On Broadway

I went to a Tonys party last night. It was far more interesting and fun sharing it with others. Of course, my neighborhood to and from was a sea of black tie apparel (I live blocks from Rockefeller Center, where the awards are held).

There weren't really any surprises, from my perspective. I'd love to have seen "Cry Baby" take best choreography, but I haven't seen "In the Heights" yet for comparison. "Cry Baby" isn't without its flaws, but the choreography was truly magnificent.

The best thing of all, however, was seeing "August: Osage County" win. It's by far one of the best new plays I've seen in a very long time. And for me to say that about a 3 1/2 hour show with no music it's REALLY saying something.

Now for the bad part of the awards-- the writing sucked beyond suckage. It made everyone look terrible, most especially the host, Whoopi Goldberg. She looked absolutely embarrassed having to say some of that corny drivel.

Also, what was with the scenes chosen??! This year there were performances by shows not nominated for best musical, in addition to those that had been. It was like a giant statement of "See? THIS is why it wasn't nominated!". They chose some of the most awful representations. The scene from Young Frankenstein, for example, was perhaps the worst scene in the show. Of course, some of the nominees didn't represent themselves very well, either. The song from Passing Strange definitely wasn't their strongest. I've seen it twice and loved the show, but I wouldn't have bought tickets based on that particular performance.

I do really want to see In the Heights, but that's about all I walked away with last night. Except for a very fun night with snarky friends, of course.