By Christina Morningside | Posted on June 16, 2008 11:08 PM
There Was Tough Competition At This Year's Tony Awards Hosted By Whoopi Goldberg, And Excellent Performances By Broadway Productions Cry-Baby, Passing Strange, And Xanadu
Tough Competition At The Tony Awards
Most of Broadway dressed up and headed to Radio City Music Hall last night for the annual Tony Awards. Some awards went exactly as expected, with Patti Lupone taking Best Actress in a Musical for Gypsy, South Pacific grabbing Best Musical Revival, and August: Osage County winning Best New Play and Best Play Direction.
There were no big upsets, though a few slight surprises, such as Stew taking Best Book of a Musical (many predicted Xanadu's Douglas Carter Beane would win) and Rondi Reed being awarded for her outstanding supporting work in August (she was up against critic's darlings like Martha Plimpton and Sinead Cusack).
Excellent Performances Generate Buzz
There were many, many close contests: In the Heights got the Best Musical and Best Score prizes (which Passing Strange took in many other awards contests), Paulo Szot took Best Actor in a Musical against all-around strong competition, Deanna Dunegan got Best Actress in a Play (her biggest rival being co-star Amy Morton), and Andy Blankenbuehler's wonderful In the Heights choreography won over Rob Ashford's impressive work for Cry-Baby.
Whoopi Goldberg was a great host for the night, and the show moved at a brisk pace. The fact that such major awards as Best Play Revival, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Choreography were not handed out during the televised broadcast was an embarrassment, but on the upside, it did allow more time for musical performances. No doubt many viewers will be anxious to head to Broadway to see shows like Cry-Baby, Gypsy, Passing Strange, Xanadu, and Young Frankenstein after seeing their energetic performances on TV.
