BROADWAY UNDERCOVER

“It left a very bad taste in my mouth,” she says. “I shouldn’t be cut off from making a speech after being nominated so many times and then finally winning at the age of 70 — whatever it was. I want nothing to do with the Tonys. I’ve lost my Tony. I don’t even know where the hell it is. No idea,and I don’t give a [expletive] either. I really don’t. And what the [expletive] are the Tonys doing in Radio City Music Hall anyway? This is the American Theater, not the Rockettes.”

Broadway stars descended upon Radio City Music Hall Sunday morning for the Tony Awards dress rehearsal.   For Broadway fans like us, it’s the highlight of our year as we watch the casts gather, mingle and perform.   Mistakes are made and many a naughty word flies out of the most unexpected mouths.   Cues are missed, fake awards are distributed to “for this rehearsal only” winners and vintage TV commercials are played for the crowd during breaks.   In other words, it’s Broadway utopia!

Most of the actors showed up this year for rehearsal.   It’s fun to watch them - some are much smoother than others, some are much more amusing than others.   Mary Louise Parker worried that she sounded like an “a-hole,” and Lilly Tomlin barely got through it.  Kristin Chenoweth kept true to her personality and giggled the entire time.  And Whoopi Goldberg was quite an entertaining host even at the rehearsal.

As the casts of the different shows filed in and sat in the orchestra waiting to perform, you could feel the camaraderie of the special club to which they belong.   It was fun to see the intricate costumes up close and personal.  We watched as they stretched and warmed up preparing to hit the stage.  They seemed to seize the moment with one another to catch up.  Mostly, they all seemed thrilled to be at Radio City for the coveted Tony Awards.  You could truly feel the joy.

Then there were the dramatic moments of the morning.  Patti LuPone was set to do her thing from Gypsy.   She flubbed the first line of dialogue and seemed ill at ease.  She started to sing “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and abruptly said to stop because she couldn’t hear the music.  Then she addressed the “Tony people” and told them to “please put the orchestra in the pit,” referring to the obvious absence of that stellar group of music makers.   She echoed the sentiments of the audience as applause erupted in agreement throughout the theatre.  It made for a tense couple of moments while they tried to fix the problem.  She started again and didn’t disappoint with an electrifying rendition of a song that she has made her own.  But when there was a screw up with the Sunday in the Park with George number, Jenna Russell was very sweet and non-diva-like as she waited for it to be rectified.

It was also fun to watch John Waters looking quite pleased as he watched the cast of his baby, Cry Baby, perform the show’s best dance number “I’m a Little Upset.”   And watching the original cast of Rent was fun — particularly when Idina Menzel sweetly nudged hubby Taye Diggs referencing how they met doing the show.

The amazing part is that when all is said and done, like all shows, despite all the problems in the morning rehearsal, the Tony telecast ran pretty seamlessly.

What a “strange” title for a Broadway show.

The phrase has many meanings but captures the essence of the new rock and roll musical with book and lyrics by Stew and the musical collaboration of Stew and Heidi Rodewald.  According to the Belasco playbill….’it applies in the context of people ’passing’ for what they are not - culturally, psychologically and so on” which is a perfect fit for this innovative and energetic new show which was first presented off-Broadway at the Public. 

It boasts a terrific score with high-power performances from a relatively unknown cast tracing the journey of “Youth” played with gusto by Daniel Breaker as he learns valuable life lessons along the way.   As founder, leader, singer and songwriter of The Negro Problem, a pop rock combo out of L.A., Stew split his time between two careers to create Passing Strange.  When asked about the creative process he said, “We started working on it in 2004, but you have to understand we didn’t work everyday.  We have lives…we’d go on tour…..so it wasn’t all the time but every once in a while till we started to get serious…We all discussed it together…always collaborating and getting other people’s opinions.” 

When the Tony Awards were mentioned Stew made it quite clear that he has a second career and said, “I don’t care about the Tony awards.”  He seemed, however, to truly enjoy the audience reaction both in the theatre and at the stage door.