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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