The Original BJ wrote:When Christian Borle prevailed, my first thought was, I'd love to know how Sutton Foster reacted to seeing her ex-boyfriend present her ex-husband with a Tony.
In hindsight, given his Drama Desk win, I really should have considered Christian Borle more as an eventual winner last night in Featured Actor in a Musical. I was pretty confident that Brad Oscar would take it and, if not him then Andy Karl or Max von Essen as a dark horse. But Borle really should've always been on my radar. I'm disappointed that Brad didn't win, but I'm still thrilled that he came so close this time around. I agree with both BJ and Tee about the amount of surprise wins and the kind of uncertainty about several key categories. It's like we've almost forgotten how very refreshing and satisfying that can be.
The "Ring of Keys" number from
Fun Home was incredibly moving and really made me want to see the show. I felt like the presence of one or more "Alisons" on the stage at the same time was suggesting that we are always the young child, no matter how old we are, and that we always look back to try to understand how we became who we became. I have the graphic novel upon which Fun Home is based and I'm looking forward to reading it first.
Ruthie Ann Miles and Annaleigh Ashford's wins were both great moments in the show as was Alex Sharp taking Lead Actor in a Play. Can you imagine winning a Tony less than a year after getting your MFA? That has to be on the list of youngest winners in that category.
So, this is the third performer to receive a Tony for playing Anna Leonowens in
The King and I. I can only think of Mama Rose in
Gypsy bringing the same amount of accolades. Are there any others?
I also thought
The Visit segment was odd and potentially off-putting (although I did like Chita's phrasing in the beginning and the song itself). It might end up becoming more of a
Follies-type show that maintains a cult following down the line as time goes on. Or, more recently,
Side Show.
Overall though, I thought the winners were very deserving and almost every category ended as it should've. Cumming and Chenowith were kind of embarrassing and hokey as hosts. The bit in the beginning didn't bode well for what was to come.
The ratings were apparently an all-time low last night.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell