Top Five Performances: 2025 Tony Awards

This post is coming to you later than I expected. Recently, my not-exactly-dormant-but-more-backburner obsession with Our Flag Means Death walked in, smacked me across the face, and said, “The Gentleman Pirate, I presume?” As such, I don’t have a lot of interest in engaging with stuff other than Our Flag Means Death right now, and I wrote this very gradually, in bite-sized chunks. So while I’m rewatching the show, I probably won’t be posting much beyond previously-written stuff that I already had locked and loaded, mostly Other Doctors Lives and Y tu Luna también. I know I’ll be getting back to Doctor Who and other stuff eventually—not to mention more Our Flag Means Death-related posts—but for now, I’m taking a breather and letting the hyperfixation guide me.

But even though my all-consuming interest is currently in a short-lived pirate romcom that was unjustly canceled a year-and-a-half ago, it was quite an interesting Tonys this year. We got a good, eclectic mix of shows, and it took some doing to pick out a Top Five from the many performances on display.

 

Floyd Collins

I’ve always liked this show, and I hadn’t realized there was a revival of it starring Jeremy Jordan! After the ensemble opened with “Ballad of Floyd Collins,” Jordan came on to perform “The Call.” I love how the lighting, combined with Jordan’s movements and the echo effects, effectively created the impression that he actually was moving through a cave. And no surprise, Jordan sounded terrific.

Hamilton

Look, tell me it’s “cringe” if you want. I know the politics are incredibly 2015. I still love it, and this 10-year reunion performance made me vibrate with excitement. I loooooove that it was a montage that gave almost every character a moment in the spotlight (if I recall correctly, Anthony Ramos is the only major cast member who wasn’t featured.) I mean, “Non-Stop”? “My Shot”? “The Schuyler Sisters”? “Guns and Ships”? “The Battle of Yorktown”? “The Room Where It Happens”? “History Has Its Eyes on You”? I wasn’t even thinking about the fact that Jonathan Groff would be there too, coming in with a bit of “You’ll Be Back.” Just hit after hit after hit. Not one person missed, everyone looked cool in their black formal wear (with bonus red jacket for Groff!), and each new segue brought me fresh waves of excitement!

 

Maybe Happy Ending

I loved this sweet, charming performance of “Chasing Fireflies / Never Fly Away.” Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen were both adorable as a pair of helper robots searching for fireflies, which they considered “little forest robots.” And having a firefly on the end of the conductor’s baton was just a beautiful touch!

 

Operation Mincemeat

I didn’t know anything about Operation Mincemeat, but this performance definitely got me interested in the show. Their number, “Born to Lead,” savaged the Eton-type MI5 upper brass with sly, clever lyrics. Unlike the RAF or naval soldiers, these men don’t know much about flying or sailing, but that doesn’t stop them from being in charge—their repeated refrain is, “For some were born to follow, / But we were born to lead.” Another line I loved is, “For fortune favors bravery, / And a fortune’s what I’ve got!” Great performance!

 

Pirates!

My prevailing thought while watching this performance was, “I bet this show is so much fun.” The cast performed two numbers, “Sail the Ocean Blue” and “Washboards,” and they were charming, entertaining, and energetic. I don’t know much about The Pirates of Penzance, and I don’t know what series of events leads the whole cast to dance while playing washboards together, but it was a delight. Just fun!

Top Five Gags: Seven Chances

I must’ve been sleeping on the job, because I missed the 100-year anniversary of the release of Seven Chances. It came out on March 15, 1925, but I’ll play a little catchup and write about it now. Seven Chances doesn’t have nearly as many phenomenal comic sequences as some of Buster’s films do.  However, the one major comedic set piece, the bridal chase, is quite the doozy, and three of my top five gags are from that epic chase scene.

 

An Important Sit-Down

Seven Chances feels rather generic at times as a film, but this little throwaway bit of business is so Buster.  Once the lawyer finally gets Jimmie’s attention, Jimmie and his partner sit the lawyer down to talk.  In tandem, they bring chairs to set on either side of him and then both sit on the edge of the desk, resting their feet on the chair rungs.  Ha!

 

Proposal on the Go

While some of the proposals are pretty fun, this one is easily the best.  Getting desperate, Jimmie asks a passing motorist to marry him and waits so distractedly for his answer that he drives his car half-up a tree.  Great timing, even better visual.

 

What’s the Time?

Frantic to get to Mary’s house before 7 (and before the brides tear him limb from limb,) Jimmie is trying to figure what time it is, and the universe is plotting against him.  A few terrific gags here, especially when Jimmie stops at a store window filled with clocks and is dismayed to see that each one displays a different time: it’s a repair shop.

 

Throwing Bricks

Here’s a fun sight gag in the middle of the chase.  A bricklayer is putting up a wall, and as the brides pass by, one of them stops to grab one of the still-wet bricks to throw at Jimmie.  A few more avail themselves of the wall, and then the entire crowd, and when the brides swarm away, the whole wall has disappeared.

 

Rolling Boulders

Of course this one was on here—it’s the crowning jewel of Seven Chances.  The brides have been chasing Jimmie over hill and dale, and he’s tearing down a steep hill when he accidentally dislodges a few small rocks with his feet.  They in turn dislodge bigger rocks, which dislodge bigger rocks, and soon, Jimmie has a fleet of stones on his tail, ranging in size from pebbles to boulders, as he races to the bottom of the hill.  This gag started as a mistake.  In the initial cut of the film, Buster didn’t notice that he accidentally nudged a few rocks loose in his run down the hill, not until a test audience noticed it and thought it was hilarious.  Always someone willing to improve his work, and never one to do things by half measures, Buster had hundreds of fake rocks made and arranged on the hill in order to shoot the sequence as it is now.

Top Five Songs: Wicked: Part 1

When I posted my review of the movie, I checked my blog to see what else I’d written about Wicked and was surprised to find only one other post, a review of the book. I really haven’t written about the show at all! I suppose I was long past my teenage Wicked years by the time I started this blog, but I still hadn’t expected that. It’s all right, though—it just means I can write all kinds of stuff about the movie without doubling up from old posts! It turns out one good reason that Wicked was split into two movies is that now I’ll be able to do two different Top Five Songs write-ups.

 

“No One Mourns the Wicked” – Strong opening number. Ariana Grande is just instantly Glinda from head to toe, her singing lovely and her acting fantastic. I love the needle she threads as Glinda moves through the celebrating crowd, especially when she sees the giant effigy the Munchkinlanders have built of Elphaba.

Best lyric: “Yes, goodness knows the wicked’s lives are lonely. / Goodness knows the wicked cry alone. / Nothing grows for the wicked, they reap only / What they’ve sown.”

 

“What Is This Feeling?” – This is a really entertaining number, Elphaba and Galinda going toe-to-toe in song while their roommate squabbles escalate onscreen. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande sound terrific together, and I like how their feud about Galinda’s trunks taking over the room carries into the dining hall and their classrooms. The choreography toward the end is a lot of fun!

Best lyric: “Though I do admit it came on fast, / Still I do believe that it can last. / And I will be loathing, / Loathing you / My whole life long!”

 

“Dancing Through Life” – Love! I enjoyed this song in the Broadway cast recording, but I adore it in the movie. In terms of staging and choreography, it’s one of the best set pieces in the film—those revolving circular bookcases, my god! It’s easy to see everyone falling in love with Fiyero throughout the number, and Jonathan Bailey plays the role to a tee. The more story-driven second half of the song comes off really well too, flowing from location to location, with the music weaving in and out between the dialogue.

Best lyric: “Dancing through life down at the Ozdust / If only because dust is what we come to. / Nothing matters but knowing nothing matters, / It’s just life, / So keep dancing through.”

 

“Popular” – It might be an obvious crowd-pleaser, but for good reason! It’s an utter delight to watch Galinda attempt to make Elphaba over while espousing her philosophy—she’s so gloriously extra and kooky! I also like that, even though Elphaba is overwhelmed and apprehensive about this whole thing, we do see her getting into the spirit of it at different points.

Best lyric: “It’s all about popular. / It’s not about aptitude— / It’s the way you’re viewed. / So it’s very shrewd to be / Very, very popular / Like me!”

 

“Defying Gravity” – If I was going purely off the soundtrack, there’d definitely be more Elphaba on this list—Cynthia Erivo’s voice, my god! But I’m looking at the numbers as a whole within the film, and as much as I love “The Wizard and I” and “I’m Not that Girl,” the visuals on those songs don’t pull me in as strongly as the others on this list do. If there’s a quintessential showcase for Elphaba, though, it’s obviously “Defying Gravity.” And wow, does she stun! Some fans have complained about how protracted the larger scene is, but I like the way the song swells in and out, with bits of action and dialogue interspersed within it. Erivo is at the absolute top of her game—she and Grande are both heartbreaking in the quieter parts, and Erivo blows the roof off the big finish. This whole scene was a moment, and a breathtaking way to end the film.

Best lyric: “Too long I’ve been afraid of / Losing love, I guess I’ve lost. / Well, if that’s love, if comes at much too high a cost.”

Big Neurodivergent Energy Shows: 11-15

Mostly sitcoms today. I feel like sitcoms in general lend themselves well to neurodivergent interpretations, with lots of quirky characters who have outsized reactions to things. But there’s a difference between “yeah, I could see that” ND interpretations and “omg, autistic/ADHD AF!!!” ND interpretations. And these shows? Far more the latter!

 

Abbott Elementary

I went into this show knowing that a lot of autistic folks claim Gregory, and he’s positively spectacular—episode about safe foods! Not a drill! But I wasn’t prepared to get bowled over by the rest of the cast, especially my beloved Janine. She and Gregory are my favorite workplace sitcom will-they-won’t-they since Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt (surprise, surprise!) A beautiful show with room for all kinds of brains, including Melissa being canonically dyslexic!

 

Community

It’s not just Abed, which it is. It’s not just some of the other characters, which it is. It’s the lovingly intricate pop culture references and long-game commitment to bits. It’s the theme of broken, lonely people who are better when they’re together. It’s the turn of the jokes and the depth of the existential crises. A beautifully autistic show that’s often brilliant and sometimes messy, one that resonates with me on so many levels.

 

Good Omens

Production on season 3 has paused for now, which is good (ugh, Neil Gaiman, why?), but even if my feelings about the show have grown more complicated due to behind-the-scenes issues, I still really love these characters and their relationship. I love how Aziraphale and Crowley both feel autistic to me in completely different ways, which contributes to them fitting so well together despite having such different sensibilities. Really excited to see these two find their happy ending!

 

The Good Place

Like Community, this is a show with a great “freebie” autistic-coded character in Chidi, but he’s just a gateway to discovering how neurodivergent the show feels as a whole. I love every single one of the characters and how they interact with one another, the wordplay is delicious, and I love the notion that people aren’t “good” or “bad” but are always capable of better, especially with the love and support of those around them. And come on, this is a network sitcom that regularly features ruminations on moral philosophy! You love to see it.

 

We Are Lady Parts

I feel like there’s some strong overlap between neurodivergence and punk, so this show might’ve had Big ND Energy no matter what, but the neurodivergent coding is definitely strong with this one. Most of the characters give off a vibe, but most especially Amina and Saira. Like Aziraphale and Crowley, they have such polar-opposite traits but fit together so well. I love both of them so much, and I adore the show’s heart, bite, and quirkiness.  

Big Neurodivergent Energy Shows: 6-10

Note: Just because none of these shows were listed in my 1-5 Big Neurodivergent Energy shows, it doesn’t mean any of them are less, either in their neurodivergent coding or in my love for them! This entry wound up heavy on the animation side, with three of the five shows being animated, which is kinda fun. I love all of these shows and their characters so much!

 

3Below

Neurodivergent-coded alien siblings for the win! I haven't posted about this show yet, but I have a ton of Y tu Luna tambien reviews in the can for it. I love that Krel and Aja both feel so autistic (probably AuDHD in Aja’s case) in such different ways, that they think and act very differently but are still there for each other no matter what. And I love that, while they’re aliens, their neurodivergent coding goes beyond “just” being alien—both had the same traits on Akiridion-5, they’re just perhaps more evident on Earth.

 

Bob’s Burgers

This is a show with a clear “freebie” character in Tina, the gateway neurodivergent-coded character who gradually opened me up to seeing the neurodivergence in the others—namely, the rest of the family! I love that all the Belchers feel autistic and/or ADHD in varied and interesting ways, and that they always love and support each other even when they don’t fully understand each other. Their different traits clash often, and both Bob and Linda are open about admitting when they don’t quite have a handle on things parenting-wise, but every Belcher has space to be who they are, which is fantastic to see.

 

DuckTales

Much like Bob’s Burgers, this show can be viewed as a potent example of neurodivergence being genetic. From the triplets, to Donald and Della, to of course Scrooge himself, the whole Duck family feels packed with autism and ADHD—not to mention my beloved Webby! I like that all of them are weird and intense and obsessive, but that those traits make them excellent at adventuring, each in their own particular ways. Oh, and the show also ably demonstrates how neurodivergent folks tend to seek each other out. I swear, there’s not one neurotypical bird in this entire “extended family” circle.

 

Scrubs

Scrubs was a pretty early entry in the list of “my” shows. I loved its whimsy and wackiness, its collection of quirky characters, and its potent mixture of silly comedy and heartfelt drama. It’s been quite while since I’ve revisited the series, so I couldn’t as easily bust out a list of examples for my neurodivergent headcanons, but like Ted Lasso (another series Bill Lawrence was involved in,) this is a sitcom where the many quirky characters feel quirky in specifically neurodivergent ways.

 

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Like the book series before it, the Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events exudes Big Neurodivergent Energy. For starters, while a lot of the major characters—the noble ones in particular—are well-read and curious, and they all have one subject that they have a passion for. We’ve got Violet’s inventions, Klaus’s research, Sunny’s cooking (which itself was born out of her sensory-seeking behavior of exploring her environment with her teeth.) What are these if not special interests? And it goes beyond the Baudelaires. From herpetology to grammar to couplets, the series is full of eccentric characters who devote their time and attention to one overriding interest. Much respect!