Accidental Tony Watching
So, I didn't intend to watch the Tony's last night, but I did after all. I forgot that what I like about the Tony's is seeing the musical performances that happen, always so much fun. And this year was especially exciting if you follow theater in Chicago. Chicago Shakespeare Theater won the Regional Theater Tony. And Steppenwolf's August: Osage County was up for 7 Tony's. They won quite a lot of them too (5), and I definitely felt very proud for them.
There were other great moments, one of the most impressive being the original cast of Rent all coming on stage and singing Seasons of Love together with the current cast. That was very impressive.
One of the things that seemed to confuse and impress the audience in the theater (and certainly me) was the acceptance speech by Mark Rylance, who won for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.
“When you are in town wearing some kind of a uniform is helpful, policeman, priest, etc. Driving a tank is very impressive, or a car with official lettering on the side. If that isn’t to your taste, you could join the revolution, wear an armband, carry a homemade flag tied to a broom handle, or a placard bearing an incendiary slogan. At the very least you should wear a suit and carry a briefcase and a cell phone, or wear a team jacket and a baseball cap and carry a cell phone. If you’re in the woods, the back country, someplace past all human habitation, it is a good idea to wear orange and carry a gun and, or, depending on the season, carry a fishing pole or a camera with a big lens. Otherwise…I will wrap it up now very quickly…otherwise it might appear that you have no idea what you are doing and you are merely wandering the earth, no particular reason for being here, no particular place to go. Thanks very much for this.”
It sounded off-the-cuff, it sounded rambling, and strange, and beautiful. And it turns out to be a prose poem by Minnesota Poet Lewis Jenkins (minus, clearly, the inserts based on time and thanks). It was certainly different, and held your attention. And was a little less scary than Patti LuPone yelling at the orchestra to not cut her off...
There were other great moments, one of the most impressive being the original cast of Rent all coming on stage and singing Seasons of Love together with the current cast. That was very impressive.
One of the things that seemed to confuse and impress the audience in the theater (and certainly me) was the acceptance speech by Mark Rylance, who won for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.
“When you are in town wearing some kind of a uniform is helpful, policeman, priest, etc. Driving a tank is very impressive, or a car with official lettering on the side. If that isn’t to your taste, you could join the revolution, wear an armband, carry a homemade flag tied to a broom handle, or a placard bearing an incendiary slogan. At the very least you should wear a suit and carry a briefcase and a cell phone, or wear a team jacket and a baseball cap and carry a cell phone. If you’re in the woods, the back country, someplace past all human habitation, it is a good idea to wear orange and carry a gun and, or, depending on the season, carry a fishing pole or a camera with a big lens. Otherwise…I will wrap it up now very quickly…otherwise it might appear that you have no idea what you are doing and you are merely wandering the earth, no particular reason for being here, no particular place to go. Thanks very much for this.”
It sounded off-the-cuff, it sounded rambling, and strange, and beautiful. And it turns out to be a prose poem by Minnesota Poet Lewis Jenkins (minus, clearly, the inserts based on time and thanks). It was certainly different, and held your attention. And was a little less scary than Patti LuPone yelling at the orchestra to not cut her off...
posted by cep at
8:46 AM
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