Posted: 6/12/17 at 9:49am
Only Great Comet, Bandstand and Come From Away were what I'd call traditional performance choices. You know, songs from nominated shows that make someone in the hinterlands want to see them. Some were boring (Groundhog Day, War Paint--didn't think it was possible to make LuPone and Ebersole boring but they managed), incomprehensible (Falsettos, Dear Evan Hansen, Miss Saigon), or maddening (Hello Dolly).
Maybe in some of the more 'serious' musicals, it's hard to pull one audience-pleasing number that makes sense without the context of the show, much like pulling one scene from the best play nominees (which they gave up on years ago). No, I'm not suggesting they should cut the musical numbers, but they still haven't figured out how to present the best play nominees and it's getting to that point with some of the musicals as well. As unpopular as medleys usually are, maybe that's the best way to go.
As for that Hello Dolly choice, words fail (almost). As someone said in another thread, this is an old-fashioned show with lots of ensemble songs and production numbers, and THAT'S what they do? What made it even more insulting to the audience is that the promos actually showed Bette Midler strutting around the stage as if she was going to perform! Scott Rudin is a brilliant producer, but I have to think he lost a lot of goodwill last night.
