2020 Tony Awards

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Okri
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Okri »

I'm always interested when American plays do better, critically speaking, in London/UK then they do on this side of the pond. It doesn't happen that frequently, but The Inheritance is an example. Another would be One Night in Miami, which was nominated for the Olivier Award but didn't even make it to New York (and with the movie, I doubt it ever will now).
flipp525
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by flipp525 »

I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere (mainly because it’s the kind of niche factoid only those around UAADB would even come up and appreciate), but Mary Louise Parker and Lois Smith - who won lead and featured actress in a play last night - were both in Fried Green Tomatoes. That was one of my favorite movies growing up so I immediately made this connection.

Smith’s win seemed like a foregone conclusion and it was very well-deserved. Her moment in the play is very memorable and her speech last night was one of my favorites. It’s funny though how everyone kind of misinterprets that E.M. Forster “Only connect!” quote - it’s really about a person finally connecting the two parts of themselves and not necessarily a plea to seek connections with others. People so rarely know the real context of the quote and it doesn’t hurt to spread the latter message as it’s always a good one.

I was shocked to learn that Andrew Burnap had won lead for The Inheritance, especially with the star wattage surrounding him in that category. I was very pleased about that win in addition to the Best Play win for Lopez’s work. As Tee said, it has its faults but it’s an extremely ambitious play and was very affecting on the stage (particularly the coup de théâtre at the end of Part One).
Last edited by flipp525 on Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Mister Tee
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

So, I taped the CBS portion, and gave it a once-over today. It was the perfect two hours for people who watch the Tonys for James Corden's opening number and hate all those damn awards interrupting the promotion of big musicals (including shows deep into their runs, or long gone).

Small observations:

Ben Platt's been taking so much heat for looking too old for the Evan Hansen movie, it's funny he looked too young for Sunday in the Park.

I had the Godspell album many decades ago, and never heard the song Josh Groban sang. Apparently it was written for a 35-year-later revival.

The Moulin Rouge number reminded me of how I didn't so much like the movie, and alerted me that, barring free tickets, I have no interest in seeing this version.

Tina Turner songs still rock. Who'll be the next rock diva to yield a Tony, after her and Cher?

The In Memoriam covered a lot of people (unavoidable, given it was 28 months' worth of deaths), and included many whose primary celebrity came from films or TV but who had a Broadway appearance or two to merit inclusion. I wasn't crazy about the highlighted singing performances -- it sometimes made the moment about Brian Stokes Mitchell holding a note rather than the people being saluted. And, as with the Oscars, too often I couldn't quite make out the names of the deceased because the camera was highlighting the singer.

General comment: Had the first two hours been on PBS, available to all, I'd still probably have watched Yankees/Red Sox (what a game!), but I wouldn't have got my back up over it. I just think this move to streaming is a disastrous thing, and a scary sign of an even more income-inequality-centered era ahead.
Mister Tee
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

First time I haven't watched the Tonys since 1966. I already resented the Paramount-plus gambit, wasn't going through the machinations of subscribe/cancel when I wouldn't be watching much anyway (the Yankee/Red Sox game held immeasurably more importance for me), and didn't care about the half-season of shows competing.

However...while I watched the game, I followed the NY Times live feed to keep up with the winners, and looked at a little of the CBS broadcast after the game was done. Thoughts:

Moulin Rouge's huge haul was enabled by the paltry competition, but it would certainly have swept design categories regardless, Danny Burstein was a clear sentimental-for-all-sorts-of-reasons choice (I imagine his vote was close to unanimous), and the show might well have won even with more musicals on the boards.

Kind of shocking that A Christmas Carol pretty much matched its design sweep.

I wasn't surprised The Inheritance won, despite its having been middlingly reviewed. Slave Play, the critics' favorite, is probably too sexually explicit for a lot of Tony voters (I say this having read it, though not seen it), and also would probably strike some as Angry.

For all the talk of diversity during the show (at least, according to the Times tweets), the show ended up almost as white as the Emmys, with the exception of Adrienne Warren (Tina Turner) and the two prizes to A Soldier's Play.

I saw David Alan Grier play CJ in the off-Broadway production of Soldier's Play, 40 years ago. Weird to see him win for playing the Sarge.

Bravo to Lois Smith, whose career has deserved many more awards than she's ever won.

I did catch Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita giving out best musical. Two thoughts: 1) extraordinary that the two most famous Anitas end up giving out the top award at the Oscars and Tonys in the same year; 2) the two presenters cited their previous connection to the Winter Garden -- Webber having Cats play there for 18 years (!), Rivera playing West Side Story. It says a lot about the dichotomy of the business (and about the telecast decisions this year) that Webber's achievement got tepid reaction but is way more popular with theatre owners, while Chita's was far less lucrative, but brought the crowd to its feet.

ON EDIT: Congratulations to Aaron Tveit for avoiding the abject humiliation had voters decided they'd rather give it to nobody than to him.
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

The CBS portion presented just 3 awards - Best Musical, Best Play, and Best Revival of a Play. The rest of the two hours was filled with musical performances and an appropriately lengthy memoriam segment. Awkward, but not bad although they could have at least showed highlights of the first two hours which included an historic win by 90-year-old Lois Smith.
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

And the winners are...

Musical - Moulin Rouge!
Play - The Inheritance
Revival of a Play - A Soldier's Play
Actor in Play - Andrew Burnap - The Inheritance
Actress in a Play - Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside
Actor in a Musical - Aaron Tveit - Moulin Rouge!
Actress in a Musical - Adrienne Warren - Tina
Featured Actor in a Play - David Alan Grier, A Soldier's Play
Featured Actress in a Play - Lois Smith, The Inheritance
Featured Actor in a Musical - Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge!
Featured Actress in a Musical - Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Direction of a Play - Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Direction of a Musical - Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge!
Book of a Musical - Jagged Little Pill
Choreography - Moulin Rouge!
Orchestrations - Moulin Rouge!
Original Score - A Christmas Carol
Scenic Design of a Play - A Christmas Carol
Scenic Design of a Musical - Moulin Rouge!
Costume Design of a Play - A Christmas Carol
Costume Design of a Musical - Moulin Rouge!
Sound Design of a Play - A Christmas Carol
Sound Design of a Musical - Moulin Rouge!
Lighting Design of a Play - A Christmas Carol
Lighting Design of a Musical - Moulin Rouge!
Big Magilla
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

So, they're tonight, one week after the Emmys, which is weird.

I don't know much about the drama nominations except to note that the great Lois Smith, now 90 years old, may finally win herself a major show business award. She's nominated for Best Featured Actress in The Inheritance.

On the musical side, I've seen last minute predictions for a win for Jagged Little Pill which to me is an annoying piece of work as opposed to the long perceived front-runner, Moulin Rouge! which may not be a great musical, but is a great audience pleaser.

The big suspense hanging over the Best Actor award is will they give it to Aaron Tveit for Moulin Rouge! or not give out the award. That is the choice voters face as he is the only nominee this year.

Best Actress should go to Adrienne Warren as Tina Turner in the jukebox musical, Tina.

Best Featured Actor will almost certainly go to Danny Burstein at long last on his seventh nomination, not only for his performance in Moulin Rouge!, but for his courageous battle with COVID and the loss of his wife, three-time nominee Rebecca Luker.

Best Featured Actress will most likely go to one of the actresses in Jagged Little Pill.

The rest of the musical awards will be split amongst those three musicals, though how many each will win, I have no idea.
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

dws1982 wrote:
Big Magilla wrote:ParamountPlus is the old CBS streaming. Not sure what Paramount gets out of it. It's all CBS programming.
It's actually quite a bit more than just CBS programming. While some are currently tied up with other streaming licenses, it's the ultimate streaming home for Paramount controlled-properties, which includes Paramount films (at least the ones they control, so not the ones that Universal owns) as well as the Miramax library and much of the Dreamworks library, plus tons of television. Paramount's theatrical films will also be exclusive to Paramount Plus for a time after their theatrical window.
I finally found the time to research all the shenanigans with mergers, breakups and re-mergers that went on between CBS, Viacom, Paramount and other entities within the Viacom/CBS umbrella.

Basically, the latest changes relate to a restructuring that took place in 2018 and 2019 in which Paramount which produced many, if not most, of the successful CBS TV series from Perry Mason in the 1950s to the current Yellowstone on the CBS owned Showtime, re-merged with CBS Television. The rebranding of the failed CBS streaming service as ParamountPlus, at least so far, hasn't changed the programming. The advertising for the service, as of just now, is still exclusively on CBS and Showtime shows. I don't see how that is going to attract anyone looking to stream Paramount films.

Getting back to the Tonys. For many years, there was a pre-show on PBS on which many of the seemingly "less glamorous" awards were handed out with mention, and sometimes, filmed highlights, on the CBS network broadcast. In more recent years these awards have been handed out prior to any live broadcast with the highlights handled in the same manner on the nationwide broadcast. The ParamountPlus show seems like a return to the way they did things when PBS was involved. The main show is likely to be done the way it has since CBS started broadcasting it.
dws1982
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by dws1982 »

Big Magilla wrote:ParamountPlus is the old CBS streaming. Not sure what Paramount gets out of it. It's all CBS programming.
It's actually quite a bit more than just CBS programming. While some are currently tied up with other streaming licenses, it's the ultimate streaming home for Paramount controlled-properties, which includes Paramount films (at least the ones they control, so not the ones that Universal owns) as well as the Miramax library and much of the Dreamworks library, plus tons of television. Paramount's theatrical films will also be exclusive to Paramount Plus for a time after their theatrical window.
Big Magilla
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

I say don't bother. Winners will be featured the two-hour broadcast on CBS.

ParamountPlus is the old CBS streaming. Not sure what Paramount gets out of it. It's all CBS programming.

https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/
Mister Tee
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

Most of it will be shown on Paramount+. So, shell out for YET ANOTHER streaming service, for something you used to watch for free.

I know, I know -- "Sign up for the free trial, then cancel". I'm so sick of this whole thing, I may not bother.

Saw my first Tonys on local NY TV in 1964. Haven't missed one since the national telecasts started in 1967. If only they'd moved permanently to PBS in the Rosie O'Donnell years. That, at least, is still free (for now).
anonymous1980
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by anonymous1980 »

The Tonys will FINALLY be presented on September 26th.

It's gonna coincide with the reopening of Broadway.
Jefforey Smith
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Jefforey Smith »

Nope, I don't want to set up a Tony Awards contest.

I'd feel weird entering a contest I was running.
Big Magilla
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

Jefforey Smith wrote:We've got so much time on my hands, I'm beginning to think we should do a Tony Awards contest here.
You can set something up, but it might make sense to wait until we're closer to the actual presentation.
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Re: 2020 Tony Awards

Post by Jefforey Smith »

We've got so much time on my hands, I'm beginning to think we should do a Tony Awards contest here.

Danny Burstein will no doubt win Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

First, he has the overdue factor going for him. (This is his fifth nomination &, frankly, he could've won on his first for his portrayal of Aldopho in The Drowsy Chaperone, IMHO.)

Second, he as the sympathy factor playing in his favor in spades. He's a Covid-19 survivor & I'm sure the voters are well-aware his wife suffers from ALS. (Disclaimer: I don't think these illnesses should factor into decision-making yet subliminally they could play a role.)

It's also nice to see Blair Underwood & Jake Gyllenhaal among the nominees.
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