BWW Blogs: 'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for June 16th, 2010
By: Paul W. Thompson Jun. 16, 2010
THE LATEST IN UNAUTHORIZED GOSSIP AND BUZZ
FROM THE HEART OF CHICAGO'S SHOWTUNE VIDEO BARS,
AND MUSICAL THEATER NEWS FROM CHICAGO TO BROADWAY
by Paul W. Thompson
Overheard last weekend under the showtune
video screens at Sidetrack and the Call:
I know what you're all talking about--the Tony Awards! Of course. And why not? "Broadway's biggest night" really is worth celebrating, worth noting, and worthy noshing over (sorry, it's the New Yorker in me......), and you have been, Chicago! And so, this very special edition of "The Showtune Mosh Pit" is given over to a view of the Tonys from very far west of the Hudson, as I endeavor to collect the thoughts and reactions of those here and around the country who look for inspiration, validation, and a little bit of their future in the annual awards show. It's a two-pronged process, too--the awards as well as the television show which presented them are equally dissected by you, loyal Mosh Pit residents. And so, to the feedback you have given me these two days........and such feedback!
First, to the awards themselves. We don't seem to have been surprised at many of the outcomes. Those who have been to New York this season, have bought the most recent cast album releases/downloads or who regularly read up on New York musical theater seem to agree that the Broadway musical season was a somewhat weak one. Understandable, given the economy during the ramp-up period last year and the fact that many in New York probably thought that "Spiderman--Turn Off The Dark" and "The Addams Family" would be huge unstoppable awards and box office juggernauts. Well, the one didn't open, and the other limped into town from our very own Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, after a spotty out of town tryout and a half-successful retooling in New York. It built up a huge advance, but not much else. So, there was a bit of a void on the showtune landscape.
The Addams Family Official Site
"American Idiot" attempted to capitalize on this by swooping eastward from the Berkeley Repertory Theatre with a score by the superstar band Green Day, but with only three Tony nominations, it would have been a remarkable feat if it had pulled off the biggest prize of the night. Another west coast product, albeit one fine-tuned here at the Apollo Theater on Lincoln Avenue, came into New York with its Chicago leads intact, and left a Chicago company still performing (and selling tickets until September as of this writing). I'm talking of course about "Million Dollar Quartet." It was the long-shot for the big prize, given its light-weight artistic aspirations. And "Fela!"? The off-Broadway transfer about the Nigerian creator of Afrobeat music, Fela Kuti, is a heady night of theater, but would have been a leap into the non-traditional that Tony still seems unready to attempt head-on.
FELA! The Most Original New Musical On Broadway
It goes without saying that off-Broadway shows are not eligible for the Tony (it being an industry award, a business community award, at heart). "The Scottsboro Boys," "Yank!", "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" and any other off-Broadway musical you can name, are off the table (though these three may all make the Main Stem move for next year). Sorry about that, fella.
And so, "Memphis," an ok show with unsettling similarities to both "MDQ" and a show which in some ways defined the musical theater of the last decade, "Hairspray," won four awards, for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Orchestrations. Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan learned to compose just enough in Broadway style and conventions to appease those who fear that the pure jukebox musical is the death of the real American Musical, and Joe DiPietro's book (based on history, rather than on a movie, play or a star biography) attempts respectability. And there you have it. (DiPietro, by the way, will be in Chicago this very weekend, in preparation for the Bailiwick Chicago production of his new non-musical play, "f-ing Men"--based on Schnitzler's "La Ronde." Pretty cool, huh?) As for "Memphis"? I enjoyed it.
The big award's three other nominees all left Radio City Music Hall with something, which is very rare in my memory. "Fela!" can look with pride on its Choreography prize to Bill T. Jones (a repeat winner from "Spring Awakening"), as well as the awards for Costume Design and Sound Design. (Sure, why not.) "American Idiot," shepherded to life by "Spring Awakening" director Michael Mayer, won the two other prizes for which it was nominated, Scenic Design and Lighting Design (it does look great, does it not?). And "Million Dollar Quartet" came away with the Featured Actor award for Levi Kreis, the openly gay Christian rock singer-songwriter who gave this same blistering performance in Chicago for a year and a half, and who seems poised to star next in "The Harry Connick, Jr. Story."
Million Dollar Quartet - Official Site
We in Chicago don't know what to make of the fact that he was nominated for, and lost, this same award here last fall at the Jeff Awards. Who defeated him, you want to know? That would be Max Quinlan, for his Fabrizio in "The Light In The Piazza" at the Marriott Theatre. Max will be starring as Jesus in "Jesus Christ Superstar" beginning next month at the Theatre At The Center in Munster, Indiana--if you want to judge Quinlan's talent for yourself. Jerry Lee Lewis or Jesus? I'm not sure which is the more demanding role!
Theater at the Center - On Stage - 2010 Season
At any rate, the Tonys did spread the wealth a lot this year, which was widely expected. Seven productions were honored. The three revivals which took home awards were "La Cage Aux Folles," for Best Revival, Best Director and Best Actor (Douglas Hodge, the reason this production transferred from London's West End), "Promises, Promises," for the Featured Actress performance of Katie Finneran (defeating two octogenarian legends, Barbara Cook and Angela Lansbury, both of whom spoke briefly during the telecast) and, well, "A Little Night Music," which can point to its Best Actress honoree, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
And that completes my transition to discussion to the telecast itself, and the live performances contained therein.
What the heck is going on here? I can't remember a performance/award/acceptance speech combination in my thirty-five years of Tony Award watching that garnered such huge and immediate confusion, communication and dislike as did CZJ's performance of "Send In The Clowns," her winning the Best Actress Tony Award (frequently predicted), and her speech accepting it as a thrilled Broadway newcomer and wife of a movie star, Michael Douglas.
A Little Night Music On Broadway
I can tell you that her rendition of the song in the performance of the show I witnessed in January was very similar to what she did on the telecast, a little Sunday night hoarseness notwithstanding. She is an Oscar-winning actress, for a role in a musical film, no less (the one named after our town, remember?). And she was gracious and lovely in her speech. But I am as mystified as you are, Mosh Pit! Her entire presence on the awards show just struck most observers as odd, to say the least. Those who remember the downtown Chicago performances of the song by Paula Scrofano at the old Goodman Theatre and Barbara Robertson at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (not to mention those in love with an online video by Dame Judi Dench) swear that Zeta-Jones' performance and/or award are a sign that that theater as we know it, and the awards which honor it, are on its last legs. That a great injustice has been done, to Stephen Sondheim, to Broadway, to the other nominees, to Glynis Johns (who originate the role of Desiree, but of course you knew that), and to CZJ's own future career. Who can say? I've got to watch it again--was it really that bad? But a Tony legend has been born, to be sure!
Promises, Promises on Broadway
Regarding the rest of the telecast, we seem to feel that "Promises, Promises" star and Glen Ellyn native Sean Hayes acquitted himself very well as Tony host, and that the swipe at that Newsweek article he and Kristin Chenoweth engineered near the top of the show was a highlight. We loved the computer projections that assisted with the play nominations and that appeared behind Christiane Noll as she sang from "Ragtime," (though some feel that Cory Goodrich's performance of the same song in the recent Drury Lane Theater production in Oakbrook Terrace was better). We bemoaned the second year in a row of sound screw-ups. We wondered why rock bands are being given such prominence on a theater awards show, even if we understand the desire for higher ratings among fence-sitting viewers. Those who watched the pre-show webcast were amazed by Marian Seldes's non-speech while accepting her lifetime achivevement award. And we are torn about whether Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele (both with Broadway credits as long as your forearm) belonged there, representing everyone's love-it-or-hate-it TV show, "Glee." ("Funny Girl" casting speculation, anyone?)
FOX Broadcasting Company: Glee
But we mostly do want to see the nominated new shows and revivals, want to hear the cast albums and want to see video clips at our favorite showtune bars (hint, hint, guys!). We want the tours to come here, and for longer than a couple of weeks! (We've had "Million Dollar Quartet" for going on two years now, and we're expecting "Memphis" and "Fela!" here in 2011, but for how long?) We wonder how future Chicago-to-New York shows will fare ("A Minister's Wife" will be the next one). And we hope and pray that the Tony Awards (the prizes and the broadcast) will live up to our dreams, our memories, our aspirations. We even note any tenuous connections between the Tony Awards and Lollapalooza.
Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT on Broadway
And there you have it--our first ever Tony Awards Round-up from "The Showtune Mosh Pit." Thanks for allowing me this (slight) departure from the norm. I'll be back next week with what we are all doing locally. But a look at how we look at Broadway, and whether we think it is a mirror, a roadmap or a cautionary tale, seemed the logical topic for now. So, I'll bid you adieu, look for your continued feedback, and hope you either break a leg on your next project, get the best seat in the house, or both. And this coming weekend, I'll see you under the video screens.....--PWT
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