Posted: 6/17/24 at 6:58am
bwayobsessed said: "Illinoise was the best performance of the night. Suffs second."
I had a complete opposite view. I thought those were both terrible.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 7:04am
Illinoise was the best
Tommy was dreadful (time to post)
Posted: 6/17/24 at 7:21am
1. Illinoise
2. Merrily
3. The Outsiders
4. Chita's Tribute
5. Cabaret
6. Water For Elephants
7. Suffs
8. Hell's Kitchen
9. Tommy
10. The opening number
Posted: 6/17/24 at 7:55am
As I’m seeing it pop up on social media this morning, I can’t help but focus on how absolutely absurd Eddie Redmayne’s Emcee is. And nothing about it sinister in the way the show I think calls for. It’s all mugging.
I’ve felt that way about much of his acting throughout his career. You can tell he was a model first. He makes extremely weird and unnatural physicality choices that never quite make him disappear into a role. It seems he’s always trying to find his better angle for the camera. And with this Emcee performance, it seems that’s the entire concept for his character.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 9:41am
WldKingdomHM said: "Illinoise was the best
Tommy was dreadful (time to post)"
I think Tommy sold tickets with that performance. For anyone who already knows the music, who may have been holding back, that was an exciting performance. I haven't been contemplating seeing it, but it was the only performance where I said to myself "That might be worth seeing."
Shows I was on the fence about like Stereophonic or Illinoise- their performances were a nail in the coffin. Both look god awful.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 9:53am
Sound Issues: I lost lyrics in Like Water for Elephants and Stereophonic.
Vocal Issues: The cast sounded tired in Tommy. Either that or the song was too high for them.
Bad Medleys: The Outsiders crammed two songs badly together, then rushed to an out of context fight. The latter made the biggest impression, even if it was a bit camp. Part of it's the source material. I can't take dancer twinks with silly names playing tough guys seriously. I've the same problem with West Side Story and plenty of others like it fine.
Context: Loved watching the two Illinoise gents dance together at the top. We gays are the target audience so acknowledge that. But, if I hadn't read a plot summary, I'd have no idea what the leads' relationship to the blonde dancer was or why he had a sudden panic attack.
Camera Work: Swooping close ups made Cabaret and Tommy look silly. Redmayne's German Expressionist style needs distance.
Not my cuppa.
Suffs pandered. I prefer rousing to sentimental But this was probably the right call for an audience that cheered a politician beforehand.
Hells Kitchen was high energy. Jukebox shows just aren't for me.
Favorite: Merrily came across best because it was a single song focused on three stars with some dramatic action. I could have used a bit more rage and less lovefest but that was their vibe that night. People forget Old Friends is nearly a breakup song.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 9:55am
Some thoughts:
Morning after and the one performance I can't get out of my head was Illinoise. It was so beautiful and well performed and shot. However, IDK if that was the best number to represent the show.
Outsiders and Suffs proved why one won awards for best production and the other won awards for best content.
Water For Elephants had a solid performance that was undermined by terrible direction.
Stereophonic did the most with such a short shoehorned-in slot.
Hell's Kitchen was such a misfire. Bad song choices, bad direction, that weird pre-recorded segment.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 9:57am
RUkiddingme said: "ACL2006 said: "Adored that performance by ILLINOISE!"
I love everything about Illinoise but whoever thought that was the best number to show on TV cost the show a whole lot of sales!
"
I mean…it’s a critically acclaimed limited run that’s been doing rather well for a dance show that came in hours under the wire for the Tony cutoff. I think it will get through the next 8 weeks just fine without the collective of homophobic audience members who took a breathtaking dance showing queer love as a sign that they shouldn’t support the show.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 10:19am
Here are my thoughts on the performances...
-Cabaret - Pretty solid
-Hell's Kitchen - Ghastly... just like the show itself
-Illinoise - Absolutely beautiful, and made me want to revisit the show again
-Merrily We Roll Along - LOVED this production, but the Tonys performance was kinda "meh"... This show is kind of hard to showcase on an awards show, though
-The Outsiders - Pretty good, but a little choppy
-Stereophonic - A blink and you missed it performance...
-Suffs - Simple, but effective
-Water for Elephants - Not bad, but the sound was pretty rough
-The Who's Tommy - I really enjoyed this performance - full throttle energy
-Opening Number - A colossal miss
-In Memoriam - Has me even more excited for Sunset Boulevard... Nicole's voice is goosebump-inducing
All in all, a very mixed bag of an evening for me. Even though The Outsiders was my third choice for Best Musical (Behind Suffs and Illinoise), I am thrilled for them. I was just SO happy to not hear Hell's Kitchen read aloud when that envelope was opened (lol).
I am also so sick of this pattern of dragging the awards ceremony out for three hours only to speed through the most important awards of the night in the last ten minutes.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 10:27am
quizking101 said: "RUkiddingme said: "ACL2006 said: "Adored that performance by ILLINOISE!"
I love everything about Illinoise but whoever thought that was the best number to show on TV cost the show a whole lot of sales!
"
I mean…it’s a critically acclaimed limited run that’s been doing rather well for a dance show that came in hours under the wire for the Tony cutoff. I think it will get through the next 8 weeks just fine without the collective of homophobic audience members who took a breathtaking dance showing queer love as a sign that they shouldn’t support the show.
"
You get 4 minutes - you show off the exuberant group dance numbers that dominate the show. It's called marketing.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 10:33am
Previous rant aside, this year was definitely a mixed bag.
The opening was a mess and hard to understand - Bless them for trying but it seemed very generic and didn’t start off on the right foot.
The HK medley was a mess and I’m of the camp that thinks an arrangement was made for the extra airtime and prime slot, probably with the thought they were going home with the big prize. Also, Maleah does sound like she was still recovering from whatever vocal issues she’s reportedly had, which definitely made her leading moments and her duet with Alicia less than stellar.
I thought Tommy was perfect because it features the title character and then a song that everyone knows. Pete Townshend’s intro was sweet, if a bit doddering.
Merrily…fine I guess? I was too busy recovering from Kara’s win to care.
I think Andrew & Josh’s “Gutenberg”-style intro and the explanation of the “classics” rule was hilarious.
W4E was high energy, but the show itself didn’t do much for me.
Suffs was pandering, but I don’t think there was any number they could’ve done that would’ve passed network muster and not seem like it was pandering somehow.
Illinoise was absolutely beautiful and shows the strength of the choreography that the whole story was easily understandable and quietly devastating. There will be queer kids accepting awards decades from now who will be able to say they saw themselves and began to understand themselves because of the visibility from that performance.
The Outsiders was good in that it showcased some of the more stylized choreography with the Rumble.
The Chita tribute felt a little underbaked for me, and Audra being a presenter of that still didn’t sit right for some reason. Is there a connection that im missing?
Stereophonic got treated like they were just shoved in at the last minute and it showed. Considering the novelty of a new play going up again some heavy hitting musicals in the music categories, the show looked like they were trying to sweep them under the rug.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 10:46am
That performance from TOMMY finally got me to purchase a ticket. Ali and Bobby, please be on tomorrow night. Thanks in advance.
If I hadn't already seen Merrily, that performance would not inspire me to do so. The Outsiders performance was also effective in changing my mind from "I read the book in school but don't remember any of it" to "I'd like to see this show this summer."
Glad I have tix to Stereophonic next week.
Updated On: 6/17/24 at 10:46 AM
Posted: 6/17/24 at 10:48am
Yeah, Stereophonic was brief, but I thought it also served as a nice “prologue” to the best score award. How fitting that the instruments were left on stage.
I’ll admit, when I saw Brody on the side of the stage for the Outsiders performance, I was expecting him to start with the iconic “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight…” Still, a solid showcase, and that RUMBLE!!!
I’m so glad Illinoise chose “The Predatory Wasp…”. Makes sense they were the best performance last night, at the home of the NYC Ballet.
Is it me, or was Merrily rather underwhelming? Pretty crazy that Elephants made more of an impression IMO.
I’m skewing positive towards this Cabaret, but Gayle’s screaming is a bit much. Redmayne looks great in that party hat. :)
Posted: 6/17/24 at 10:51am
quizking101 said:
The Chita tribute felt a little underbaked for me, and Audra being a presenter of that still didn’t sit right for some reason. Is there a connection that im missing?
She showed up where they asked her too. What's she supposed to do? Say I want something bigger where I can say "I'm gonna be Rose in Gypsy - buy your tickets now!"
She's too classy for that
Posted: 6/17/24 at 11:45am
Ooooh, I forgot about Cabaret.
That was a big YIKES. If I hadn’t already seen the production and differing portrayals of this version of the Emcee, I would have had NO idea what in the fork was happening. I couldn’t get past the image of Eddie’s whole “creepy clown twink” aesthetic and his Kermit voice. It was especially distracting when he was tapping on the stage with his rubber gloves as he was crawling through everyone’s legs.
“Wilkommen” is usually a solid option for a CABARET performance, and could’ve functioned as a great opportunity for an opening, but this seem to just completely blow it.
The smartest move they made was not letting Gayle scream-sing more than a few notes outside of the blend of the company.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 12:11pm
They really should’ve let DeBose dance through the nominated musicals with company members for the opening number.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 12:19pm
Not in NY and won't make it there soon. From the boards I know some of what these shows are about. Basically I'm judging solely on my thoughts and not what should have been performed, etc. The shows overall could be totally better or worse than what I saw haha.
Hell's Kitchen - Nice performance but didn't give me much of a storyline in it. WAAAAAY too much riffing for me in Fallin' but the moment Kecia Lewis opened her mouth, I was enthralled. I didn't mind the Alicia Keys/Jay-Z addition.It really got the audience into it. Theatre enthusiasts at home may not have liked it, but casual folks watching were singing along Grade: B-
The Who's Tommy - Whoever said nice but doddering about Pete's intro was spot on. Nice to have him play the guitar at the beginning to be a part of it (kind of like Hell's Kitchen) The performance was good enough I guess. The guy in the gray coat though (aka singer on the left), was he supposed to be that extra in facial expressions and such? It was distracting in a left shark sort of way. He gave me Bobby Moynihan in an SNL sketch and didn't match the other two guys. The dancing was enthusiastic but the sound mix wasn't great or they seemed a quarter beat behind at times? Grade: C+
Merrily We Roll Along - This didn't give a great overview of what the show is about. But the performance showed a great interplay between the 3 stars. They have fantastic chemistry together and gave a decent microcosm of the relationships. Jonathan Groff was amazing in it. Mendez and Radcliffe were great but Groff stole the show. Grade: A-
Water for Elephants - I agree with the sound issues at times. Was the hammer sound supposed be like a metronome keeping the beat during the a capella part? If so, it wasn't. The choreography and look of this performance were great. Isn't there supposed to be a love story in it? A female lead? That part got buried. I guess it's tough to get to everything, but folks do like a love story. But seems like a pretty solid show from that small sample size. Grade: B
Illinoise - The dancing was lovely. The music pretty. It looked like the couple that kissed were together, but not sure about that other couple. I think some context could have helped on this. Grade: B
Stereophonic - I saw on here how it was shoehorned in and I thought I'd read they were going to get to perform. However, I liked it and it and the other clips (which stopped after featured. RUDE!) gave it the context needed to make sense. Grade: A
Cabaret - Oof, no. So much mugging so much much bad over the top. I was waiting for it to end. Grade: F
Suffs - I could see the love and passion that went into it. It came across a little too earnest for me. It seemed very much like a history lesson at a museum or anniversary tribute to women's suffrage. Once again, one of the performers was a little extra in facial expressions. It drew you to her in what I would think is an unintended way. It is odd to have a musical number with no set piece. Is it like that normally, or just easier for this performance? It was a lovely and catchy melody. Grade: C+
The Outsiders - This one captivated me from the start. I loved the look of the sets and costumes. The lighting was AMAZING! I don't know if it's because I was more familiar with the overall story, but I connected with the song, story, and staging. The rainy fight was great! Grade: A
The non-show performances:
I didn't mind the opener. These are never going to be high art, but it's some fun singing and dancing. I just have to get used to Ariana with long hair since I'm so used to it shorter. The Chita tribute felt like a wasted opportunity. It needed more dancing and more about Chita's life. I mean she was a LEGEND! I'm glad Ariana got to dance some of America. Nicole Scherzinger sounded amazing on What I Did For Love. I just wish we'd find a few other songs to sing for these in memoriam segments. I also wish there was a wave to have a performer sing live and totally mute the audience. The louder applause for the famous and none for the lesser known always give me icks.
Updated On: 6/17/24 at 12:19 PM
Posted: 6/17/24 at 12:40pm
What so great about Stereophonic? By the looks of it last night it's seems to be just fine. Is this all hype or does it really have the goods? I haven't seen it but I was indifferent based on what I watched Thanks.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 1:06pm
KarenValentine'sheadband said: "What so great about Stereophonic? By the looks of it last night it's seems to be just fine. Is this all hype or does it really have the goods? I haven't seen it but I was indifferent based on what I watchedThanks."
Personally it made me sleepy, and I only like two songs. But to each their own and I respect that
Posted: 6/17/24 at 1:34pm
scripps said: "That performance from TOMMY finally got me to purchase a ticket. Ali and Bobby,please be on tomorrow night. Thanks in advance.
If I hadn't already seen Merrily, that performance would not inspire me to do so. The Outsiders performance was also effective in changing my mind from "I read the book in school but don't remember any of it" to "I'd like to see this show thissummer."
Glad I havetix to Stereophonic next week."
They just looked exhausted in Merrily; I also think theyve become quite emotional having the realization that it's almost over - having to talk about it over and over in the press.
I saw Outsiders on my own w/o my usual theater buddy (my 25 year old son) and I couldn't convince him he'd likely like it. The performance on the Tonys did. So in July (we had a trip booked with one open spot) he got an Outsiders tix ($139, Row F, Orch) and I'll go see Illinois for my 2x.
Posted: 6/17/24 at 1:51pm
dramamama611 said: "scripps said: "That performance from TOMMY finally got me to purchase a ticket. Ali and Bobby,please be on tomorrow night. Thanks in advance.
If I hadn't already seen Merrily, that performance would not inspire me to do so. The Outsiders performance was also effective in changing my mind from "I read the book in school but don't remember any of it" to "I'd like to see this show thissummer."
Glad I havetix to Stereophonic next week."
They just looked exhausted in Merrily; I also think theyve become quite emotional having the realization that it's almost over - having to talk about it over and over in the press.
I saw Outsiders on my own w/o my usual theater buddy (my 25 year old son) and I couldn't convince him he'd likely like it. The performance on the Tonys did. So in July (we had a trip booked with one open spot) he got an Outsiders tix ($139, Row F, Orch) and I'll go see Illinois for my 2x.
"
They'd been doing a ton of press leading up to last night. Of course they were exhausted
Posted: 6/17/24 at 1:53pm
Offf this quite possibly was the laziest Tony’s I’d ever seen. The performances were meh the speeches were boring and I found went on for ages. The better parts were merrily. But that was about it. It lacked starriness. It lacked… quality (?) it just seemed to drag out. I actually detested it. As someone who for decades would do the ballots and see the shows etc. this was a over-bloated nothing. And they made a big deal of how many shows opened. But how many are turning a profit
Posted: 6/17/24 at 1:59pm
1. Tommy
2. Illinoise
3. Merrily We Roll Along
4. The Outsiders
5. Suffs
6. Hell's Kitchen
7. Water For Elephants
8. Cabaret
Call me crazy, but I will be bummed for a long, long time that we didn't get a mash up of Amber Iman performing "Don't Bet Your Heart" followed by Eden's "I Will Paint Her"... Have a feeling that could have blown every other performance out of the water...
Posted: 6/17/24 at 2:08pm
After the Merrily performance the camera panned toward Jimmy Nederlander and the man looked bored out of his mind. When is the guy going to sell the Nederlander Organization?
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