"I'll see you there around eight tonight..."

Live Blogging the 2009 Tony Awards

12:45 "Don't Twitter all my jokes when we're done!" Here's proof that the spontaneous NPH closing number was written beforehand, with the obvious winners (Angela! Liza! three Billys!), and only a few name changes in the middle. Still awesome.

11:03 Neil Patrick Harris sings us farewell. They supposedly wrote this number during the show, but since there were only two surprises, I bet it was done beforehand. (Notice how "Karen won a Tony tonight" could have been anybody.) Hah... "This show could not be gayer / If Liza were named Mayor / And Elton John took flight." And standing on your knees? "That only works to win Golden Globes."

10:59 Who but Liza to bring us home? I think she's eyeing Billy Elliot as her comeback role. She did Fosse dancing once, right? That explains her Banshee screams when Billy won Best Musical. Those three Billys are definitely going to take the day off school tomorrow. It's a pretty good excuse. "Sorry, prof, but I won a Tony last night and then had to go to two after-parties and drink non-alcoholic pina coladas."

Elton just reminded us how much we spent on scalper tickets to his show: "Thank you for opening your wallets."


10:46 David Hyde Pierce knew that Alice Ripley had her name all over Best Actress in a Musical for Next to Normal. Niles-O-Meter: back on the positive side. Whoa, she's passionate. Huge "contribution to the human spirit."

And Audra McDonald, who is amazing, is here to give the three Billys their Best Actor in a Musical. The kid who performed was so excited, he was ready to run up there when their names were read. Hah... first kid has one sister, second has two... and the third ups it to three sisters. If I won a Tony at age 15, I wouldn't be able to form coherent thoughts either.


10:34 Hair performs. Love that they're doing the title song, though the opening lyrics are pretty bad ("Hair that's a fright"). Poor bald guy just got attacked by Will Swenson and his real hair... Anne Hathaway had to settle for Gavin Creel's wig (which, in a show called Hair, doesn't look as flaxen-waxed as you'd think they want). Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Soprano are getting assaulted... you'd think they never left HBO. So much color, so much audience head-rubbing. This is a great Tony performance.

And here comes Kristin Chenoweth, wearing a wig. (She was just jealous.) But it's all good, cause Hair just got Best Revival of a Musical, baby! The producer's hair is as whacked-out as the cast's.

10:29 Oh, good, Angela's back. ("You blow the blues right out of the horn... Angela..." Close enough.) Jerry Herman's receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award for writing catchy, diva-centric showstoppers (and that includes George Hearn on "I Am What I Am"). Hah... "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" is from Hello, Dolly! and also from WALL-E. Wow, and there's old footage of Angela Lansbury in Mame. A nice tribute, and "I Won't Send Roses," amid all the razzmatazz of Jerry Herman, always gets to me with its simplicity.

10:18 Best Revival of a Play: Go Norman Conquests! You bring that British thing you do so well. If only I had 7 hours to kill, that's where I would be.

Best Play: We all knew God of Carnage, with the whole cast nommed, was a lock. Interesting that it's a new show when it's a French play translated into British English, then Americanized. An exhausting evolution. James Gandolfini has a mighty good track record. Ooh, and some producer watched the French Open this afternoon so he could compare the Carnage cast to champion Roger Federer.

10:16 Legally Blonde on tour made Billy Elliot's number now look "so much better."

10:05 How great that Elton John introduced the Billy Elliot number rather than Greg Jbara who just won the Tony for it. (At least they brought the whole Reasons to be Pretty cast to Radio City when only half was nommed.)

Billy Elliot number: Wow, Trent Kowalik is rocking out, if very angry. But hey, it is the "Angry Dance." He also looks much taller than I would have expected. Two shows have now represented themselves with dance rather than song. Not sure it's a good move on Billy Elliot's part. So much yelling and anguish, and more about impressive staging than great work from the kid. With no context, the audience looked perplexed. The voters just asked if they could rescind, and switch to Next to Normal.

Corey says: "I'm whipping out the 'Beaten by Riot Police' dance at my wedding."


9:58 Glad that design awards spread of the wealth (Lighting Design-Play for Equus, Costume Design-Musical for Shrek... and I think Brian d'Arcy James should win the left foot of that Tony for being that giant hunk of green ogre).

Frank Langella is great, but he's talked so long that I forgot the category he's presenting. Oh yeah, Best Actress in a Play. It's either Jane Fonda or Marcia Gay Harden. I'm thinking Harden will squeak it out. Survey says: I win! More importantly, so does Marcia. "I tell my kids every day that bad behavior and tantrums and tears will get them nowhere. I don't know how to explain this." "The play is about marital strife, so I should start by thanking my husband." "I share this with James G., who brings out the worst in me every night." She's a marvel at acceptance speeches. Encore!

9:49 Very classy to quote the late Natasha Richardson, and then to sing "What I Did for Love." Farewell, Bea Arthur, George Furth, Eartha Kitt, Paul Newman, et al... they just dimmed theater lights for you all.

9:44 NPH+Jessica Lange? Kudos on the Jeremy Piven-mercury poisoning bit. And here's Best Actor in a Play: What a category! I only saw Thomas Sadowski and Raul Esparza, who looks genuinely pleased that Geoffrey Rush just won. (Unlike when David Hyde Pierce stole his Tony for Company. Boo Niles.) Rush's speech is amazing, making everything French. If only there were room for Bill Irwin and maybe even Nathan Lane from Waiting for Godot (and what about Dan Radcliffe?), this would have been an even sexier match. Rush had it in the bag the whole time. Character actor in films, but a star on Broadway. Who else would think to salute his new Tony with a Glo-stick?

9:35 Why can't they better mike Alice Ripley, future Tony winner? She got a little behind the orchestra, but she recovered. I think they're accidentally performing on the West Side set... chain-link fences, ladders around the stage, all that red... Good thing they're showcasing Ripley and J. Robert Spencer, but what about nommed Jennifer Damiano? That can't be her in that muscle T. What an odd choice for national TV; I have no idea what that show's about. And they admit it, a lot: "You don't know!"

9:32 Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Vote's on Haydn Gwynne (the Billy train). Whoa... Karen Olivo just sashayed her way to that Tony, for Anita. Oddly, again, Chita Rivera wasn't even nommed for the original production of West Side Story. Second surprise of the night, after N2N got Best Score.

Hah, Carrie Fisher's presenting about a show about manic depression. The Tonys rock.

9:30 Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Tough category; my vote's on Greg Jbara. And he gets it. Adorable/a little strange that he's brought his wife up on stage with him, but good for him. He was hilarious in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (and oddly the only lead who wasn't nommed that year). But sing Elton John, and start engraving that statue today.

9:27 Sneak peek of Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Benanti from the pre-show. Can Stokes come back to Broadway in a revival of Ragtime? Can we throw in the entire original cast?

9:23 Connie says: "So no believing and no rocking the boat for Josh." I am striking out on gerunds tonight. Good thing nobody's singing "Being Alive."

9:17 Wait, why is Oliver Platt (aka Nathan Detroit) not in the mission for "Sit Down"? Oh, Tituss Burgess, so uncomfortable. Did you just forget the words (understandably, with mike defects)? Here's what I'm seeing: a tenor in a fat suit, for no good reason; really bizarre projections of Heaven (so different than this revival, sadly); too much pushing for humor, like the "whiskey" joke.

Whoa, sit down, but raise the key, Tituss! And here comes the part Frank Loesser, musical genius, didn't write. (This is just what they "revised" "Brotherhood of Man" to be in H2$.) Holy mother, Mary Testa just scared me. And the ending kind of pittered out, because nobody knew what in the Hell (or what in the new revival of G&D... take your pick) just happened.

9:13 All the odds are in Liza's favor. Maybe this time, she'll win... and look, there's her Special Theatrical Event Tony. Just don't cut her off Elaine Stritch-style! She's absolutely crazy: "We were horrible. We were the pits." Another shout-out to Judy, from her daughter this time.

9:09 Guys and Dolls next. Great, they're going to ruin "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." Go watch the 1992 revival with Nathan Lane to see how it's done, people.

9:03 Rock of Ages sings: "I'm no Andrew Lloyd Sondheim." Wow, is Liza a great sport (a "freak machine")! No. No. The coolness of the Glo-sticks has been eclipsed. Is Journey so ubiquitous that it's sung now on the Tonys? I just stopped believin'. Maybe James Gandolfini will cut it short--and will he live to tell about it? (Does anyone remember Constantine, btw?)

9:01 Stephen Daldry has been nommed for three Oscars (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader), two of which were deserving. So it's only right that he gets another Tony for Best Direction of a Musical--Billy. Did he just forget the names of his cast? To be fair, they got seven noms for five roles, including three Billys, all in one musical. Talk about prime* material. (*My only math joke of the night!)

8:59 Best Direction of a Play. I predict Matthew Warchus for God of Carnage... and I am right! (What a season for him, also with the 7-hour Norman Conquests.) "I was hoping for another tie, actually." He's hilarious. "Marital mayhem in New York." Can we keep him on this side of the Atlantic?


8:50 Is it so difficult to film a group number adequately? Okay, now it's better halfway through, when Tony and Maria eye each other. New touch: the near-kiss when they meet. We can see now why Josefina Scaglione, so sweet and sincere, was nommed (oops, not for that last note), and why Matt Cavenaugh is awkward as a "gang leader" with a Kennedy-esque accent.

8:47 So why did Lin-Manuel Miranda not present Best Score? Oh, cause he's doing his bilingual Sondheim revision for West Side Story. Except nobody's going to sing in English or Spanish in their chosen number, "Dance at the Gym." And, like every other ensemble song tonight, nobody will be miked!

8:42 Excerpts from the nominated plays? You don't say? It's like the Tonys are recognizing how strong a year 2009 was for non-musicals in New York. Well, okay, 33 Variations got less than 33 seconds, so maybe the recognition isn't so high. At least Will Ferrell is here to bring in another 15 households (doesn't he look old?). And why oh why was Best Book presented off-camera? It's like we don't care about writers of words!

Best Score will determine if Next to Normal has a chance against the Billy juggernaut. The answer... Next to Normal! (The "better" show, as in past years, usually takes Score away from the "Best Musical". The Light in the Piazza won Score when Spamalot took the top prize; Urinetown got score over Thoroughly Modern Millie; Ragtime over The Lion King.) The night just got interesting.

8:30 Shrek's sitting right behind Angela. And she just won Best Featured Actress in a Play. Five Tony Awards for Angela Lansbury! And she's crying, and everyone stood. Please let her talk for an hour! "Who knew?" We all knew that you were an inspiring actress, Ms. Lansbury. "Well, you know how I feel..." She's such a class act. It can only go downhill from here tonight. ("Dancing Queen" played her off... could they be referring to her?)

8:25 The Shrek five minutes: Love Brian d'Arcy James. Shame the three Billys will steal his Tony. First Liza, now a Judy Garland reference (with Lord Farquaad's red shoes). His short costume is mighty impressive; I take it bathroom breaks are ruled out. So basically, we've learned that Shrek is yet one more self-referential musical in the vein of Spamalot/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels/Urinetown/Young Frankenstein. Good news: most of the people watching probably got the Wicked reference.

Yes, Neil, Obama Mia! would probably be a better show. Can Meryl play Michelle? Think of the money money money.

8:17 Roger Robinson wins the first award of the night for Joe Turner's Come and Gone. You know, that play the Obamas saw that closed down 44th Street last Sunday. He's supposed to be fantastic, as Best Featured Actor in a Play. Oh, and Bartlett Sher directed, which I didn't realize. He is responsible for The Light in the Piazza and South Pacific, so he's good in my book.

8:13 Glad they're acknowledging Plays and Musicals together with two giant marquees. Ooh, and 13 minutes in, we got a risque joke from host Neil Patrick Harris. [Update: Turns out the "headbanging" joke was actually about Bret Michaels smacking his head into the set. My bad. His bad, too.] Score two with self-deprecation ("And that's why I'm your host tonight," referring to the uber-expensive opening).

Question, though, NPH: is James Gandolfini really in the movies?

8:08 "Sometimes you're happy, sometimes you're sad." Sounds like Liza's life... and boy, does she sell it. More with spirits than with diction. Aww, someone invited Anne Hathaway. And now the gonna-win revival of Hair. "Let the Sunshine In" actually makes you cry in the show. Crazy thought: why couldn't Liza stick around to belt it out with her fellow '60s hippies? She'd fit right in. Oh, wait, there she is!

8:05 Stockard Channing walks on stage, and sort of finds the key, and everyone applauds because she's... whoa, she's seducing Aaron Tveit from Next to Normal, who is now very bewitched, bothered, and bewildered (mostly at the shoehorning of Rodgers-Hart into pop-rock). Hey, look, a Les Miz parody from the cast of Shrek. With this opening medley, the audience probably thinks Les Miz is a revival on Broadway right now, too.

Look at Allison Janney's I'm-the-best-part-of-9 to 5 face.

8:00 Tonight, tonight, won't be just any night... but the night that loses CBS a lot of ratings, like every year. Oooh, we start with Billy Elliot... and a poor miking job on Superstar Elton John (that's his official registered name now). I bet Dolly will appear soon, to lure in Middle America. Because Middle America loves boys who do ballet while gay men serenade them.

And Elton can no longer sing. But look, the Sharks are singing in Spanish! (What's up with the terrible miking? Somebody just got fired at Radio City.) Good song choices so far, though. If the "regular" audience will know anything, it's West Side Story and Guys and Dolls. Why didn't West Side choose the Quintet for their primary number? And why did Craig Bierko join the Jets there, when he's in a different show?

7:45 The pre-show opened on a tie between Billy Elliot and Next to Normal for Best Orchestrations. I haven't seen either, but variety is the spice of life, and a sweep by a trio of little dancer boys isn't desirable.

My first attempt at a live blog. Yes, the New York Times is following the Tonys, too, but with the Off-Broadway critic at the keyboard. Sensible?