Tony Award Performances- Questionable Song/Performance Choices

Obviously, a lot of the Tony Award Performances are problematic, but some of the choices of songs /performance choices make me scratch my head:

1. Spring Awakening( Totally F*CKed, 2007): The use of Totally F*CKed without the use of the word ****ed is pretty idiotic- there were definitely other numbers that could have been utilized into the SA Medley instead.

2. Follies Revival(Buddy's Blues, 2012): This song has grown A LOT on me recently, but at the time of the Tony's (where I was very excited to see what they were going to present), I really could not stand this number especially because it made no sense that they picked ONLY this song to perform. Although I now believe that it is indeed a great performance, it still can be argued that it was not a great representation of the show given that taken out of context, the song comes across much differently and is not appealing to a mainstream audience.

3. Grey Gardens(The Revolutionary Costume For Today, 2007): Same reasons as #2- there were so many other great songs they could have featured here as well in order to demonstrate the greatness of this show.

4. Into The Woods(NO BERNADETTE, 1988): Okay, I'm still really unclear as to why Bernadette wasn't in this number(and why she wasn't nominated for the Tony, but that's another story, never mind... :) ). Also, why after the last verse of Children Will Listen do they sing the " So into the woods you go again" verse and not include the "Though it's fearful, though it's deep, though it's dark" verse? That verse is especially impactful/important to the music IMO. Time was obviously a reason, but it dampers the number to me.

Your thoughts? Any song choices/performances from the Tony's that puzzle you as well?

You know some part of me enjoys Spring Awakening giving no damns and performing whatever they wanted... let spring awakening say f**k! But from a marketing standpoint, yeah, not ideal. What would you suggest instead?

As everyone noted, Hello Dolly. They came off looking terrible for protesting that they needed their specific theatre to perform, when Great Comet was rolling up their sleeves and putting on the best performance of the night

Song Of Purple Summer perhaps- Or just let them say **** and have written parental warnings broadcast before they performed?

Aladdin "Friend Like Me" and Something Rotten "A Musical"- they're both showstoppers live, but when chopped up for a Tony performance they just seemed disjointed

Beauty & the Beast performing a medley of four/five numbers in what seemed to have been a combination of stuff at their venue and at the Tonys.

The original cast of The Color Purple starting with 'Hell No', then transitioning into the finale.

The Visit transitioning into 'I Would Never Leave You' after 'Love and Love Alone'.

Waitress starting with a brief version of 'Opening Up' before transitioning into Sara Bareilles performing 'She Used to Be Mine', followed by Jessie Mueller's rendition.

The most recent revival of West Side Story performing 'The Dance at the Gym'.

It didn't really matter because they were going to sweep everything but I always thought "Yorktown" was an odd choice for Hamilton to perform.

Their iconic opening number "Alexander Hamilton" or the big I Want song of "My Shot" would have been better choices.

Bright Star for me. I wish they had done something a little more uplifting like Whoa Mama. Or even a medley, which isn’t usually my first choice but I think would’ve worked for this. If You Knew My Story kind of made the show seem dull, even though I think Carmen Cusack is great.

And ugggghhhh Groundhog Day. Such a great song in the context of the show, but it did absolutely nothing to show off the humor and wittiness that made that show what it was. Don’t really know that there’s a great choice out of context, though. Maybe a cut version of One Day? Day One?

Also, I’m taking this time to atone for the negative thoughts I had when I heard Fun Home was doing Ring of Keys. I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrong!

ETA: @poisonivy2, I totally agree about Yorktown being a weird choice. I always thought they should’ve done The Room Where It Happens.

Updated On: 3/24/18 at 03:43 PM

I disagree with Bright Star. That was the performance that made me interested in the show. Maybe it was because of Carmen Cusack and the camera work.

BrodyFosse123 said: "The Revolutionary Costume for Today" from GREY GARDENS was an excellent choice as 110% of the world population ismostly familiar with the legendary 1975 documentary. Having Ebersole in full Little Edie regalia and showcasing how they musicalized her famous words many know verbatim was the best national advertisement they could have ever done."

If you think that anywhere close to a majority of the country, let along the world, has even heard of the documentary Grey Gardens you're sorely mistaken. It's an obscure curiosity known primarily by a certain generation of gays and those obsessive Gilmore Girls fans who research every reference the show makes (and there's a lot of overlap in those audiences).

I actually don't mind Hell No right before the finale- I thought it worked pretty well.