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<\/a>The 2012 Tonys introduced most Americans to Tony Award winner James Corden, who’s also featured in the image at the top of this page, hosting the awards telecast just a few years later.<\/p><\/div>\n
As I wrote once before, my poor Broadway-musical-loving friend, Noelle Hannibal, had just driven down to New York City from Montreal, Canada, to see four musicals in forty-eight hours. The first day went well, but when she got to the theatre the following afternoon, the management made an announcement that Broadway was closing down that very second, for the foreseeable future. How disappointing for her. And for all the performers.\u00a0\u00a0And tourists. And everyone who cares about live theatre.<\/p>\n
So right away, with so many shows not opening, fans started wondering what would happen with the Tonys. As the new version of our collective reality began to set in, I think we all realized if there was any possible way the Tonys would go ahead in 2020, it wouldn\u2019t be anytime soon.<\/p>\n
And now we know that it won\u2019t even be this year at all. They\u2019ll either call this season a wash, or just combine this abbreviated one with next year\u2019s. (Assuming Broadway will get to open by 2021!!! And people will be able to congregate once again.)<\/p>\n
<\/a>The old movie, Grease. (L-R) Jeff Conaway, Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, and Stockard Channing.<\/p><\/div>\n
But CBS just basically piled on this week. Since they now have those two empty hours to fill, they decided to run\u2026the old movie version of the musical\u00a0Grease<\/em>! How absolutely insulting to every Broadway performer ever!!! Everything about that decision is wrong. First of all, it\u2019s a\u00a0movie<\/em>\u00a0filling the spot of a tribute to live theatre<\/em>!!! Second of all, out of that entire very large cast, only John Travolta and the late Jeff Conaway have ever appeared on Broadway. And outside of those two and Olivia Newton-John, no one in the film is even a very good singer. (That aspect of this debacle might be okay, though, because on top of everything else, this will be a singalong version, so the viewers at home can just drown them out.)<\/p>\n But the most egregious element of this horrible decision that CBS made is its downright insensitivity. There are any number of ways that Tonys night could be commemorated on their network in place of the awards show, using Broadway performers, instead of this Grease<\/em> stupidity. Shame on CBS! How about a sing-along led by Tony winner, (and both CBS and audience favorite) James Corden?! Featuring known Broadway stars. I’m sure that even Hugh Jackman would be more than happy to participate. And so would Neil Patrick Harris. The list could go on and on. I think the entire world, not just Broadway aficionados, would love seeing all that.<\/p>\n