For a second season, the live telecast of the Tony® Awards, on June 8, was augmented, at the Ice Palace, by live performances by singers mostly doing songs from past Tony®-winning musicals, during the commercial breaks. The show here was hosted by Brandon Cutrell, the pianist was Brandon James Gwinn, and DJ Chuck McTague was responsible for sound, lights, and tirelessly coordinating the telecast and our live contributions.
We cheered as we watched Hugh Jackman hosting the show at Radio City Music Hall; “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” director Darko Tresnjak thanking his husband and his mother; RuPaul introducing a scene from “Hedwig” with Tony® winners Neil Patrick Harris and Lena Hall; and a tearful Audra McDonald accepting her Best Actress in a Play award for portraying Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.”
On stage in Cherry Grove, Natalie Joy Johnson and Kevin Smith Kirkwood came directly from performing in the matinee of “Kinky Boots” on Broadway to sing, respectively, “Origin of Love,” from “Hedwig,” and “God Bless the Child.” Mike Cruz, from Fire Island Pines, sang “I’ll Be Here,” from Andrew Lippa’s “Wild Party.” Emily Mattheson (Stonewall Sensation) gave us “Maybe This Time,” from “Cabaret,” and “Get Out and Stay Out,” from “Nine to Five.” Newcomer Jeremy Abram’s songs were “On the Street Where You Live,” from “My Fair Lady,” and gay anthem “Over the Rainbow,” from “The Wizard of Oz.” Nightlife Icon Kenny Holcomb sang “That’s Life.” And this writer offered “This Nearly Was Mine,” from “South Pacific,” and “I Am What I Am,” another gay anthem, from “La Cage aux Folles.”
For those who filled out ballots and best predicted the award winners, there were prizes of tickets for “Rocky,” on Broadway, and for Linda Eder on July 12 and Jackie Hoffman on August 9, on Daniel Nardicio’s Icon Series at the Ice Palace.