Victoria Clark's Tony Mishap

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 4:06pm

Here's the story behind why Clark had that big handheld mic at the beginning of PIAZZA's Tony performance. From Andrew Gans' Diva Talk column on Playbill.com:

"Performing on the Tony Awards under normal circumstances must be stressful; producers and actors know they have but three minutes to try to sell their production to the viewing audience. But how much pressure would someone feel when told — just moments before going onstage — that her body microphone wasn't working? Such was the case Sunday night for Clark. "They thought my mic wasn't working," Clark explained. "There was a panic about that, so they handed me a huge [hand-held] mic. All the color drained out of my face. I just felt like the world dropped into my throat. And then Kelli, who comes in from stage right, saw me. Meanwhile, Adam [Guettel's] giving his acceptance speech for Best Score. And, [Kelli] says, 'Vicki, it's okay, it's okay. You're the narrator. It's fine, just go with it, go with it!' Then Mark Harelik and Jennifer [Hughes] popped their heads out of the little tower that was ready to go stage right, and they were screaming encouragement. It was very sweet. Everybody knew how crazy it was. Once I had their support I thought, 'Well, it can't get any crazier than this,' and it was fine." Clark said a sound person standing right off camera gave her updates via "wild sign language," and midway through the scene she was able to rely on her body microphone.

"To go back and look at [the Tony] tape," Clark related, "I can see that clearly I'm preoccupied with a million thoughts. I'm just proud that I didn't completely lose it on live TV," she added with a laugh. "There was a moment there where I was like, 'This is really funny.' Theatre is live and stuff happens all the time — good and bad — that we have to deal with. But the fact that we have three minutes to do the number [on TV]. We were really proud of the way the number came off though, and we're doing very well at the box office, so I think we did okay." In fact, Light in the Piazza has just extended its engagement once again: the Guettel-Craig Lucas musical will now play through Jan. 1, 2006.

Winning a Tony Award is a dream of any theatre actor, but Clark admitted that she had given up on that fantasy. "About five years ago I stopped dreaming about [winning a Tony] because I decided that it wasn't going to be the key to whether I was happy or not. There's something lovely about letting go, about not needing that to be so important. So [this year] I was just so happy to get the part and then be nominated. And, of course, [I was] thrilled and so excited to win it, but the other ladies in my category are so lovely and so skilled. They're so adorable — Sherie and Erin and Sutton and Christina. They're all beautiful. We've had fun running into each other and hanging out, and I wanted us all to be able to win that and share it and have fun together."

When asked whether there's anyone she forgot to thank during her acceptance speech, Clark answered, "There's no one that I forgot to thank, but I could have made the whole speech about [director] Bartlett Sher because he was such an inspirational director, and he's a teaching director, so I'm a much better actor now than I was when we started rehearsals. The whole speech could have been about my family, the strong women in my family who are survivors and who have lifted us up through their compassion and their love. They were all character studies for this role. The whole speech could have been about the teachers I've had, unbelievable teachers. The whole speech could have been about my students because I think I became a much better actor by having to articulate what I do. I know I've become a better artist by teaching, and I have unbelievable students. There's just not enough time in 50 seconds! The whole speech could have been about this cast. They're the most loving, generous, talented group of people. We all look out for each other. We all have each other's back. I look forward to seeing everyone in that theatre every night. The whole speech could have been about the design team. Cathy Zuber basically handed me my character with the costumes, and to wander in that set with those lights, you really are transformed. And, so it's not that I forgot people, it's just that there wasn't time to go into the detail that I wanted to!"

Teachers, students and designers aside, there was probably no one in the Radio City Music Hall audience Sunday night more proud of Clark than Thomas Luke Guest, her son. The curly haired ten-year-old beamed as Clark accepted her award, and she concluded her speech by saying Guest is "the light in my piazza." Clark, in fact, let her son take her Tony Award to school with him earlier this week. "He took it to school wrapped up in a towel in a little bag, and then he would show it to people one at a time like it was a rare species of monkey. As soon as people looked at it and touched it, he would cover it back up with the towel again. It was so sweet, and then we passed it around and everybody got to hold it. It's not engraved yet, so I told the children it could be everybody's Tony for awhile."

About her first night back in Piazza after the show won six Tonys, Clark explained, "I got nice entrance applause, [but] I basically wanted to run back and hide behind the set and put a bag over my head. . . . It was a little bit intimidating and very humbling because I've always been sort of the underdog who's never won anything, and now, all of a sudden, with this part I think people are watching [me] in a different way. I've always wanted to do my best, but now I just feel there's an expectation that feels different."

"I really just hope that people come out and see the show," Clark added. "This show has changed my life, and it's changed the life of so many people. I'm not saying it changed my life because it was such a wonderful career opportunity. It changed my life because the material itself is transformative. You actually go through a transformation saying these words and singing this music. Many people who've seen the show tell me the same thing — that they are changed from having seen the piece. They feel lighter, somehow something's been lifted from them, some burden. I just want people to have that experience."


http://www.playbill.com/news/article/93459.html

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 4:10pm

Doesn't take much to throw her, does it?

Updated On: 6/10/05 at 04:10 PM

[magruder]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 4:20pm

It seems like it would be pretty unnerving, under the circumstances, to suddenly have a hand-held mic thrown at you when you are not expecting it. And moreover, on national television, when you and your show are up for Tony Awards.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 4:23pm

It's a hand-held mic. Her costume didn't break, she didn't trip, her co-star didn't show up late...it just seems like a very small thing compared to a lot of things people have had to deal with in a "surprise" performance situation. I just find it interesting that someone who has been performing as long as she has would be thrown to that extent by a relatively small change.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 4:31pm

That was a honkin big mic. It affects how you move; I mean, you can't use your hands anymore! That's a pretty big deal if you ask me, also when you're looking for signals to be able to get rid of it and rely on your body mic, 'cause that's a lot to concentrate on.

I'm glad that she was able to explain what happened...she totally rocks.

[Broadway Style]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 4:33pm

I thought she handled it beautifully, be it a big deal or no. BUT what I find odd about the story is the whole letting her son bring the award to "school in a towel and letting people touch it one by one." I mean, to me that is a little odd.It is not some sacred religious object, and not to trivialize her accomplishment in any way, but the Tonys can sometimes be slightly political and arbitrary-there are always many deserving people......

[moljul]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 4:58pm

She was sending a rare award to school with an 10 year old. Of course they wrapped it up in a towel and put it in the bag so it didn't get dropped on the ground and broken or scratched up. I don't think they treated it like a sacred religious relic but like something that was special and unique to them (and anyone else) that they didn't want to damage. I think it was brave of her send it with her son though it sounds like he was quite responsible and took care of it.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:02pm

That would have been fine were it not for the fact that her son's classmate is Sherie Rene Scott's kid...





not really. :)

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:07pm

"That would have been fine were it not for the fact that her son's classmate is Sherie Rene Scott's kid..."

Or his teacher, Miss Applegate...

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:14pm

C'mon guys, I think its perfectly acceptable that she freaked out a little bit. The things running through her head. She was performing on national television, and had 3 minutes to sell her show to the American Audience, and she wanted everything to be perfect. It was a stressful night b/c her and so many people involved with her show were up for awards, and the excitement and nervous energy was probably a lot to handle her. All she could think about, I'm sure, was looking and sounding nothing less than perfect. And let's face it, how many posts where there when people saw her come out with the massive hand mic? There were plenty, and everyone was saying how odd it looked. I said something about her looking like a CNN News Reporter. Yes this is part of live theatre, and in live theatre things go wrong, but when you are being broadcasted throughout the country and many people are watching, the littlest things could really send you over the top.

As far as letting her son take the Tony to school, I think its perfectly acceptable to have him wrap it up, and from what interviews I've read, it seems young Thomas Luke is his mother's biggest fan, and loves to display her triumphs to his class, and personally, I think that it's just adorable to share something so special and important with a bunch of younlings, who might share the same aspirations. I love how we can find the smallest things to ridicule and obsess about over on this board...

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:17pm

Oh Fishie, you are just in love with Miss Vicky. That's no secret.

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:20pm

I can't help it. But seriously, leave the poor gal alone. We all get a little hysterical in our old age. AR, I'm surprised, you should know about that! Updated On: 6/10/05 at 05:20 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:23pm

I'm not too old to kick your a**, little girl.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:24pm

Who ISN'T in love with Victoria?

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:25pm

Margo - Thank you, so much, for posting this. I stood in Tower Records today listening to the first few tracks of The Light in The Piazza and I could not keep from crying. The tears were just running down my cheeks, and I haven't even seen the show yet! I am really looking forward to sitting in that theatre and experienceing that story for myself. Just the few moments they did on the Tonys was enough to convince me that it is most surely the best thing on Broadway at the moment, and a performance that must not be missed.

[MTRBOI24]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:44pm

Where does she teach?

[Elphaba]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 5:54pm

redhot, same thing happened to me....haven't seen the show, was playing the recording, and suddenly I KNEW.......the line "she's a special child" that the mother sings in the beginning came back to me, and I had to turn it off, as I knew that I would have to finish listening later.....I've never read
the short story.

we are trying to find a way to get to NYC to see this before it ends.........it truly moves me

[Thenardier]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 6:42pm

I think she has every right to freak out....but it isn't like she uses her hands much...but still

[DreamFlyer22]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 6:47pm

Still, it affects how you had things planned in your head. I don't think anyone LIKES having to improvise on live network television.

But, if this is any comfort to her, it was very natural and it barely registered to me that she was holding it until she wasn't anymore. As it says in the article, since she's the narrator, it was logical for her to have one. I just figured it had to do with the range of her body mic... like she had to hold something to amp her up until she reached the transmitter's radius.

Plus, it's not like when Martin Short was in "Little Me" (when was that?? '99? 2000?) and his body microphone was crackling the whole time. Dancing with a handheld mic. Now THAT'S gotta be fun. (Though his improv made me laugh, "Who wants to hear it again?!" )

Updated On: 6/10/05 at 06:47 PM

[Thenardier]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 6:50pm

Actually, I thought she was using the hand held mic for the beginning - which didn't make sense. I thought they were suing it to seperate the intor from the actual show. Obviously not. Still, she was great as usual.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 7:02pm

I would just like to clarify that I understand being a little surprised - but the melodrama she described is a bit over the top, in my opinion, for someone who's been doing live theater her whole life. The unexpected happens, and much worse could and has happened.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 7:09pm

That's why she made fun of herself saying, it's live theatre.

But I agree Rath - but don't ya know they always make these things into a big ordeal. It makes the hoi polloi happy and gives our lives meaning.

[midtowngym]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 8:45pm

Oy. This wasn't just 'live theater', it was national televison. If i were her i'd be thinking--
"OK, it took me 20 years to get here, and who knows if i'll be here again. This is MY 15 minutes. Please God, let it go right..." And then it doesn't.

[zoran912]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 10:09pm

Exactly, midtown. She has every right to freak out. However, she was amazingly able to keep her composure. I didn't even realize that it was a mistake until I read the reports the following day. I thought that they had planned for her to have that mic.

[shira467]

Posted: 6/10/05 at 10:42pm

She handled it with grace and composure -- and she sounded amazing and Gah...Victoria Clark is amazing.