All in Music That Makes Me Dance
So… the 71st Annual Tony Awards have come and gone and I have to say, I generally found it to be a tedious evening. Nothing used to get me more excited than tuning in each year to the Tony Awards and being blown away by some amazing performances. Somewhere around the time when the awards ceremony left the intimacy of a Broadway theatre and instead began being held at larger venues such as Radio Music Hall did it lose something for me. Ah, yes, I suppose I am showing my age by saying this, but there was a time when the awards actually felt intimate. For reasons of space and economy, it was decided somewhere along the way that barns were the better place to celebrate theatre. This still remains an unfortunate shift in my book as I long for the days when musicals like Big River, Grand Hotel, Me and My Girl, The Secret Garden, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, City of Angels, Once on this Island, and Jelly’s Last Jam charmed me on a stage that didn’t dwarf their efforts. The Broadway of today looks very different than the one I remember of the 80s and early 90s, so I suppose nostalgia can cloud one’s judgment, but this Tony Awards in particular left me feeling very disconnected.
An American Institution,
The Broadway Musical reminds
That hope and optimism
Are alive in daunting times
The Tonys are just days away
But trophies set aside
Here’s a celebration
Of this year’s magic ride
I’m about as good at predicting Tony winners as I am picking lottery numbers, so take this article for what it is worth (I do better with the Oscars for some reason). That being said, it has been an exciting Broadway season and this year’s awards are looking like they will be spread over several musicals (Unlike last-year’s tedious Tony Awards where Hamilton clinched most of the accolades). I think that there will be some surprises, but the betting man in me chooses these nominees as the winners on Tony Sunday.
Though critics didn’t exactly fall all over themselves with love and adoration for the confection that is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with or without their approval, the musical already has many things going for it that are bound to lure in crowds. It has a family-friendly, magical story by Roald Dahl that takes audiences (particularly children) on a wondrous journey into the world of candy. It mines the best of the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley songs from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, while calling on the usually dependable composing team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can) to write additional songs to fill the score. It also stars one of Broadway’s finest character actors, Christian Borle, in the role of candy-maker extraordinaire, Mr. Willy Wonka. Even anticipating the worst (or taking the critics’ assessments as gospel), this show was always going to have something going for it.
