Tonight's festivities will be hosted by Tony winners Kristin Chenoweth ("You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown") and Alan Cumming ("Cabaret") and if Cheno doesn't win herself later on for "On the Twentieth Century" it's going to continue to be forever weird to refer to her as a 'Featured Actress' Tony winner from before she was even KRISTIN CHENOWETH and still not a Best Actress winner. Cheno only having one Tony? Unthinkable!
...and that's my new philosophy! ♫
Anyway... LIVE BLOG FROM THE SHOW (UPDATED WITH PHOTOS & VIDEO CLIPS) after the jump
8:00 The 69th Annual Tony Awards. Cheno & Cumming strut out sans pants. Somehow their hands do as much of the comedy in their opening medley. Pose. Pose. Pose. Pose. Pose.
8:05 The first production number is "It's a Musical" from Something Rotten. It's the best number in the show by far so now you've just saved yourself a ticket!
8:12 Kristin & Alan make a joke about both of them having slept with Bradley Cooper. He looks a bit surprised.
8:14 BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Dame Helen Mirren, "The Audience"
Our first Triple Crowner in quite some time. The crazy part is that she's won ALL three trophies (Emmy, Tony, Oscar) for playing The Queen of England. All she needs now is an audio book as The Queen to win the Grammy and get her EGOT.
Also Dame Mirren is sporting some nips through her white dress. Saucy minx.
8:15 Cheno & Cumming do a funny prance off the stage and as they continue to circle around each other, I fear they are fusing into the same person, like a anime character merging into one large MECHA-ENTERTAINER.
<<<<---- 8:21 Anna Chlumsky & Debra Messing look alarmingly like sisters with the same fashion sense as they present featured actor.
8:22 BEST FEATURED ACTOR: Richard McCabe, "The Audience"
Refers to himself as a 'tosser'
8:28 Kelli O'Hara & Ken Watanabe do "Shall We Dance" and I am reminded that I am a total sucker for the classics and want to see it. Cheno & Cumming repeat it, plus comedy, as we segue to commercial, surrounded by cute Asian children but Cheno will not be outcuted.
8:35 Cheno & Cumming gender swap for another King & I joke - Cheno knocks the joke out of the park with her Oklahoma twang on 'it's a puzzlement'. Cumming makes a joke about a threeway with Rose Byrne & Bobby Cannavale as they enter to present. They seem much more amused than Bradley Cooper did by the horny winking.
8:38 BEST FEATURED ACTOR: Christian Borle, "Something Rotten"
He calls the award an embarrassment of riches. Which it is. He was the least impressive of the nominees and he already had a Tony (sigh).
8:41 BEST FEATURED ACTRESS, PLAY: Annaleigh Ashford, "You Can't Take It With You"
God she was funny in that show. Very excited to win, too. Proves she can make her face as comic cartoonish as Chenoweth's as she exits the stage.
8:45 "On the Town" performance. I loved this revival so much. Tony Yazbeck. Just look at him! (Not that you weren't.)
HE PRETTY.
At this point in the show it is clear that Cheno & Cumming have not prepared anything other than circling around each other and singing each exit. Which would sink any host without their generous reserves of self-amusement (and others-amusement)
8:50 BEST DIRECTOR, MUSICAL: "Fun Home"
Such an amazing show! Presented by long legged legend Tommy Tune. Cheno comes up to his crotch which makes for quite a clingy embrace visual that Cumming tries to rescue us from... after getting in the clings himself.
9:00 The Cast of Gigi performs "The Night They Invented Champagne". There's a manic quality to this that tastes more like flop sweat than fizzy spirits.
9:08 This number from Fun Home "Ring of Keys" is the moment when I knew it was a new musical classic. Here I am crying in my apartment again. The emotional potency of the recognition is just so beautiful and specific - I don't think I've ever heard this particular truth in song before. I want the little girl to win the Tony.
9:13 BEST DIRECTOR, PLAY: "The Curious Incident..."
Female winner -- she also won for War Horse. And off-broadcast we had the first all female song-writing team winning Best Score for "Fun Home". Good night for women!
9:20 A medley from "An American in Paris" - really beautiful production. Cut to: Commercial Break. The Boyfriend is on Orbitz looking at tickets to the actual Paris. That is not the impulse the Broadway producers were going for!
9:29 Sutton Foster and Corey Stoll make a surprisingly great looking couple as presenters.
9:30 FEATURED ACTRESS, MUSICAL: Ruthie Ann Miles, "The King and I"
Wow. The Fun Home girls cancelled each other out. Miles is shaky and very grateful. She's playing Lady Thiang which you musical buffs will know as the "Western People Funny" part. She has a cute bit about announcing a joke but she unfortunately reads a list of names.
9:37 Performance from "On the Twentieth Century" Good god Kristin Chenoweth is a dynamo. dah dah dah-da-dah dah dah-da-dah-da. There's a reason some people become huge stars that people pay top dollar to see. Sutton Foster also has this thing where they just explode with charisma in every performance; you can't look away.
9:43 BEST PLAY: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time"
Bryan Cranston presents. I loved "Hand to God"
BEST PLAY REVIVAL: "Skylight"
10:10 Offscreen Catherine Zuber won costumes for "The King and I". I feel like she wins every year so I just looked it up: sixth Tony. "The Visit" also performed a number. It's not for everyone but I really enjoyed it. That score is great (Kander & Ebb... duh) and Chita is divine. But after her performance I became bored with the Tonys because they did something so gross: subjecting us to FINDING NEVERLAND for the second year in a row despite it receiving zero nominations. Not cool, Tonys, not cool. Also: hate Kelsey Grammar.
Taking bets on whether Finding Neverland gets to perform at the 2016 Tonys too. (Three strikes and you're out Tony. Tread carefully.)
10:12 Joseph Mangianello talks about an inspiring teacher. I missed the context because I was goofing around on Twitter.
10:15 BEST REVIVAL, MUSICAL: "The King and I"
Of course.
10:29 BEST ACTOR, PLAY: Alex Sharp, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time"
Young Tony Winner (This time last year he graduated from Juilliard!). Youngest ever maybe? Trivia nuts. Let us know. Bradley Cooper has a blessed career but he hasn't had much luck winning stuff, has he?
10:31 Phyllicia Rashad introduces Josh Groban doing the In Memoriam. So sad. All those people dying.
10:42 BEST ACTOR, MUSICAL: Michael Cerveris, "Fun Home"
We must forgive him his mangling of his fellow nominee names -- excitement of moment you know. If you've never seen Sweeney Todd performed and wondered what the fuss was about when you saw the movie that didn't understand the score, just listen to his cast recording. This man is a born musical theater giant. So much emotion and nuance in his singing. Anyway... I love him. Though I feel a little bad for Tony Yazbeck who clearly wanted to win, was excellent in "On the Town" and arguably had to work the hardest of any of the nominees in carrying his show. (I believe he's going to tour with it so make sure to see it if it comes to your town.) "Fun Home" is sort of about the father character, but in a way it's much more about the daughter and how she struggles to understand herself through his life.
10:46 Neil Patrick Harris making it about himself. (Sigh)
10:48 BEST ACTRESS, MUSICAL: Kelli O'Hara, "The King and I"
I don't need this but now that I have it I have things to say"
Great speech. It's funny that she's been the Deborah Kerr of the Tonys but she breaks Kerr's curse in a Kerr role and actually wins some hardware. She does an adorable happy-dance at the end of her speech. Someone gif it, immediately!
Update: Thank you internet. Now we also need the part where she dances her way right off the stage (if only to see how insanely high her heels are. She's actually 2'11"
10:56 BEST MUSICAL, "Fun Home"
The best new musical on Broadway, since... what, The Light in the Piazza? Oh god this show. Makes you weep. It is so good. Yayyyyy.
AWARDS PRESENTED OFF AIR TONIGHT
Best Lighting Design of a Play: Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Best Scenic Design of a Play: Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Best Costume Design of a Play: Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One and Two
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Bob Crowley, An American In Paris
Best Orchestrations: Chris Austin, Don Sebesky & Bill Elliott, An American In Paris
Best Choreoraphy: Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best Score: Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, Fun Home
Best Book: Lisa Kron, Fun Home
Isabelle Stevenson Award: Stephen Schwartz
Lifetime Achievement Award: Tommy Tune
People say 'Everything's been done. Nothing is new' -- I say turn off the internet, combine all the things that you love in the world, take some time and you might come up with something special that's lasting.
Sound advice but what if the things that you love in the world involve the internet? Hmmmm. Can you believe John Cameron Mitchell is 52 year old. He still looks so young.
Special Tony Award: John Cameron Mitchell
Regional Theater Award: Cleveland Play House - Cleveland, Ohio
Tony Awards for Excellence in Theater: Arnold Abramson, Adrian Bryan-Brown and Gene O'Donovan
If Oscar ever starts giving things like Costume Design and Cinematography out OFF BROADCAST remind me to pack up my belongings and leave Oscar obsessing for good. It will all be over.
HAPPY THEATERGOING!