Best Tony Moments 2015

1.) Sydney Lucas, Ring of Keys

The little girl is amazing. She obviously possesses an understanding of humanity that exceeds her years. Her performance was raw… profound… moving…

I also loved the camera shots with Beth Malone (Alison) sitting behind Sydney (small Alison) and the final shot of Michael Cerveris (Bruce, father). Very nicely done. 

2.) Kelly O’Hara dancing off the stage

It’s all over Twitter. I suppose I would be dancing too, if it took me six Tony nominations to finally win a Tony. She waited a long time to make that exit. 

3.) Alan Cumming’s shorts. 

A bold, yet effective fashion choice. 

4.) Banter between Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming. 

I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a big opening number, such as the enthralling 2013 opening number performed by Neil Patrick Harris, but I did enjoy the comical exchanges between the two co-hosts and I definitely appreciated their comedic approach to hosting. They had great chemistry and were fun to watch, like a flashback to when they played Rooster and Lily in the 1999 Annie movie. 

5.) Lisa Howard’s performance (from It Shoulda Been You with Tyne Daly)

Having seen her live, I knew she would knock this out of the park. She was fierce, and yes, she sang “like a big black woman”. If anything or anyone can help this show sell more tickets, it’s this performance. I hope Tony viewers feel the same as I do because I want this show to be around for a long time! 

6.) Fun Home Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori win for Best Book and Best Score. 

In all of Broadway history, Fun Home is the first musical with an all-female writing team to win Best Book and Best Score categories. In other words, we witnessed Fun Home making history tonight! 

7.) Chita Rivera performing Kander & Ebb’s final musical at the young age of 82 years. 

An inspirational sight to see. 

What were your favorite Tony moments???? 

BEST TONY MOMENTS 2013

1.) BEST SPEECH- Billy Porter has waited so long for his perfect stage role, and watching him accept his first Tony Award was just the icing on the cake. Remember Stark, he’s keeping that Tony at his house. 

2.) BEST PRESENTER(S)- Jesse Tyler Ferguson (with Jane Krakowski) burst out with “Girl, you’re gonna have fun tonight” when he presented Cyndi Lauper with the Tony Award for Best Score. Very clever, JTF. And the audience went wild. 

3.) BEST DRESSED- Annaleigh Ashford 

4.) BEST PERFORMANCE- The Opening Number was by far the best performance of the evening with lots of laugh-out-loud-inducing lyrics. For example. 

“You could bounce a quarter off the ass of Billy Porter”. 

“Hats off to Berry Gordy, he runs Motown like a boss. He dominates Top 40 and he banged Diana Ross”. 

And to the Broadway kids, NPH sings, “Is there a Tony daycare where all of you go?... Do your parents set aside your Broadway dough”? 

“Can I have my Tom Hooper Les Mis close-up please? You see, on Broadway, we don’t need extreme close-ups to prove we’re singing live”. 

“If you win, have the time of your life, tell your manager, dad and your mom, thanks. Hi to your kids and your husband or wife, maybe just for the hell of it, Tom Hanks”. 

“Kathie Lee’s a Broadway lyricist so anything can happen”. 

In addition to the clever lyrics, Neil Patrick Harris was just phenomenal when you think about the limited rehearsal time. He didn’t stumble on a single word and he was full of energy. I see an Emmy win in NPH’s future! Bravo! 

5. “OTHER” BEST MOMENTS-

Shout-outs to Cinderella for those seamless costume “transformations”. They were just as magical on TV as they were in person! More shout-outs to Matilda for including all of their principal actors and all four Matildas in their Tony performance. And finally, one last shout-out to Jane Lynch, who can actually sing pretty well. She is definitely scaring those “Little Girls” over at the Palace Theatre! 

Tony Awards Highlights- Best Tony Moments 2012

1.) Best surprise win: Michael McGrath, Best Featured Actor in a Musical, for Nice Work If You Can Get It 
While most of the speculation in this category surrounded Michael Cerveris and the Porgy and Bess men, no one expected that the comedic butler/bootlegger from Nice Work If You Can Get It would bring a Tony Award home! With that said, McGrath’s comical performance alone is worth the ticket price and his Tony Award is well-deserved simply for his genius comedic timing. 


 2.) Best presenter(s): Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin 
Who didn’t say, “awwww”, when the former Evita co-stars took the stage to announce in song the best revival of a musical? Charming. 


 3.) Best Dress: Celia Keenan-Bolger 
What I love about Celia’s beautiful, gold Monique Lhuillier dress is that it’s true to the color theme of her show. The set of Peter and the Starcatcher boasts a unique gold proscenium decorated with numerous gold objects such as forks, potato mashers, and garden tools... just to name a few. While her dress luckily didn’t have common household items sewn to it, the colors and embellished gold fabric are reminiscent of the show’s creativity! I don’t know if Celia did this purposely... but I liked it! 

4.) Best Performance: Leap of Faith 
After closing prematurely on May 13th, you have to give the cast of Leap of Faith credit for performing at the Tony Awards and killing it. Led by Raul Esparza, this energetic, upbeat, feel-good show had a lot to offer on Broadway and deserved a longer run. Well, now America can see what they’re missing.... and maybe this performance will pave the way for a tour in the future. 


 5.) Best Tony Speech: Steve Kazee, Best Leading Actor in a Musical, Once 
As Steve tearfully remembered his late mother, there was not a dry eye at any Tony Party. Everything about his speech- from his acknowledgement of his cast-mates and leading lady to his Arthur O’Shaughnessy quote to his remembrance of his mother to his sense of gratitude- was heartfelt and authentic. And it helps that he is SO deserving of this Tony Award. And the perfect end to his speech was Cristin Milioti giving him a standing ovation... 

In a close second is Audra McDonald, who told her daughter that, while tonight is a very special night, the best night of her life would always be the night she was born.