As host, Sean Hayes was charming and funny, terrific at the piano (did anyone else tear up at the first strains of "Give My Regards to Broadway?") and not afraid to put on silly costumes. His drawn-out kiss with Promises, Promises costar Kristin Chenoweth was perfect.
With so many styles of music represented on Broadway: rhythm and blues, pop, rock 'n' roll, Afrobeat, to name a few, why did American Idiot get to perform so many times? And people do realize that Green Day's not in the show, right?As presenters, Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane from The Addams Family made me laugh. Yes, the Passover line has been used before but what can I say? Perhaps it's programmed in my genetic code but I will laugh every single time.
I thought Catherine Zeta-Jones did a much better job with "Send in the Clowns" when I saw A Little Night Music than she did on the Tonys. Steve on Broadway, as usual, had the perfect quip on Twitter: "Catherine Zeta-Jones inexplicably became a bobble-head."
How glamorous was Scarlett Johansson! I was moved by her acceptance speech: "Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to be on Broadway." Sadly, A View From the Bridge closed in April. Johansson is a singer, too. So the 25-year-old may well have an EGOT in her future.
I think Glee is hit or miss, but I loved hearing Lea Michele sing "Don't Rain on My Parade." Although I know it's not likely to happen, I would buy a ticket to see her in a Broadway revival of Funny Girl. I just would.
I wish people would stop ragging on Best Musical winner Memphis. It's an energetic show with terrific performances from Chad Kimball and Montego Glover. At a time when we're still fighting for marriage equality, the story of the romance between a black singer and a white disc jockey in the 1950s resonated with me.
(And Michael Riedel, if you liked Fela! better, that's fine. But please, you're not an expert on what's "authentically black.")
