Opening Number- Page 2

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 11:55am

"The gratuitous slap at Les Miserables totally unnecessary considering most of the actors were stage performers and most of the people in the audience would have sold their souls to be in the film."

Oh, for some reason I thought that was suppose to be a joke and not taken seriously. Come on, please don't tell me you feel bad for any of the people in that film or a part of that film that got huge pay checks and plenty of film awards and parties in the winter.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 12:01pm

After Eight saw the original production of Showboat in 1927?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 12:09pm

So was I the only one who didn't love the opening number? Maybe my dislike of NPH is seriously clouding my opinion but I thought it was kind of bloated.

(And I also don't love having a convicted rapist on Broadway/being the butt of cutesy jokes.)

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 12:24pm

The opening number was great. Overall, the show was great. The best awards show in recent memory, and while that may not be saying a great deal, it was still great.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 12:25pm

I didn't mind the opening number so much, but I really didn't think Mike Tyson belonged. Time was when Broadway was about CLASS. I guess that just doesn't apply anymore...

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 1:30pm

I'm also one who wasn't overwhelmingly blown away with the opening number last night. Tons of stuff happening, etc. I adore Neil Patrick Harris but the number just didn't work for me -- not even on my 60" widescreen HD Sony TV.

I will admit that I DID get teary-eyed after the number was over and the audience's incredible response to it. The sight of Neil Patrick Harris just hanging onto that Tony Award prop and the performers still holding their final poses as the applause kept growing and growing (and growing) was absolutely emotionally affecting so it must have been incredible seeing it 'live' but it definitely didn't come across the same way over TV (for me, at least). I just re-watched it and yup... just a bunch of crap being jammed into a production number.

I still think THIS is the BEST opening number EVER performed at the Tony Awards: the 1998 Tony Awards' legendary "Broadway Divas":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjedERlopVk

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 2:16pm

Anyone have the lyrics typed out? I know I missed a bunch of jokes (need to watch it again when I get home last night).

[mamaleh]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 2:28pm

Tired as I am of NPH, I must agree that the opening number was probably the best I've ever seen on the Tonys in terms of writing quality and execution. For once he didn't do his "I'm gay/hooray/aren't I cute" shtick and just made sure to do justice to the superior material. What a concept!

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 2:49pm

I just watched it again. It more than holds up on second viewing. Funny, clever, beautifully timed, well staged and taped, and at one beautifully written and executed peak ("We were that kid") heartbreaking and very true. Achieves a fine balance of schmaltz and edge. If some moments were too schmaltzy for some or too edgy for others, all the better. If you can't find something in this number that wows you, then chances are you aren't very interested in Broadway showmanship in the first place. Harris knocked it out of the park.

Updated On: 6/10/13 at 02:49 PM

[zamedy]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 2:50pm

I'm still partial to 2009.. perhaps simply because it was chilling to see several musical legends up there together (Elton, Dolly, Liza) along with the entire company from shows. And no host involvement whatsoever. The star was the music from each show (this was the last year before NPH took over as host). Here's the second part of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWhK0hvGfIs

I think we can agree that Broadway and the Tonys are in pretty good shape if we're having a discussion over which Openings were the best.

Updated On: 6/10/13 at 02:50 PM

[jo]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 11:03pm

Tom Hooper and his film actors were referring to the acting freedom that live singing brought into the movie adaptation of Les Miserables, compared to the pre-recorded singing in older movie musicals... and had absolutely no reference to stage singing! So, instead of rejoicing that a stage show which was celebrated worldwide has also become an artistic and commercial movie hit, the sarcastic comment in the Opening number was unnecessary. Ironic that the brickbat came from the Broadway side of the pond, not the West End ( whose actors played some of the secondary roles in the movie - they do know about live singing on stage - from Colm Wilkinson to Samantha Barks to Bertie Carvel who played Bamatabois but now on Broadway for Matilda)... It is likely that the film success has helped the early revival of Les Miserables on a Broadway stage soon.

Also, according to credible Hollywood sources ( such as film blogger Anne Thompson), the major leads did not charge "
full freight" for their roles. With a budget of $ 61 million and a movie epic to film( with hundreds in the cast and spectacular filming locales and sets), it is doubtful that a huge chunk was spent on salaries of the key actors. Er...and who says that attending endless screenings, worldwide premieres and awards events... posing for tiresome pictorials, and answering almost the same questions over and over is such a pleasure to do ? It is akin to a roadshow for an investment banking project, almost. Maybe there is excitement at first, but not if one has to do it over and over? Especially if one was also filming another movie elsewhere( Jackman, for Prisoners).


It was a good night to celebrate the theatre and the past season. There was no need to inject a negative element to the celebration, especially if it is at the expense of another branch of the performing arts!













Updated On: 6/10/13 at 11:03 PM

[Fire and Music]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 11:15pm

Um, chill out. It was a joke.

[jo]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 11:33pm

Er...maybe it would have been more like a joke, if --

Neil appeared as Valjean, singing The Confrontation, with Mike Tyson

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 11:46pm

Actually After Eight was at the workshop of SHOWBOAT in 1925,
I saw him there.

[nycmusical]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:07am

I'm still partial to 2009.. perhaps simply because it was chilling to see several musical legends up there together (Elton, Dolly, Liza) along with the entire company from shows. And no host involvement whatsoever. The star was the music from each show (this was the last year before NPH took over as host). Here's the second part of it.

the same here

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:21am

My favorite part was when the Matildas all came out of the giant Tony Award.
And of course... IT SPINS!!!!!

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 3:50pm

NPH jumping through that hoop was about the balliest thing I've ever seen a host do on an awards show. If he had stumbled or caught his foot, the whole thing would have been f'ed. The whole opening was just brilliant.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 7:26pm

^^^^ THIS! Absolutely!

I'm with henrik and best12: loved the opening number (and I'm not by nature a lover of spectacle). After years of people complaining (here and elsewhere) that Radio City Music Hall is too big for the ceremony, NPH decided to "fill it up".

[PattyO'Furniture]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 8:06pm

Some say NPH dropped the n-word in the opening. I re-listened, and nothing struck me.



TMZ

[evic]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 8:36pm

It was spectacular, eye popping, joyous, humorous, diverse, sentimental and showed the world just how incredible Broadway is. And how genuinely thrilled everyone up on that stage was to be there. A triumph.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/12/13 at 12:50pm

Jo, Darling, where's your sense of humor? The theatre and its allied arts have been self-lampooning and vaudeville-izing conventions and controversies, fads and follies, often sharply and with edge, in good taste and in bad, since Aristophanes. It's called satire. The standard of merit is that it's funny and isn't predictable. Harris's riff on Hooper's use of close ups and live singing was not meant to be taken for serious criticism or negativism but rather..... ok, everyone, 1, 2, 3.... a joke.

As it happens, a damned good joke. And beautifully played.

[Tag]

Posted: 6/13/13 at 12:58pm

Director's Perspective

[jo]

Posted: 6/13/13 at 10:32pm

I understand what you're saying, henrikegerman...but

>>>The theatre and its allied arts have been "self-lampooning" ...<<<

"Self-lampooning"...not talking of maybe a competing performing branch.

If there had not been a hint of jealousy in that joke ( how many auditioned and were turned away, I wonder?) , it could have been a funny comment.

Anyway, to each his own





Updated On: 6/13/13 at 10:32 PM