I’m a sucker for awards shows. Heck, I even watched the ultra lame “Game Show Awards” this past weekend. So believe me when I say that Sunday night’s Tony Awards presentation was hipper or more entertaining than any recent Grammys, Oscars or Emmys event. Yeah, that’s right.  The stuffy, snooty theatre crowd throws a better party than Hollywood could ever imagine. You want stars? You had ‘em, in the form of Jessica Lange, Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Anne Hathaway, Will Ferrell and James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, cleverly seated next to each other.

You want knockout dresses? Susan Sarandon and Kristin Chenoweth would have won every red-carpet accolade Joan Rivers could think of. You want breathless production numbers? There was an endless number of them, not the least of which was the unforgettable opening act that smoothly included performances from Dolly Parton, Elton John, Stockard Channing, Minnelli, Bret Michaels, the cast of “Hair” and Shrek. You wanto a great host? Neil Patrick Harris did the trick, never hogging the stage, but never letting us forget that someone was in control here. Yes, there were technical difficulties, but they were easy to forgive. You didn’t have to be a Broadway baby to appreciate this production - and the other award show producers would be idiots if they didn’t furiously take notes.

Oh, the show only went five minutes longer than its scheduled three hours. Not that I couldn’t have lapped up a couple more hours of this kind of entertainment.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.