THE OFFICIAL 2017 TONY AWARDS VIEWING THREAD — Page 24

songanddanceman2 said: "War Paint, yawn, couldn't understand Patti, plus she always seems to play the same kinda character."

Yes, she plays Patti LuPone.

Previously, I had listened to CFA and kind of liked the music but that performance of Welcome to the Rock did nothing for me and i found myself cringing at the entire performance including the folksy dialogue.

ljay889 said: "Not to keep rehashing it, but I don't get using Bette's age as an excuse for some of her antics. She's 71, not 91. Yes, she's doing wonderful work, but I don't think her age is a fair excuse for skipping out on award shows, events, and not performing last night.

For example:

Patti LuPone, 68, and Christine Ebersole, 64, performing 8x a week in larger and much more difficult roles than Dolly. They didn't skip certain events and they sang their faces off last night.

In 2015, Chita Rivera at 82 performed 8x a week in a leading song and dance role, did all the press, and performed on the Tonys.

If Bette truly wanted perform last night, she could've. There were other options besides the title number."



Good points, but we also cannot assume that age and performance schedules are the same for each individual. I have relatives the same age of Bette and they have dropped their level of activity considerably from one year to the next.

David Hyde Pierce's rendition of "Penny In My Pocket" was wonderful. Just a singer standing in front of a massive curtain performing a fun song. My favorite moment.

And Bette. A superstar for half a century. Bringing people (and their dollars) to Broadway. Infusing the season with some real excitement. The producers were waaaay out of line trying to push this legend off the stage before she had her well-deserved moment. Shame on them.

^ I too would have liked to see a performance from Anastasia.

ljay889 said: "Not to keep rehashing it, but I don't get using Bette's age as an excuse for some of her antics. She's 71, not 91. Yes, she's doing wonderful work, but I don't think her age is a fair excuse for skipping out on award shows, events, and not performing last night."


What antics? Your only assuming she had anything to do with it. She has a producer who is the boss. I bet Bette just trusted him ( and why shouldn't she?) and did as was asked.



" I imagine she is also too good to meet fans at stage door as well? She can keep her $750 per orch premium seat,"



She shakes everyones hands at the stage door. And she can't keep the $750.00 seats.. they are already sold.

chernjam said: "How awkward would that have been if Glenn gave the Tony to Patti"

LYLS3637 said: "I know I'm probably super in the minority, but I thought Kevin Spacey was an awesome host. I seriously hope they bring back Sean Hayes or Kevin Spacey before it's another Hugh Jackman year. "

I didn't love him and thought he peaked in the opening number, but I liked him a lot and don't really get the dislikes.

Let's face it, Rudin played bad cop. Midler didn't want to perform and he took the heat. If Midler wanted to perform it would have happened and she would have been accommodated however she needed. I'm moving on from this now. I think a little less of her now to be honest, but she's still brilliant in the part and deserved the Tony. She gave a nod to Channing, who would have gratefully performed a full number from the show to share with America. Midler comes off as a shrew.

I thought Spacey was good, but the fey coming out and gay jokes are in poor taste on the anniversary of the Pulse massacre and the crowd, which openly celebrates the LGBTQ community. He needs to deal with himself.

I also didn't find Midler's acceptance speech funny. They're recycled jokes from her decades of nightclub shows, and really stood out in contrast to the simple, short, heartfelt speeches of the other winners like Rachel Bay Jones, Ben Platt and Gavin Creel.

I know that people are up in arms about the DEH sweep, but I'd like to play devil's advocate for a minute. Some are saying that the show's wins won't age well, but I disagree. I think it will inspire kids around the world, for years to come, in a way that the other shows never could. Ben Platt always talks about how much he's loved musical theatre since he was child. Having an example like that for theatre kids to look up to is priceless. Even Pasek and Paul speak to kids who are "different." Since no youngsters appear to be on this message board, all we tend to see is people analyzing DEH to death, so we aren't seeing the incredible enthusiasm it's generating among school-age kids. Every time I walk by the Music Box before a Wednesday matinee, though, I see young people excited about theatre, and that's a great thing. Like HAMILTON before it, DEH is helping to create the next generation of theatregoers and theatre makers. Is that a good enough reason for it to have won all the awards that it did last night? Maybe not, but its power to affect people's lives is undeniable, so I'm OK with it.

Ratings down 31%.

Bettyboy72 said: "Let's face it, Rudin played bad cop. Midler didn't want to perform and he took the heat. If Midler wanted to perform it would have happened and she would have been accommodated however she needed. I'm moving on from this now. I think a little less of her now to be honest, but she's still brilliant in the part and deserved the Tony. She gave a nod to Channing, who would have gratefully performed a full number from the show to share with America. Midler comes off as a shrew.

I thought Spacey was good, but the fey coming out and gay jokes are in poor taste on the anniversary of the Pulse massacre and the crowd, which openly celebrates the LGBTQ community. He needs to deal with himself.





"

Bettyboy; Rudin doesn't play bad cop for anyone. You are all making a lot of assumptions. But I can't blame you.