It's Almost Tony Time!
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 5:44PM Hey, everybody! It's Dancin' Dan, here to fulfill the award show-shaped void in your life with coverage of the 2013 Tony Awards! I will be back here tomorrow at 8 PM sharp (Eastern time) to watch the festivities with you and cheer on my favorites: Pippin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and...
GAH! Even after seeing both Kinky Boots and Matilda quite recently, I still don't know which I'm rooting for! This is a very rare event for me in terms of award shows in general, and Best Musical at the Tonys specifically. Last year, for example, I was adamant that Once needed to win over its chief rival, Newsies (interesting that the frontrunners for Best Musical both this year and last year have movie predecessors - although technically Matilda is based on Roald Dahl's novel, not Danny DeVito's film version). But this year, both Kinky Boots and Matilda are such good musicals, that I don't think I can choose. Matilda sometimes trips over its ambitions a bit, but is still amazingly effective and ridiculously entertaining. Kinky Boots, meanwhile, is far better than it had any right to be all the way down the line. Even after hearing the good reviews (you can read Nathaniel's right here), I was still surprised by just how good it was, which only speaks well of it.
If I absolutely had to cast a ballot, I would probably give Best Musical and Best Book to Matilda, and give Cyndi Lauper Best Score for Kinky Boots. But even as I wrote that, I did so with a heavy heart, because Tim Minchin's lyrics for Matilda are so delicious, and Harvey Fierstein's book for Kinky Boots is impeccable, bettering just about everything from the film. All I know is, whatever they do announce as the big winner, I will be pretty happy (just so long as it isn't Bring It On), which means it was a pretty good year for Broadway musicals!
Things are much easier on the Play side of things. Tracy Letts gave one of the greatest performances I've ever seen on stage in the revelatory revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which should win Best Revival hands down, and good as Richard Greenberg's The Assembled Parties is, Christopher Durang just about topped himself with V&S&M&S, a comic tour de force of rare depth.
What are you rooting for at the Tonys this year? Tell us in the comments! And be sure to join me here tomorrow evening for Broadway's Big Event. Neil Patrick Harris will be hosting again, so you at least know the show will be lots of fun!
Reader Comments (3)
So great! I have no opinion on the shows, since I haven't seen any of them but I'm always interested in the Tony's. I'll probably be here reading unless it's sleep time for me.
Play - Vanya & Sonia... Tony is rarely bestowed on a comedy but Durang's play is superb on every level. Cicely Tyson's performance in Trip to Bountiful would be a no-brainer for best actress any other year but Kristine Nielson as Sonia should walk away with this - she gives one of the most memorable performances in years.
Play Revival - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I thought the revival a few years ago with Kathleen Turner was very good but this production brought everything to a new level. Although I thought Tom Hanks was wonderful in Lucky Guy, I hope that Tony voters remember Tracy Letts. Nathan Lane is also deserving but I'll stick with Letts.
Musical - Kinky Boots. I disagree with you about the book, as I thought this wasn't Fierstein's best, but the score, the entire cast, choreography, etc. are just about perfect. I thought Matilda was over-rated but perhaps if I wasn't aware of the reviews before I saw it I would have been more impressed
Musical Revival - Pippin. Wow! Just WOW!
My Comcast is out, so I cannot watch, which is blasphemous. Anyone know if CBS can be viewed live?