ace's blog

I wince a little whenever I see the Tony Awards tagline, “There’s a little bit of Broadway in everyone,” but I can live with the discomfort because it is my favorite awards show. I always watch the Academy Awards, I often watch the Emmys, and I’ll never forget when Christine Lahti was in the bathroom when she won the Golden Globe for Chicago Hope in 1998; but the Tony Awards feature big song and dance numbers. They’re the gayest awards show out there, with all the men (and the occasional woman) thanking their same-sex partners, and the acting awards winners give good speeches because they’re comfortable in front of a live audience. So really, they’re just great.

Speaking of great, there are a couple of really great things about this year’s nominations, which were announced earlier this week. Most importantly, The New Mel Brooks Musical: Young Frankenstein did not get nominated for Best Musical or for Best Book of a Musical. In fact, the show only got a couple of reasonably well-deserved acting nominations and a scenic design nod. Now, I might have picked Megan Mullally over Andrea Martin for Best Featured Actress, but I take no issue with the strength of the performances.

The issue I take is with the never-ending comments about how well-endowed the monster is. (You may have guessed that I did not love Young Frankenstein and that I am so over Mel Brooks.)

The other really great thing is that two of the four Best Director of a Play nominees are women — that’s a full one-half, people! (At the Academy Awards, it’s still fairly rare to get one female nominee, and I’m still stewing that Kasi Lemmons didn’t get nominated last year for Talk to Me.)