Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony
Okay, so here’s the breakdown, and here’s the observations.
Avenue Q won for best new musical, something that made my friend Danny happy. The allure of the show continues to elude me, but almost certainly as much for glitches of my own as anything to do with the show. I have issues with the coarsening of children’s culture, and a musical number that starts with a man bemoaning the fact that he’s a failure and he’s about to turn 33 is a little too on the nose.
And was this a year to show Bush he’s right to stay away from show tunes or what? Among winners, we had a play about a transvestite, a musical about the underclasses, another about presidential assassins, a play about a black family, a macho movie actor camping it up to beat the band as a “bi-coastal” singer/songwriter, a celebration of women (or so a star said from the stage) via a prequel to a classic, and a chamber opera about civil rights.
Best eye-candy: Phoebe Cates, still the very definition of nubile, sitting next to nominated husband Kevin Kline.
Most unexpected presenter pairing that actually worked brilliantly: LL Cool J and Carol Channing, briefly dueting on a rap version of “Hello, Dolly.” I know, I know, it sounds ghastly, but…
Shows I’d like to see/hear more of: Assassins, Wicked (I may be writing a review of the CD) and Caroline, or Change.
