Tony Reflections - LONG

[ASentoni]

Posted: 6/6/11 at 10:22am

I first watched the Tony Awards broadcast when I was 12 years old in 1980. My sister was a senior in High School at the time, and she was making a trip with the theater department to NYC. It was a HUGE trip 2,000 miles away, and no one in my family had ever been further than maybe 500 miles away from home. As a family, we all decided to watch "these Tony awards things..." to get excited for her trip with her. (sorry for the grammar there...) We didn't really know that there was even such a thing as The Tony Awards, so we were thrilled to experience something new. My sister would be seeing "Joseph and the..." in Washington DC, then taking the bus up from there and seeing Sweeney, Evita, Sugar Babies and Deathtrap.

We watched, all crowded around the "family room" television, and were astounded by the performances, and stunned by this world we had never imagined. One of the things that I remember thinking was how amazingly Theatre-ish it felt - that it was unlike any other awards show on TV, and I just felt its specialness all over the place. I still get tingles thinking about that First Time.

Since 1980 there has been only 3 times I've missed watching (and taping) the broadcast. (1 was due to illness, 1 was due to me being out of the country, and 1 was last year - having no TV). I moved to NYC in 1986 to "live the dream" I had had since I was a child, and I've seen a lot of changes both to the Tony broadcast and NY Theatre in general.

I recently watched last year's Tonys (got a copy on DVD) and thought most of it was really painful or at the least saddening to see, and I've been trying to figure out why. Aside from some seriously awkward speeches and performances and technical issues, I wanted to figure out why they just aren't (or don't feel) as special as they once did. Part of it, I know, is that I have become more "insidery" as the years have developed, but that couldn't be all.

Then it occurred to me: they just don't feel like Theatre anymore. There's nothing innately theatrical about them. I think, for me, this happened when they moved them from actual theatres to Radio City. I remember the first year they were done there felt like a fun twist, a "big deal" and it was exciting. I admit, I bought in to it that first year.

It used to feel like a camera was put inside An Actual Theatre and we were getting the opportunity to spy on what happens in those hallowed places. Now, with all the "stars" and so many multiples of cameras, and everything so geared toward the TV audience, it has lost its feeling of being Live Theatre.

Time was, I used to re-watch many of my old Tony tapes to build up the excitement for the annual broadcast. I've watched them too many times, frankly... (you know you've been over-saturated when you can recite acceptance speeches from 1989...) From all of these old shows, there were the occasional technical glitches, but over the past several years (The Radio City Years), it seems that the sound/tech issues are more the normal than not. I know all the "reasons," I'm just talking about the cumulative effect.

I know that I probably won't stop watching the Tonys; it's part of my summer, and has been for years. But I can't help but feel a bit saddened by the distance they've gone.

My question: for those of a younger generation than me, did you feel That Kind of Excitement watching your first Tonys in this bigger, lavish-er kind of venue? Did it seem special and unique? Or did it just seem like another typical awards show - albeit, one that was oriented (if not centered) around theatre?

Aging is weird, isn't it?

Would love to hear others' experiences.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/6/11 at 10:56am

When I was 12, I'd get really excited by an ice cream cone. Now I can swing through McDonald's and eat it on the way home.

Still like the Tony Awards though.