The Tony Awards and The Telecast: My Thoughts

While the 2011 Tony Awards were not nearly as exciting for me after attending the ceremony last year, I still found much to talk about in last night's results and the telecast. Here we go:

WINNERS CIRCLE

Wins that Made Me Happy:
-Sutton Foster for Anything Goes
-Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey for The Normal Heart
-The Normal Heart and Anything Goes for Best Revivals

Wins that I Wish Had Gone Differently:
-Nikki M. James for The Book of Mormon (I was rooting for Laura Benanti's fabulous performance from Women on the Verge)
-The Book of Mormon for Book, Score and Direction (Score and Direction should have gone to The Scottsboro Boys, while Book should have gone to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson)

THE PERFORMANCES

My Favorite Performances of the Night:
-"Raise Your Voice" from the cast of Sister Act
-"Hey Hey Hey Hey/Commencing in Chatanooga" from the cast of The Scottsboro Boys

Less Than Impressive:
-The lackluster opening number, "Broadway Isn't Just for Gays Anymore"
-"Steal Your Rock 'n' Roll" from the cast of Memphis
-"It's Raining Men" from the cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

GENERAL THOUGHTS
-Neil Patrick Harris was a fine host, although I wasn't a huge fan of what he was given to do. Both his opening and closing numbers fell short for me, and his duet with Hugh Jackman (though fun), seemed completely pointless.
-I didn't like the awkward long shots and lengthy silences during moments of censorship. Bleeping is fine, but this seemed overdone.
-Why was Chris Rock presenting the Best Musical award, the biggest of the evening? He may be in a play, but he was in no position to be giving out that award.
-Several of the performances baffled me: Memphis? Spider-Man? Why were these shows included while awards like Best Score and Choreography were left off of the telecast completely?

ON THE HORIZON
With the passing of the 65th Annual Tony Awards, a new theatre season is upon us. Not many productions have been announced for the 2012 season, but there is still a lot to look forward to. This past season was a great one for original musicals (11 new musicals opened on Broadway during the year), so I hope the 2012 season will carry on that tradition. Here's to another year of great theatre-going!