THE 66th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS0

Livin’ It Up with SB Blog for Celebrity Loop.

SUNDAY NIGHT WAS THE BROADWAY THEATRES BIGGEST BLOWOUT.  It is when they celebrate all things theatrical and sometimes commercial as well.  How many presenters are TV stars? The heavens are full of their glory; little shining firmaments that are there to lure you into watching a somewhat foreign world of plays and musicals.

Usually the outcomes are so predictable that you could just zip through it the next day, get the highlights and be done with the whole hifallutin affair. But these Tony Awards were full of surprises and upsets and quite often the “little guys” got in some pretty devastating punches.

Case in point: all the power of Disney and the “Magic Kingdom” in its commercially motivated musical “Newsies” couldn’t beat out the little, charming and yes, even compelling, musical “Once.”  Adapted from the film of the same name it is about two young musicians who fall in love and have an unlikely romance based on their love of and for music.  It is so emotionally raw and tender that people leave the theatre in tears. And what’s wrong with that?

Steve Kazee one of the young lovers from the show, won Best Actor for Leading role in a Musical. A big upset.

It was an evening of full of surprises like that.  Interestingly, many of the older war horses like Philip Seymour Hoffman giving a memorable performance in Arthur Miller’s “Death of A Salesman” lost to a young newcomer from England, James Cordon from “One Man, Two Guvnors.”

Another major upset was in the Best Actor in a featured role in a play. Most of the odds were on Andrew Garfield who gives a searing performance in “Death of a Salesman.”  Instead the Tony went to Christian Borle from “Peter and the Stargazer” a play about J.M. Barrie and the creation of “Peter Pan.” That was a real shocker. Borle you may recognize from the NBC series ”Smash.” That kind of exposure could have been a factor in his win.

Nina Arlanda won for Best Actress, leading role in a play.  Young and wildly talented, she beat out some of Broadways most famous leading ladies.

Perhaps the biggest upset was the Tony given to the revival of Porgy and Bess over the highly favored “Follies” by Stephen Sondheim.  Sondheim, the Grand Wizard of the musical theatre had written a letter castigating this production of Porgy and its modernization and lack of respect for the Gershwin’s who wrote it. The audience went wild. Sondheim’s reaction (had there been one) would have been the high point of the evening.

Finally a minute about Neil Patrick Harris who was charming and very quick on his feet as the M.C.  Harris is “Hugh Jackman lite” but he had no trouble moving the show right along. He sings and dances reasonably well and is able to do the most amazing patter songs.  He has definite stage presence and is a big TV star as well.  A perfect  combination for the Tonys.  This was one of the best Tony Awards in recent memory.