Tony Award Aftermath
by Larry O'Connor
I’m tempted to brag about how close I was with my Tony Award Predictions and make that the biggest story coming out of Sunday’s Tony Award Show, but instead I’ll stay humble.
From the perspective of the Broadway industry (the people and companies that represent the institution of Broadway and who work in the industry tend to think in terms of studios rather than production companies), the Shubert Organization was the big winner. The Shuberts are the happy landlord to Best Musical winner “Billy Elliot” and Best Play winner “God of Carnage.” The Shuberts also serve as co-producer of “God of Carnage.”
From an individual show’s perspective, certainly “Billy Elliot” was the big winner with a total of 10 awards. One major award they didn’t win was the Best Score of a Musical that seemed like a shoe-in for Elton John. Instead it went to Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey for “Next to Normal” that show also won the Best Actress award for its star, Alice Ripley.
Just as important for a show as the awards it wins, is how the show is presented in the three-hour telecast on CBS. Even if a show doesn’t reap any prizes, it will still sell tickets if it can creates a buzz. The “Buzz” factor from Sunday night goes to “Rock of Ages” with a close second for the revival of “Hair.” “Rock of Ages,” a fable set in the 1980’s on the Sunset Strip and features glam rock favorites from the era not only presented itself as an unabashed valentine to the music, fashions and hair of that era, but it was also the unexpected recipients of enormous press attention:
Sunday night’s Tony Awards gave Bret Michaels and Poison the opportunity to bring an Eighties anthem to an unlikely audience — the Broadway theater world — and celebrate hair-metal musical Rock of Ages in front of millions of people. But as Rock Daily reported yesterday, their performance of “Nothin’ But a Good Time” ended with anything but: a moving set piece smashed Michaels in the face when he tried to scoot below it before Stockard Channing began her part of the opening number. The result of the frontman’s injuries has been revealed this morning: a fractured nose and busted lip requiring three stitches.
Here’s the video:
“Cry Tough,” indeed.
My sources tell me that although “Rock of Ages” won no awards, their daily advance sales (daily wrap) are way up compared to the week before the awards. Likewise, “Billy Elliot” saw an increase of over 300% in their daily wrap for Monday compared to the Friday before the Tonys. “God of Carnage” almost tripled their wrap. On the other end of the spectrum, despite a generally favorable critical response to the musical number from “Next to Normal,” their wrap on Monday had only about a 50% bump and as of Tuesday their numbers have leveled off to their pre-Tonys level. This might be in part due to the odd acceptance speech from its star, Alice Ripley:
Here’s one more tidbit: My spies inside Radio City Music Hall tell me that the moment Liza Minelli left the stage after accepting her Tony for Best Special Theatrical Performance, the same category Will Ferrell was up for with his “You’re Welcome America: A Final Evening with George W. Bush,” Mr. Ferrell was up and out of his seat and heading out for the evening. What a good sport.
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22 Comments
"Rock of Ages"…well…rocks! If you get a chance to see it, it's alot of campy fun. Please come to NYC and go to the theatre. We need the money to get new lawn chairs for Times Square. The ones we have now just aren't working for me. I hear that Air Force One is offering last minute weekend getaways – Dinner and a play for $250K!
Maybe Mr. Ferrell was in a hurry to check the weekend receipts for "Land of the Lost".
With all due respect (and my sincere apologies) Bev; we need the money here in Tennessee just as much. Since we didn't vote for Bam Bam, stimulus money is hard to come by (and we are rejecting it too because of all the strings attached.) It's been a while since I've been in the Apple, and I have to be honest and tell you I'm not all that anxious to go back.
Judging by the lame performance of Rock of Ages at the awards, I'd rather watch some cheesy cover band play in a stinky bar somewhere. That American Idol loser lead man makes the awful songs that were selected for the musical sound even worse that the cheesey original versions. And what was with the screaming in the Billy Elliot performance? It sounded like Maria Sharapova playing tennis, except more feminine. I only watched the Tony Awards because the wife had it on but the whole thing reminded me why I don't go to theater productions.
That Brett Michaels clip is hilarious!!!
The Tony Awards have about as much cultural relevence today as an ordinary company picnic and its obligatory raffle to win a Bravio T.V. set. Mind you, it's cool if you win, but no one else gives a poop.
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When were the Tony's?
For me, the numbers from Billy Elliot, Hair, and NTN made me want to see the show. Rock of Ages and Mamma Mia… nice numbers… but they dont lure this patron into the theatre. (disclaimer… i might be influenced by the fact that I HAVE seen Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia… have tickets to see Rock of Ages in two weeks…. and once performed as Claude in Hair during college. The theatre world is still aghast at the sight of me naked during a cold Buffalo winter.
Must be quite a life having to hide in fear of Broadway.
" Mr. Ferrell was up and out of his seat and heading out for the evening."
You said that during the Live Blog, and I thought you were kidding. Did somebody twitter you?
Do'h! just remembered
I forgot they were delayed three hours!
"Hair" + Buffalo winter = Shrinkage
Actually, I WAS just speculating and being snarky. When my friend told me the next day I coiuldn't believe it! I didn't think he would ACTUALLY do that. I've heard from many that this is kind of standard fare at the Emmys and Oscars, but in New York everyone usually stays to the end whether they win or not. Probably because they don't have to worry about freeway traffic.
Ask Scott Eckern: http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/...
Isn't the Brett Michaels clip the best!? I also love that it gets followed up by "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered".
Obama Christ! That acceptance speech was PAINFUL!
Is this overblown sense of self-importance very prevalent in the performing arts? It's funny how historically, the most popular and time-tested stories earn the audience's empathy by casting a humble protagonist as the unlikely hero….yet the people on the stage (or set) who portray these characters are SO arrogant, attention starved and self-aggrandizing.
Hey trolls, THIS is why we conservatives love the military and are disgusted by Hollywood. It's the internal make-up of the protagonists in their respective theater of action.
BTW, it used to be the case that good Broadway shows became movies….now the opposite is happening (and not necessarily always with good movies). Is Broadway out of ideas?
So Farrell pulled an Eddie Murphy, huh? Well, he did refer to his massive 40-performance career. Enjoyed the awards, saw "Hair" last month and loved it; hurrah for the hippies! I thought the show was well done, and in spite of what some were snarkily predicting, no-one thanked Obama in their speeches (he was mentioned, since he'd attended a show so recently by NPH and the winner in the play he saw, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." (And I believe, Stage Right, you were predicting a tsumani of pro-gay marriage lectures and there was just one mention–by the winning producer of "Hair.") Alice Ripley's speech was completely cracked out, but given the nature of her show, probably not likely to change anyone's mind who already felt like dropping $100 to see a musical about a bi-polar woman. Brett Michaels getting smacked in the mouth by scenery was awesome; check that flat for herpes, STAT! I wish they'd have dropped the numbers by the touring companies; I appreciate their importance as for many people this is the only way they get to see a show, but there were too many, and sadly, they weren't very good. Early highlight: the incomparable Angele Lansbury's genuinely joyous win. _That's_ a class act, Will & Alice!
Will Ferrell is following Eddie Murphy's carreer model to a T.
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[...] Organization was the big winner. The Shuberts are the happy landlord to Best Musical winner “ click for more var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : [...]
[...] is the slow time on Broadway as theatre pros recover from their Tony Award hang-overs and try to rush out to the Island for a few days of R & R before the new season begins. This [...]
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