Time To Tackle The TONY Awards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 This is what you have been waiting for, girls, and what I have been obligated to write, and am now getting round to doing so.  Let me start with the happiest things, because it is only going to get worse from there.

                                    Lindsay Mendez And Her Speech--Score for "Carousel," and her unique work, which I cannot wait to see.  Count Justin Peck in there for bringing honor to a show that got too little throughout the course of the evening.

                                      How about Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles?????????  That Josh is a real cutie, isn't he, girls, and he can actually sing!  Two packages for the price of one!  They were the best hosts I have seen in years, because they were so genuine--not like that closet case, Neil Patrick Harris!  They know the community, have worked in it, and are, as they admit, are "real Broadway nerds," which is straight parlance for Theater Queens. They brought a real "Mickey and Judy" feel to this show that was SO refreshing.

                                       Glenda Jackson--The lady was class, praising the Parkland kids while accepting a long overdue TONY Award, after taking a hiatus from acting by serving in Parliament!  The woman is indefatigable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Nice speeches by Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane, even though the "Angels In America" juggernaut was WAY over the top!  I wouldn't see it, if you paid me!  Nothing can top that original production!  I mean, Stephen  Spinella, Marcia Gay Harden, and Kathleen Chalfant????????  You expect to top THAT, lambs????????????????????

Two shows that I found myself drawn unexpectedly to were "SpongeBob SquarePants, The Musical," and "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child," Parts One And Two."  David and I are anxious to see the first. while I am more partial to the second.  But don't worry, I will get him there.

Those Parkland kids were deeply moving, but why did they, predictably have to sing "Seasons Of Love," from "RENT?"  Not that it was not appropriate, but, as "Runaways," a better show about disenfranchised youth, was doing two performances that week at the Delacorte, it might have been better to showcase that!!!!!!!!  Enough with "RENT," already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I begin to get a bit bitchier!  Bartlett Sher and Lauren Ambrose got their deserved comeuppance, when they, and their show, "My Fair Lady," failed to win anything, save for Costume Design.  God knows, I have nothing against "My Fair Lady," but, for Heaven's sake, do it right!  I guess they didn't!!!!!!!!!!!  Ambrose is through with the musical stage, and if Sher does not watch his arrogance, he will, like Diane Paulus and Julie Taymor, end up on the Island Of Lost Directors!

Girls, I am telling you, Denzel Washington and Tina Fey were royally pissed!  I felt something for Tina, who put her heart and soul into a project that did not take home a thing, even though she was SO sure she would take Best Book, simply because she is Tina Fey!  Well, hon, your time is up!

As for that Denzel, his smirking arrogance so apparent on his face, he always thinks he is going to take home EVERY award, and is a mad as hell, when he doesn't.  Well, good for him!  And haven't we had enough revivals of "The Iceman Cometh?"  Even for seasoned theater folk, such as I, it is not the easiest thing to sit through!!!!!!!!!!!!  The one who should have won for this is that great, American actor, David Morse!  I would rather have seen him as Hickey!!!!!!!!!  Now, Denzel has this idea that he is going to do "King Lear!"  Oh, come on!  Who will play The Fool?  Bill Cosby?  Who will play one of the bitch daughters, Miss Diana Ross?  I hope, so, because Denzel will not stand a chance with Miss Ross!  She will mop the floor with him!  Denzel, to be sure, is a Bitch On Wheels, but Miss Ross will always be the bigger bitch!  Which is why many love her, even if she did kill Florence Ballard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                        I know what you are waiting for girls--for me to get to "Carousel."  Well, here goes!

                       "Once On This Island."   "ONCE ON THIS ISLAND?"  I nearly went through the roof when this won Best Musical Revival!   "Carousel" was robbed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Did two classics cancel each other  out?  Because one ("Carousel") was done right, and one not ("My Fair Lady")?  Was it the PC issues hovering around this show that kept it from winning, even though those issues come from lines written by Molnar and Hammerstein, and not the actors, who just speak them?  If you eliminate that line of Julie's to Louise, about how someone can hit you, and it does not hurt at all, then the entire redemptive point of "Carousel" is eliminated.  Yes, the line is discomfiting, but from it comes Louise finding herself, and Billy regaining his soul.  And Julie, secure in her love that she knew all along was right.  What is wrong with that?  To deny so many creators awards on the basis of this is so ridiculous, because to have a story about redemption, there has to be something a person has to be redeemed from!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            "Carousel" should have won every damn award it was up for!  And while I think Jack O'Brien's efforts are underrated here--I feel he was not nominated because it seemed he hardly directed, but simply assembled the perfect cast, ensemble, and production staff, then let them work their magic!!!!!!! --yet I still feel she should have been nominated!

                              To hell with "The Band's Visit!"  I have no intention of going.  I was prepared for it to take Best Musical and Katrina Lenk (lovely voice) to take Best Actress In A Musical, but for the TONY Committee to go nuts and give it 10 out of the 11 awards it was nominated for, as if this were the "Ben-Hur" of musical theater, made absolutely no sense.  This was another slap in the face to "Carousel."  You know what I think?  There are far too many straight men on the TONY Committee, and their wives, who are all caught up in this #MeToo thing, threatened a "Lysistrata" if their hubbies gave everything to "Carousel."  That's right!  Art was betrayed for the sake of pussy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well screw you, assholes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Art is longer lasting than sex, hons!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               There.  I have said my piece, and I stand behind it.   Despite "Carousel" being overlooked (and who chose "Blow High, Blow Low" to represent it?  Not a bad song, but hardly representative of the heart of the show!!!!!!!!!!!!) this was one of the best Tony presentations I have seen in years.  I almost wish I was there.

                                   Did you see ANNA, girls???????????????????????????

                                   Bring back Josh and Sara next year!

         

                                   And Amar Ramasar is still the cutest Jigger I have seen!

                               In spite of all my bitching and grousing, you know I just LOVED the TONYS, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!