Why are people just now complaining...i.e. Hunter Foster

[nydirector2]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 1:34pm

I read most of the thread about Hunter Foster's new Facebook group and rather than jump into the queeny cat fights, I thought I'd post a new thread asking this question:

Last year, everyone went nuts over the opening number of the Tonys with the appearances of Elton John, Brett Michaels, Dolly Parton, etc. This year, the producers tried(albeit poorly) to reproduce the same type of number using this year's season as a basis. Why is it that people on Broadway and fans on this board are so vehemently against the show this year and were kind to it last year?

Also...just throwing this out there. I would much rather see Will Smith, Jay Z, etc. as producers than the majority of "producers" nowadays. At least Will Smith and Jay Z are artists, where-as the majority of "producers" are in fact just investors who've made their money elsewhere and think of Broadway as a hobby in which they can meet pretty people or get awards just by throwing money at them.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 1:40pm

I thought Sean Hayes was pretty fantastic as host

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 1:48pm

This year's Tony awards wasn't nearly as bad as many have said simply because such apparent dismalness is completely impossible to achieve. Highly reminiscent of those "reviews" on Netflix where--whether its TROLL 2 or DR. ZHIVAGO--there's always someone declaiming "THIS IS THE WORST FILM I HAVE EVER SEEEEN!"

Bitching about the Tony's in any chat room should have a 48 hour shelf life at the very most. After that its just snivelly and tedious.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 1:50pm

I think the real controversy here, is not that there were celebrities performing or attending the Tony Awards. That happens every year, and I understand that a 100% and I understand how that is necessary for these awards. Although we BWWers, might know who Katie Finneran is, most people in middle American, don't. So it's good to have stars like Anne Hathaway, Lucy Liu or Brooke Shields sitting on the front row and presenting awards.
I think the issue here is that most of the winners were not that deserving of the awards, and were Hollywood stars, or a British theatre star. So basically not as many "Broadway" performers won awards this season.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 1:55pm

Well I read a comment on the Facebook page that I kind of agree with. I would also like to see shots of Broadway performers in the audience during the Broadcast and not just shots of film and tv stars. Mix them in. And yes, there were a few, but there should have been more.

[jerryaldini]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 3:19pm

I think the difference from last year and this year was that LAST YEAR it was an even representation of both straight Bway shows and performers and the "star" filled numbers from some of the other shows. This years opening number did feel strange when it suddenly became a mini Green Day concert for some reason. Just not well conceived.

The one thing that WAS consistent both years was the horrible sound! Jesus!! When are they gonna get some real sound guys for that show? The Oscars do it, Grammys... hell the TV Land awards figured it out. What are they running a Make A Wish program with the sound department for the Tony telecast?! Get it together!! Sigh. There. I am done.