Top Five Performances: 2017 Tony Awards

*Disclaimer: Rounding off my old write-ups involving Kevin Spacey. I didn’t know he was such a predator when I wrote it, but it still makes me cringe to look back on it now. As much as we might like to associate talent with being a decent human being, that obviously isn’t the case, and Spacey’s talent doesn’t make up for his crimes.*

Wrapping up this year’s Tony’s, as usual, with my favorite performances from the telecast.  As I said in my review of the ceremony, not quite the wealth we had last year, but there was still some great stuff to enjoy.

Opening Number

While I don’t expect Kevin Spacey to be joining Les Miz anytime soon, I thought he had a nice voice and carried the opening number well.  And even though I didn’t know the songs they were parodying, I liked the lyrics of the song, all centering around Spacey’s insecurities about hosting (including worries about past hosts) and building up his confidence to be ready for the night.  Clever and fun.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Some Tony performances can’t pull off getting the audience involved, but I think this one managed it pretty well; it felt like a realistic old-world party that was spilling over the edge of the stage, all lights and colorful costumes and exuberant dancers and accordion-playing.  For me, the jury’s still out on Josh Groban – while his singing was obviously beautiful, I didn’t see enough to get any sense of his character, and I’m not sure how “Josh Groban on Broadway” his performance is.

War Paint

Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole:  two classic Broadway divas going toe to toe in a period piece about powerful women both trying to take the reins of their industry.  Yes, please!  This is a show that intrigues me.

Bandstand

I’d never heard of this show, but it piqued my interest when it was mentioned in the intro to its performance that the production partners with groups working to help veterans readjust to civilian life.  But coolness aside, that’s extra – the performance itself was really energetic, a dance-heavy number with amazing choreography and great performers.

Dear Evan Hansen

You have to be really great to command the stage in a solo number (think Tonya Pinkins in Caroline, or Change or Sydney Lucas in Fun Home,) and this was, I think, a worthy addition to that club.  Ben Platt sounded gorgeous, and after having heard the show’s name a lot without hearing any of its music, the song was beautiful – lovely melody, and the lyrics hit on the emotion of adolescence without getting too tangled up in its angst.