The Tony Awards 2016

I had an odd, continuing problem with my cable TV last night, so rather than do what I usually do with awards shows -- which is record them and then fast-forward through -- I had to watch the entire Tony Awards online, no fast-forwarding.  So, unlike usually, I have a full perspective of the broadcast.

I thought it was fine.  Nothing great, but they're doing a better job than in years past making it an entertainment rather than focusing on obscure awards with unknown nominees, and widening the musical performances, though there's still a lot more they could do in that department.

The opening number was entertaining, with James Corden doing a lot of quick-changes and moving between a lot of different Broadway shows.  It wasn't at the level of the best of the openings that Neil Patrick Harris has done in recent years (most especially, "Bigger," which will be hard for anyone to top), but held its own with other good ones.

Corden didn't have a lot of great material to perform through the show, but did a solid job, a little too breathless at times, though that's part of his charm.  I'm not quite sure what the sartorial point was with his ever-changing odd jackets, but I don't pay much attention to that so it didn't bother me one way or the other.  I did like the brief snippets of songs from classic shows that current casts briefly sang outside the theater ("brief" being the operative word.)  Given that the broadcast ran 15 minutes long, though, I'm surprised they didn't cut the "Carpool Karaoke" featurette, given that it had already aired on his TV show, and so it was just a repeat, available to anyone on YouTube.  And the chat with his parents in the audience wasn't needed -- especially since it cut into time about one of my two big quibbles.

And that first quibble is that they gave Sheldon Harnick's Lifetime Achievement Award about seven seconds.  I'm not exaggerating.  They showed a clip of Harnick receiving his award earlier -- they didn't have the whole thing on the live show -- making a quip, along the lines of "I hope I deserve this, otherwise my being here would be really embarrassing."  And that's it.  James Corden spent a minute joking with his parents in the audience.  

I'm biased, of course, as readers of these pages know, since I'm friend with Sheldon Harnick.  But I don't hink my bias is out of line.  Sheldon Harnick, after all, is the 92-year-old, legendary lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me (both nominated this year for Best Revival of a Musical), as well as the Tony and Pultizer Prize-winning Fiorello!, along with The Apple Tree (that got revived two years ago) and The Rothschilds, all written with his partner, composer Jerry Bock.  And I think that deserves more than seven seconds.  He's a true legend of Broadway.  And more than for most awards shows, I suspect that viewers of the Tonys are especially interested in and knowledgeable about the history of the subject matter.  And as such would have loved to have Sheldon Harnick -- let alone a sharp, witty Sheldon Harnick.  A man so legendary that the street in front of the theater where Fiddler on the Roof is now playing was just renamed "Harnick and Bock Way."  And he got seven seconds.  Ridiculous.

The other quibble is the same as always, but worse this year.  And that's the inability of the Tony broadcast to figure out how to present material from the nominated stage plays.  They figured it out in the past, often having actors recreating parts of scenes, and even in recent years when they cut back on this, they still were able to show short video clips from plays.  This year, they only had silent clips in the background as as presenter spoke about them.  Equally ridiculous.  And if the TV producers think that home-audiences would be lost by watching only a brief clip from a play...consider that that would be almost no different than when an actor goes on a TV talk show and brings a 30-second film clip from one of their movies.

I can't do anything about the seven seconds of Sheldon Harnick, or the lack of plays.  But what I can do is post a very nice five-minute segment done on the PBS Newshour over the weekend about Harnick and Fiddler on the Roof.

As you'll see, Sheldon Harnick at 92 is sharp, thoughtful, self-effacing, witty and charming in the featurette, something that I have a feeling the viewing audience would have loved to have seen.  They didn't have a chance.  Happily, you here do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wjyflQR6nk

West Side Glory

The "Gypsy of the Year" event is an annual awards show that honors the lesser-known performers on Broadway, the chorus and dancers who head from show to show -- ostensibly like gypsies.  They put on a pretty good entertainment at the same time.  This comes from the 2007 show.

2007 was the 50th anniversary of one of the great musicals in Broadway history, West Side Story.  And as a tribute to the show, the "Gypsy..." awards producers raised the bar a bit.  They reunited 22 members of the original cast of West Side Story for an extensive medley production number.  It's all mixed together with some current Broadway chorus members, but the original Sharks and Jets are in the forefront, along with a couple of unexpected surprises.

A few notes.  

One of the first chorus members to have a solo turn here is a fellow introduced as "Mickey Callan."  He actually went on to have a bit of a film character, performing as Michael Callan.  His best known-role was probably in the film, Cat Ballou, playing Jane Fonda's love interest, as the nephew of Dwayne Hickman, the two somewhat cowardly rustlers who she hires hoping to get tough gunslingers.

Also, though chorus member gypsies are the stars here, the Gypsy of the Year production don't overlook career stars.  And for this tribute, they were able to get Carol Lawrence, the original 'Maria,' as well as Chita Rivera, who at the time was an up-and-coming actresses, and played Maria's older, wiser friend 'Anita.'  (If you're wondering why the original 'Tony," isn't here as well, he had sadly passed away a few years before.)

For the record, below that's Chita Rivera on the left, and Carol Lawrence in the center.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HKzShrArQc

Hello, Again

As I've written a bit here lately, a new production of Hello, Dolly! recently opened on Broadway with Bette Midler.  To help promote the upcoming release of the Original Cast Album, the selections of that very album has been posted for a limited time online.

As readers of these pages know, I've done a lengthy analysis of four different versions of the show -- the original production with Carol Channing, the "new" cast recording with Pearl Bailey, the London cast version with Mary Martin, and songs from the production that closed the original run with Ethel Merman.  So, far beyond this being Bette Midler's return to Broadway, I was intrigued to hear how Jerry Herman's classic score is handled.

My sense is that this revival's recording is perfectly nice, and Bette Midler does a solid job.  But she’s oddly mellow, surprisingly without the edge you’d think she’d bring to the role.  Maybe that’s more a function of making a recording rather than performing live.  The only number she has sparks with, I think, is “So Long, Dearie,” which is intended as a snarky, sarcastic number as Dolly chides Horace Vandergelder, ostensibly telling him off which trying to attract his interest.  Midler also does a pretty good job on "Before the Parade Passes By."  Everything else strikes as fine and pleasant, though not stand-out.

Interesting, I thought the supporting characters actually do the best job, notably Gavin Creel who plays Cornelius Hackl, and most especially Kate Baldwin who I’m a big fan of, as Irene Malloy.  David Hyde Pierce does a personable job as Horace Vandergelder, though I think he's a little miscast.  (The character is an aggressive, blustering almost-bully, and Pierce's persona tends to be the opposite.)  He does get a bonus here, though -- a song that had been cut from the original production, "Penny in My Pocket," which is fun to hear, though only just fair.

The arrangements are mellow, as well.  Affectionate in part, and personable, though never as brassy as the original (which I think brings out the best of the score).  Still, not all arrangements have to be that way, brash and lively -- they're not for the British cast album with Mary Martin, and are more warm and playful, and work very well, fitting the character of its star.   There are only two arrangements of this new album I'm not really much a fan of is the overture -- the first is the selection of songs is different than the original, and not as effective to me, but also quite muted.  And the second is the "Waiter's Gallop" which is an exciting and funny dance number than builds and builds in anticipation of Dolly returning to the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, which is the "Hello, Dolly!" number, and the arrangement here seems to have changed the music, but that may be because it has little drive and humor to it.  It should have enthusiasm, and it's just a fine dance number.

I was trying to figure out what song to post here, and then I realized -- well, that's a foolish thing to have to decide.  Of course I know what song to post.  And you know, too.

I'll provide a link for the full score, but figure that not everyone will want to go and listen to the whole thing.  So, instead, I post a couple other numbers to give more of a sense of the highlights and a quicker way to get into such things.  

​Here, for example, is that number I mention that I think Bette Midler does quite well, and comes across as a lot of fun, "So Long, Dearlie."

Here, too, are the two supporting performers who I was taken by -- Gavin Creel and my fave Kate Baldwin singing, "It Only Takes a Moment."  (It's mainly Cornellius's song, but Irene comes in towards the end.  More notable for Baldwin is the song, "Ribbons Down My Back," which I've never been a big fan of, finding it a bit bland, but in the right hands -- such as Baldwin's here -- it's gorgeous.)

And finally, here's a taste of David Hyde Piece.  I almost decided to post the new song, but since it's only fair, I figured I'd go with Horace's traditional and fun song, "It Takes a Woman."

Anyway, that's a taste of the show.  If you want to hear the entire score, just click here and either listen to the whole thing, or select individual songs.  Keep in mind that this link will only be posted for a limited time.  For all I know, these embedded songs here will, as well, but at least you have them at your fingertips right now.  But if you plan to wait to go to this site, don't wait too long.  Because Hello will no doubt soon be saying goodbye...