Tony Sheldon should get the final curtain call!

[chanel]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:09am

It's hard to disagree with this.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2011/04/change_the_pris.php#more

[Huss417]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:10am

I felt that way when I saw the show.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:12am

I didn't know Dee Hoty was in the show.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:16am

So who DOES get the final curtain call? Will?

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:20am

Matt-

Will does, Tony definitely should. He really is amazing and the heart and soul of the show. I really hope he snags the Tony-he deserves it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:22am

Snags a Tony for what? Doing his impression of Terrence Stamp? Seriously, WHAT THE HELL are you people seeing in this performance??

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:30am

Tony's been getting a lot of accolades for his performance but isn't Will technically the "lead". I won't be seeing the show until Friday but this is how I understand it. The reason they're on the trip is because of Will's storyline which would make me consider him "lead" and everyone else "featured".

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 11:39am

Doing his impression of Terrence Stamp?

I think his Bernadette is quite different than Terence's. He always made me feel that I was watching a man in a dress while Tony actually made me feel that Bernadette was a woman.

Tony's been getting a lot of accolades for his performance but isn't Will technically the "lead". I won't be seeing the show until Friday but this is how I understand it.

When it came award time Tony was unanimously considered lead in all other productions.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 11:45am

Swenson is the "lead" in this show. That is, his part is most central to the storyline, as said above. Just because Sheldon is giving a far better performance than Swenson doesn't mean he deserves the final bow.

[On the road...]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 11:53am

I couldn't agree more. Tony Sheldon blew me away in this show. Will Swenson, in my opinion, is horribly miscast and it is painful throughout the show how hard he is trying to be a gay man. He's the weak link out of the three. This show has two nominations coming for it: Sheldon and costumes. Should (hopefully) win both.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:04pm

I didn't at all think that Swenson was the lead of the show. Tony is the glue that holds the trio together, sort of like a mother figure. Bernadette's story line was much more interesting (and better executed) than Tick's.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:05pm

His make-up is lovely.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 1:30pm

I too thought Swenson was awful and Sheldon spectacular, but that doesn't change the fact that Swenson's character is clearly the lead role.

Just because the audience likes Sheldon the best and he's giving the best performance doesn't mean he deserves the final bow. By that logic, Katie Finneran should have been bowing last at Promises Promises.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 2:22pm

You're comparing apples to oranges. Will, Tony and Nick are the 3 leads of Priscilla. Katie Finneran was clearly a supporting role in Promises. I personally did not think that Tick's story line was the main focus of Priscilla. His reunion with his son was just one plot line, but Bernadette had her own story too, which stood out much more for me. Its almost like arguing over who is the leading role in The King and I ... The king or Anna (without saying one is the male lead and one is the female lead). And come to think of it, I have seen productions where the King got the final bow, and productions where Anna got the final bow ... usually depending on which role was played by a bigger star.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 2:27pm

"I didn't know Dee Hoty was in the show."

Jordan honey, you kill me!!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 2:38pm

But isn't Tick's storyline the reason they're making the trip across the desert in the first place. It's the reason for the show itself. Whether it's compelling is the personal opinion of each indivdual audience member. But, it is the reason they're which, IMO, makes it the main storyline and the actor who plays it the lead.

I don't think you can compare this to the King & I. They main storyline is their storyline. It's not just Anna coming to Siam to teach but also the King of Siam accepting Anna's teaching. It's interchangable.

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 2:53pm

Tony should get the last bow, plain and simple.

And I don't use this phrase often, Tony Sheldon is the hottest woman I've ever seen.

[JamieHT]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 2:59pm

Now I haven't seen the Broadway production, but I did see Tony in London and he really is the best thing about the show. I'm not a fan of the show at all, it left me feeling pretty cold. He, however had me feeling every emotion with Bernadette, something that Jason Donovan and Oliver Thornton didn't manage for me. I'm not sure if he should be last, because I do agree, it's more about Tick's journey. However I do believe that Tony is playing a woman in the role, not a man playing a woman which is what I thought when I saw Terence Stamp in the film. (I saw them back to front (Musical first, Movie Second) and after seeing Tony's performance, Terence Stamp did not embody the role as I now knew it).

[Kalimba]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:08pm

I liked Tony Sheldon, but both Nick and Will's performances were kind of forgettable. Nick's muscles were too much of a distraction.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:20pm

I thought Tony
Sheldon was wonderful.
He looked like Lauren Bacall in Applause and had the sardonic wit
of a Noel Coward or an Elaine Stritch.
He was the perfect woman.

Since there is so little competition in the
Best Musical Female Actress Category.. how bout Sheldon
in that category???

[vegas2]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:51pm

Tony Sheldon stole my heart.

[theatrepaul]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 4:12pm

Tony should definitely get the final curtain call - he did in London even though Jason Donovan was the name on which the show was originally sold. Bernadette as played by Tony is unquestionaly the star of the show.

[Patash]

Posted: 4/21/11 at 12:33am

I first went to Priscilla in London KNOWING I'd hate Tony Sheldon, because Terence Stamp gave the "definitive" performance, but I left being wowed. The difference? As someone else mentioned, Tony Sheldon captures the true "woman" in the character more than Stamp. Bob falls in love with a woman, not with a man in a dress. That's a huge difference. But more importantly (and I never realized this watching the movie) Stamp played Bernadette as an angry person. Sheldon plays it as as a fun loving person who is down but ready to live and party again and who has never really given up her sense of "having fun". Sheldon is brilliant in my book.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/23/11 at 8:59pm

I saw the show last night and I still stand firm that Will should be getting final bow. The action in the show takes place because of Tick's storyline. Bernadette gets a love story because Tick invites her on the journey. Tick's story is what sets everything else in motion.

[mee.who]

Posted: 4/23/11 at 9:15pm

I've said this before in other posts on the subject, but still.
I don't know why they didn't just give the three guys one group bow and call it a day.