NEW YORK – The Oscars, Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe Awards held their ceremonies during the pandemic. Now is the time for the Tony Awards, which celebrate an art form that really needs a boost: live theater.
Sunday’s awards show was expanded from its typical three hours to four, with Audra McDonald handing out Tonys for the first two hours and Leslie Odom Jr. hosting a celebration of “Broadway’s Back! “during the second half, including the delivery of the first three trophies: best revival of the work, best work and best musical.
“What this does is it provides the opportunity for many of these shows, with just the joy of what Broadway has to offer, to be put on in a way that helps remind the general public that we are here and that we are back and there is a way. to do it safely, ”McDonald said.
While other entertainment industries such as television and film found ways to reboot during the pandemic, Broadway was unable until now due to physical and financial impediments. The lifting of all capacity restrictions was crucial to any reopening, as Broadway’s economy demands the full capacity of the venue.
The sober musical “Jagged Little Pill“, which deals with Alanis Morissette’s hit 1995 album, goes into the night with 15 Tony nominations.
Hot on his heels is “Red Mill!“, a jukebox adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 hyperactive film about what happens in a turn-of-the-century Parisian nightclub that has 14 nominations.
“Slave Play,” Jeremy O. Harris’s groundbreaking and invigorating work that mixes race, sex, taboo desires and class, garnered a dozen nominations, making it the most nominated work in Tony history.
Other shows to watch out for are Matthew Lopez’s “The Inheritance,” which garnered 11 nominations. It’s a two-part, seven-hour epic that uses “Howards End“as a starting point for a play that examines gay life in the early 21st century. Y”Tina – The Tina Turner Musical“, which tells the life of the rock icon with songs that include”Let’s Stay Together” and “Proud Mary“, it obtained 12 nominations.
This season’s nominations were drawn from just 18 plays and musicals that met the criteria for the 2019-2020 season, a fraction of the 34 shows from the previous season. During most years, there are 26 competitive categories. This year there are 25 with several sold out. But theater connoisseurs think an awards show is even more vital now.
“I’d say it’s more important than ever, in a way,” said James Corden, who hosted the Tonys in 2016. “If there’s one year we should celebrate them, it’s this year, where the life of people just broke down. “
Some interesting careers include whether Celia Rose Gooding, daughter of Tony Award winner LaChanze, will win a Tony for her work on “Jagged Little Pill” and whether fan favorite Danny Burstein will finally win a Tony for “Moulin Rouge! The Musical. “Many will see if Karen Olivo wins best lead actress in a musical, despite leaving her show,“ Moulin Rouge! The Musical, ”frustrated with Broadway.
McDonald, a six-time Tony Award winner, is not just a host. She is set for the best actress award in a play that, if she won, would award her seven awards, breaking her own record for the most Tonys awards won by an artist. And something strange has to happen for Aaron Tveit not to win for best lead actor in a musical; is the only person nominated in the category. Voting for the nominees took place in March.
The last Tony Awards ceremony took place in 2019. The virus forced Broadway theaters to close abruptly on March 12, 2020, causing all shows and the spring season to be discontinued. Several have rebooted, including the so-called big three of “Wicked”, “Hamilton” and “The Lion King”.
“Jagged Little Pill“Enters the broadcast on the defensive, haunted by two controversies.
A former cast member, Nora Schell, a non-binary black actress who made her Broadway debut in the chorus in 2019, posted a statement this week on social media describing repeated instances early in the show where they were “bullied, coerced.” .
Producers of “Jagged Little Pill“Saying they are” deeply concerned “by the claims, they hired an independent investigator and the Actors Equity Association said Sunday it was also commissioning” a thorough and independent investigation “of the program’s workplace.
In another controversy, the show’s producers apologized to fans for changing a character from gender nonconforming to a cisgender woman after the show moved from Boston to Broadway.
Entertainment writer Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits.
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