Broadway's Best
Last Sunday's Tony Awards were the lowest-rated ever. There was a time Broadway was America's entertainment. Today, it just doesn't translate to the mainstream (even as millions attend). CBS airing the Awards at all seems like a charitable act.
For myself, I cared even less than usual this year. The big winners were Tom Stoppard's The Coast Of Utopia and the musical Spring Awakening, but I didn't see any of the nominated works and knew very little about most of them.
I thought the best thing about the show was Raul Esparza's rendition of "Being Alive" from Company (which won Best Revival). It's actually one of my least favorite big Sondheim numbers, but Esparza gave the song tremendous power.
It's hard for me to judge who deserved their Tonys, but I was glad to see Christine Ebersole win for her performance in Grey Gardens. I saw her many years ago in a great production of Geniuses at Playwrights Horizons, and I've been a fan ever since.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:38 AM
2 Comments:
Why no love for "Being Alive"? I know why I don't like it - am curious why you don't, too.
I have a number of problems with it.
First, above all, it's too generic. Just look at the title. It feels more like an anthem than something expressing a particular person's feelings.
Second, the tune is alright, but not one of his better ones (this may be partly due to problem #1--singing "being alive" a bunch of times prevents the grand feeling the song seems to be striving for, not to mention it's the worst part of the melody.)
Third, I think Company is Sondheim's best score (I wonder where he places it?), and after all the wonderful and witty songs, this is a letdown for the finale. (It actually replaced a more downbeat song out of town.)
Finally, where does this song leave us? Has Bobby really gone through much of an arc? Has he even learned anything worthwhile or unusual? I don't really care about this realization if, in fact, it is one. The same ideas were expressed better during the first act in "Sorry-Grateful."
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