won Tonys for their acting.

...starting with Harvey Fierstein in "Torch Song Trilogy." Still one of the best performances I've ever seen on any stage.

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Updated On: 5/21/06 at 09:09 PM