was is just me or does anyone else think that the should have cut tony b. and mary j b. or gotten broadway stars to sing those song!!!!!!!!

or, perhaps, have included the design awards in place of those songs?

or clips from the nominated plays?

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I agree.

Whomever organizes the Tonys went for crass commercialism in hopes of ratings, getting people up there who really have nothing to do with the theatre community.

Part of me hopes that the ratings will be awful, so that the Tony's will perhaps only be broadcast on KCET- which will allow the real actors on Broadway to be a part of it, instead of all these famous ringers.

But the circus must go on...

And Voiceanth enjoys Mary J. Blige over Karen Ziemba...why?

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I was jut wondering what Mary J Blige was doing there in the first place??? I'm assuming it's because of some East Coast West Coast rapper deal between P Diddy and the Tony Voters :P

I didn't think Bennett or Blige were awful, but nothing they did was compelling enough to justify cutting Big River to me.

I enjoyed Bennett's performance solely because it felt like an appropriate thing to have at the Tony's. It was nice to see him healthy and still able to hit those high notes.

Mary J Blige was awful IMHO. I just kept wondering who thought it was a good idea to have her sing an unrecognizable rendition of a beloved showtune IN FRONT of an audience jam-packed with performers who could have sung it better than her. maybe they wanted to appeal to Broadway's newfound P Diddy audience, but I really doubt that her presence at the show is going to inspire any of these new fans to go out and buy Broadway merchandise or copy Chorus Line for their friends. the time could have been used for so many other things. like for God's sake, give Michael McElroy something to do!

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I'm having to disagree with all of you. Tony Bennett's performance, to me, took FOREVER and was awful. Mary J. Blige's rendition of 'What I Did for Love' was not spectacular, but it was worth watching. I've heard that song many ways before, but not exactly like that. The only thing that really threw me off on her was the squeaking voice on the high parts- other than that, it was noteworthy.

Noteworthy??? she didn't even sing the right notes!!!! what the hell is THAT all about? I don't give a damn how much scatting and trilling she does - just sing the notes that were written, at least ONCE during the frigging song!

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jrb - I totally agree with you. I would much rather have seen the design awards and I really miss all the interviews with the designers and the clips of the shows with explanations of the various design elements of each show. It was really fascinating and often beautiful to see. I also miss performances from the plays, which haven't gotten the attention they deserve since the early 90s. Some really memorable performances included scenes from Fences, The Grapes of Wrath, Lettice and Lovage, Largely New York, M. Butterfly, Speed-the-Plow, The Heidi Chronicles, Lend Me a Tenor, and others. The performances of the plays really made me interested in seeing them.

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The whole segment was poorly done. "Legends to sing Legends" or what ever they were trying to accomplish failed misererably.

1. They didn't have enough time to do it right and should have nixed it. They got off on the right foot by bringing in Tony Bennett with a Bd'w classic, then dropped the ball.

2. Dear God, they had Carol Channing right there. Why didn't they consider using her to sing a bit of Dolly?!

It was just very lame for a "professional" production. I've seen better work in community theater.

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and maybe I am wrong but did I see PDiddy give her a standing O??? hahahaa

Newyorkuniq - you did, indeed, see Mr. Combs standing - the only one.