72nd Tony Awards – A Musical Review

By starrymag | June 17, 2018

By: Dustin Bradley

 

 

The “72nd Annual Tony Awards” aired this past Sunday, June 10th on CBS. We were offered many surprises throughout the night and were given a glimpse at all of Broadway’s latest hits. Hosts Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban were far less flashy than most, but offered us a chill ceremony that honestly was kinda refreshing. Below are all of my opinions on this year’s musical numbers:

 

Opening Number: “This One’s for You”– Bareilles and Groban offered us a opener and closer that was SO Bareilles!!! I imagine that with two talented songwriters that this year the hosts were able to write the numbers themselves. It was a fun little ditty.

 

Mean Girls: “Where Do You Belong/ Meet the Plastics” – The first performance of a nominated musical this year was the cast of Mean Girls doing a medley of two songs that showcase the three nominated performers of the night: Grey Henson as Damian, Ashley Park as Gretchen and Taylor Louderman as Regina. It was a nice performance, but definitely was a little undercut by the fact that Barrett Wilbert Weed shines as Janice and Kate Rockwell plays the smartest dumb girl, Karen, and they both got snubbed. I’ve been listening to this soundtrack since it came out and this was a fun performance, but there were other songs they could have chose.

 

My Fair Lady: “The Rain in Spain/I Could Have Danced All Night/ Get Me to Church on Time” – Lauren Ambrose shines as Eliza Doolittle! This was a classic Tony’s performance that showcased two of the most well known songs from the show. If you’re a fan of the show you’d like the performance!

 

Spongebob Squarepants: “I’m Not a Loser” – What an unexpected performance. You would think that the shows producers would want to give us a number with more of the cast to excite the viewers. Instead, we got a small little number by Tony nom Ethan Slater before fellow Tony nom Gavin Lee took the stage to give us a four-legged tap number has Squidward. I don’t think it was the best song choice, but I know that they chose it so fans can see why voters had chosen Slater and Lee as nominees.

 

Mid-Number: “8 Times a Week” – Set to the tune of Sia’s “Chandelier,” this was a nice little break that was fun and funny about the number of performances Broadway stars must put on a show.

 

Carousel: “Blow High, Blow Low” – This was a giant advertisement for Tony nom Justin Peck’s choreography. I didn’t see any nominees in sight on stage. No Jessie Mueller, Joshua Henry or Lindsay Mendez. I mean, the dancing was fantastic; however, I would have liked to see the stars do what they do best.

 

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Drama Club: “Seasons of Love” – I, like almost everyone in the room, was balling the whole time this was happening. A student wrote in to the Tony producers and just wanted a shoutout and instead got an invitation to perform. Once they finished they got to have bows and received a standing ovation. It was very powerful! Hopefully, we see some of those teens as future actors/activists.

 

Frozen: “For the First Time in Forever/Let it Go” – Oh Patti Murin and Cassie Levy! SUCH AMAZING ACTRESSES! They gave the audience two songs we all know and love (unless you are a parent and had to endure these songs for months) and proved that this show could be the next Lion King or Aladdin where they stay on Broadway for a LONG TIME!

 

In Memoriam, Dear Evan Hansen – “For Forever/You Will Be Found” – What a wonderful way to not only promote the show, but also honor the fallen theatre community players. It was very beautiful.

 

Summer: The Donna Summer Musical: “Last Dance” – What a fun performance! These three women were just fantastic. And this song is just such an iconic tune. I was dancing and singing along!

 

Once on This Island: “One Small Girl” / “Mama Will Provide” – Alex Newell was robbed of a Tony nom! This performance is MAGICAL! I truly believe the reason why he didn’t get nominated was because they didn’t know what category to put him in, seeing as how he is playing a Goddess. Honestly, it’s shame cause the performance is truly amazing.

 

The Band’s Visit: “Omar Sharif” – Well, eventual winner Katrina Lenk showed us what she’s made of and why she took away the Leading Actress award. This was a very good performance! I may need to buy this album on iTunes.

 

Bruce Springsteen on Broadway: “My Hometown” – Well, that was quite an introduction by Robert DeNiro! Most of this number was a spoken monologue set to piano, but once he did start singing we remember why we like Springsteen.

 

Closing Number: “This One’s for the Dreamers” – A nice little closing number where Bareilles and Groban remind us dreamers to not give up because there is a chance that we could be on that stage one day. And, hopefully, some of us will!

 

It was an amazing 72nd Tony Awards! I, like many others, am excited to see what next season holds. I also look forward to the Broadway news in the next month about what shows will be staying and going. Until next year!