SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS: DAY 1 - The Neil & Dave Countdown

As a super-special Spring extension of BroadwayWorld's SOUND OFF column, every day from now until the Tony Awards on June 12 we will be presenting a spectacular new entry in the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS series featuring a particularly entertaining, interesting, relevant and exciting Tony Awards-related clip from the last sixty-three years of the ceremonies (and subsequent seasons on Broadway) with a rundown and commentary on the sights, sounds and showmanship on display in each carefully chosen selection - all, of course, coming in anticipation of Broadway's biggest night, which will be broadcast on CBS this year, as always. Once again this year, BroadwayWorld is the official home of the 2011 Tony Awards and we will also be featuring exclusive interviews, articles, photos, video content, interactive features and more in the coming days and weeks leading up to the event so be sure to check back daily for your theatre fix!

So, what better way to start a countdown than with... a countdown!

Devilish Dave & Nutty Neil

Today, we kick off the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS with a hilarious preview ad for the Top Ten Countdown on David Letterman's LATE SHOW on CBS featuring a suave Neil Patrick Harris presenting the top entries in the category of "Top Ten Signs You've Hired A Bad Tony Awards Host". Harris is appearing as professional as ever even despite the risqué and ribaldry of the material he is presenting - all the while with tongue planted firmly in cheek, clearly. Though we only get a sampling of the complete countdown in this clip: Number 7 may be a well-earned dig at SPEED-THE-PLOW's Jeremy Piven, but Number 3's allusion to the great Angela Lansbury is most assuredly all in good humor and good fun. And how fun - and funny - it is! From one great Tony Award host to another.

Neil will certainly have them rolling in the aisles again come Tony night - and, hopefully, on their feet, once again, as well - and perhaps he will be making another LATE SHOW appearance to promote this year's ceremony as well as his starring role as Bobby in the nationally released movie theater broadcast of Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY starting on June 15, three days after his hosting gig on the Tony Awards. Only time - and Twitter - will tell what we can expect! At the very least we may all anticipate the grand return of one of the best Tony Awards hosts since Angela Lansbury's fantastic heyday in the 1980s.

I recently had the distinct privilege of conducting an extensive InDepth InterView with Neil about COMPANY last month and this is some of what he had to say about hosting the theatre's number one night and what the Tony Awards mean to him as a working actor and Broadway star - as well as his thoughts on what we may be able to expect from this year‘s show in a new home. Of course, this was said right before he had sealed the deal to host again, so his general enthusiasm is even more appreciable given those circumstances:

PC: Tell me about hosting the Tony Awards - you were awesome.

NPH: Oh, I loved doing it! You know, one of the things I am in the great and unique position to do is to encourage people that might not know otherwise to see things live. And, the Tonys is the big opportunity to do that - to have middle America know that people are working so hard, eight times a week, on amazing productions. So, anytime I am given the opportunity to encourage people to go see live things, I will. I hope to Ed Sullivan myself more in the future.

PC: Do you have high hopes for the show this year given the busy season we've had on Broadway?

NPH: The Tonys is gonna be a blast! This year is going to be a different Tony Awards, because it's not at Radio City and there are some really interesting things and interesting actors this year, so I will be very excited to watch.

Also, as a bonus, check out the entire Top Ten list from THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN that night. Number 1 is a kicker, indeed!

That's all for today. Be sure to stay tuned to BroadwayWorld for all things Tony Awards and subscribe to this column to be the very first to check out the clips, commentary and take part in the conversation in our deluxe toast to the Tonys every day until June 12!