It's Tony season!

Ah, my favorite night of television :) I love the night of the Tonys because it helps me to decide what musical I want to buy next. It turned me on to "The Light in the Piazza" a few years ago and had me YouTubing "The Little Mermaid" last year. This year wasn't my favorite as far as the show went. There was a lot more dancing than singing, it seemed (granted, I did miss the first hour due to...what else? Wegmans.) and having that who-knows blonde girl sing "Legally Blonde" and not Laura Belle just disappointed me. I loved "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" but I really would have loved to see Lauren Graham sing something. I thought it was nice to see one of the "Billys" dance but he kept yelling "ah" instead of singing anything. Does he sing? I'll have to find that out. Anyway, it almost seemed a stronger year for plays, though "Next To Normal" looked like it might be interesting. I remember reading the NYTs review of that and it wasn't as spectacular as the Tony audience was making it out to be. Also, I couldn't really see how the lead from that could beat my personal favorite. (see the below entry, haha!)

Right now, I'm catching up on BBC's "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" I've been told so many times that I should play Maria in "The Sound of Music" - maybe because I wore a Maria-like hat in "Nine," maybe not - and so I want to see what my competition is (at least in Britain! :). Watching it made me think of two things.

First, many of these woman are very good, not just at singing, but at selling a song, connecting with their audience and having this innate confidence Simon Cowell and, dare I mention her as an authority, Kara Dioguardi continued to harp on the "Idol" contestants for. And so continues my support of Adam Lambert. Yes, it's wonderful when someone can sing many genres and be unique, but musical theater training gives performers a whole other dimension of stage presence. So, whether or not Kris Allen should have won a competition like "Idol" or not, Adam Lambert showed that showmanship fostered in theater is not something to be shunned, as the judges have done in the past. 

Second, why in the world, with so many out-of-work actors are we having reality TV shows looking for actors? The thought is baffling. I'm sure if they had held auditions for Maria for the West End revival, a Maria equal to or better than Connie Fisher would have been found. It's bothersome that producers and directors, who I'm sure struggled for their art at one time or another, would buy in to such an idea instead of investing in the talent of those willing to go out, day after day, to audition after audition, trying to keep a dream alive. Instead, we got so-and-so from Bristol who's favorite musicals are "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Starlight Express." Really?