Who is Chris Harper, and what is his motivation for footing the bill for everyone’s wages? After Sunday night’s Tony Awards, you may have wondered if there was a drinking game in the works because so many winners praised Chris Harper, who pays my salary (or, as one British winner interpreted it, “who pays my wages”). To those in the know, it was Broadway’s favorite new in-joke.
Last month, during the post-show talkback for the revival of “Company,” the indomitable Patti LuPone disciplined an audience member for not adhering to proper mask protocol. The spectator argued, “I pay your wage.” “Bullshit!” In response, LuPone snapped. “Chris Harper contributes to my pay.” A recording of the encounter was posted to Twitter, where it quickly became a viral hit.
The Principal Producer of “company.
Chris Harper, the principal producer of “Company,” was introduced to the public during the 75th annual Tony Awards. Patti LuPone had won a featured-actress award earlier in the evening and had given an emotional speech during which no audience members were wounded when Harper accepted the award for Best Revival of a Musical and said, “Patti, it is an honor to be the person who pays your wage.
” To those at home who are participating in the Stingers game: Cheers! This year’s Tony Awards were caught in a single instant. Broadway has bounced back from the brink of destruction, but Friday night’s awards gala, like the season it honors, had its share of heartache. Many winners acknowledged the understudies and swings who kept the shows going when the actors had a covid breakdown.
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Anthony Edwards.
Prior to awarding Phylicia Rashad (Skeleton Crew) an honorary degree, Marcia Gay Harden informed the audience that Broadway’s covid safety managers were in attendance. Unlike the A-listers in the crowd below, they were masked in the balcony. Actor Anthony Edwards reminisced about the night he went on stage with a script in hand during a cast shortage in “Girl from the North Country,” which stars his wife, Mare Winningham.
The broadcast was divided in half, as it was the year before. Act One, a euphemism for the opening hour, was simulcast on Paramount+ and focused on the less interesting categories. I was ready to open a LuPone-sized can of fury at Angela Lansbury’s relegation to the warmup hour, which included a lifetime achievement award. However, Lansbury was not present, so it was good.
Hosting an Awards Ceremony.
Darren Criss and Julianne Hough hosted the hour, which was both rapid and sedate. Their cheerleader energy appeared to irritate even themselves. “My lips are adhering to my teeth because my mouth is so dry!” After their opening act, a schmaltzy tune penned by Criss, Hough murmured, stretching her brilliant red lips into a painful grimace. When the show debuted on CBS and Ariana DeBose took over as host, the tempo and energy were both cranked up a notch.
Everyone is aware of DeBose’s enormous skill; her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s production of “West Side Story” earned her an Oscar just three months prior. However, not every talented performer is capable of hosting an awards ceremony. For a thirty-year-old, DeBose looked like she’d done it a thousand times over. She was enthusiastic without being intrusive, comfortable in her own skin, and having a great time.
This Year’s Best Musical Winner.
This year’s Best Musical winner kicked things off with a dance sequence that was both modern and retro at the same time, with a white bodysuit, a bedazzled top and a wide-brimmed hat—Fosse meets Futurism—as the backdrop. “I’m so honored to be presenting the first Tony Awards since Broadway got its groove back,” she added, setting the tone of a laid-back virtuosity. Her Daffy Duck impression was later performed by Laurence Fishburne, whom she shimmed her way into the audience. She told him, “Rad.” Who would have thought it?
The night, as DeBose noted early on, showed a more inclusive Broadway. While the phrase “Great White Way” used to be used as an instruction manual, “I feel like it’s becoming more of a nickname,” she quipped. For his work on the score to “Six,” Toby Marlow had previously become the first openly nonbinary Tony Award recipient.
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An American Broadway Production.
The fact that L Morgan Lee (“A Strange Loop”) was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, the first time a transgender actor had been nominated, suggests that gender breakdowns at award events may become unworkable in the future. It was “A Strange Loop,” which won Best Musical, that showed that Broadway had finally caught up to the times.
An American Broadway production that declares itself to be “huge,” “Black,” and “queer-as-ss,” the show is Michael R. Jackson’s metatheatrical masterpiece that took him over two decades to complete and for which he was awarded the Tony for Best Book of a Musical in an exquisite magenta robe.
“Representation is a hot-button topic.” Aside from representation, Jackson emphasized the need to “never settle” and remarked, “Let’s make sure we are always on our grind.” “Just do your best.” Deirdre O’Connell, the star of Lucas Hnath’s unique “Dana H.”, won the leading-actress prize and dedicated her victory to the self-doubting future Broadway creators, calling it a “little sign to you from the universe to make the weird art,” which was a nice reminder to push past the back-patting “progress” of awards shows.
The Tony Awards.
“MJ” was not the only Michael Jackson to show up at the Tony Awards, due to “A Strange Loop.” With its lighting and sound design, Christopher Wheeldon’s choreography (which he also directed), and Myles Frost’s performance as the King of Pop, the musical received four honors at the Tony Awards. A performance of “Smooth Criminal” that showcased Frost’s lightning-quick moves more than justified his four Grammys.
Nevertheless, the show’s technical brilliance might leave you feeling dazzled and uneasy with the subject matter’s silence, both in the musical and at the Tonys. As I watched “Smooth Criminal,” I was reminded of a song from the Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster musical “The Music Man.” Even though it didn’t win any Tonys, the popular revival did a good job representing itself with a tap-and-trombone-driven climax. One of the themes of “The Music Man” is how the entertainment industry can enthrall us and lead us to believe we’re being deceived.
A Parade of British Winners.
Happiness prevailed, for the most part, that night. It was Billy Crystal’s Borscht Belt routine from “Mr. Saturday Night” that he enlisted Samuel L. Jackson to perform “Yiddish scat” at the Grammy Awards. Scream “Oy!'” The eleven-o’clock performance from “Paradise Square,” “Let It Burn,” by Joaquina Kalukango, shook Radio City Music Hall to its foundations, and her acceptance speech for the Best Leading Actress in a Musical award was just as raw and emotional.
“The Lehman Trilogy,” which won Best Play, was greeted by a parade of British winners. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who played a baseball-mad accountant in “Take Me Out” (which also won for best revival of a play), and Matt Doyle, who played a cold-footed groom in “Company,” both received featured-actor prizes for their performances as joyful gay neuroses. (Chris Harper is also responsible for his wages.) Reuniting with the 2006 hit indie-rock musical “Spring Awakening,” the cast once again made the case for Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s composition.
Tony Awards Were a Success.
All in all, this year’s Tony Awards were a successful sales pitch for Broadway that didn’t resort to sentimentality or sentimentalization. Despite the many obstacles, stunted tourism, and overworked understudies, Broadway appears to have regained its groove, and the work on display felt new and forward-looking to me. The death of Stephen Sondheim last year was a poignant reason to take a look back.
It was a low-key tribute, but it served its purpose. Bernadette Peters, Sondheim’s most famous muse, sang “Children Will Listen,” which featured excerpts of the master talking about teaching and how art is a kind of education. Broadway is what Sondheim made it, but the extent to which he influenced subsequent generations suggests that he may have had an even greater impact. “A Strange Loop” opens with a nod to the opening number of “Company,” two pioneering musicals are written decades apart but presented on the same night. The path of art is a curious one. All-Time Favorites of the New Yorker.
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