The Tony Awards Are Sunday!

The Tony Awards are on Sunday and even if you’re not a theater geek or you’ve had your head under a rock, you are fairly certain that Lin-Manuel Miranda is going to take home quite a few Tony’s for Hamilton. Just ask Jamie, who’s seen it a few times since her post last year. I used to live in NYC and I miss it when it comes to live theater. I still have all of my playbills but I couldn’t list every show that I’ve seen or how many times I’ve seen them.

Beyond the juggernaut that is Hamilton, there are a few other amazing original musicals up for the prize like Bright Star, School of Rock – The Musical, Shuffle Along, and Waitress.

Bright Star is inspired by a true events that Steve Martin and Edie Brickell turned into a musical. Also set in the 1920’s Shuffle Along follows the true story of a musical sensation that took Broadway by storm almost 100 years ago. School of Rock and Waitress are based on the movies but turned musicals by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sara Bareilles respectively.

There is more to Broadway than just musicals. The nominated revivals of plays like The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, Blackbird, Long Day’s Journey into Night and Noises Off are all theater staples. I read from The Crucible for my audition for our School play many years ago.

James Corden

The show is being hosted by James Corden this year who will always be Craig from Doctor Who to me

But he’s no stranger to the Tony’s!  He won in 2012 for his performance as Francis Henshall in Richard Bean’s farce One Man, Two Guvnors. He won over 2016 nominee Frank Langella, as well as James Earl Jones, John Lithgow and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Watch his super cute acceptance speech here:

Being James Corden, he did what he does best. You may have heard he met up with a few friends to learn his way around NYC.

Amazing Best Actors & Actresses

There are so many talented people up for Best in their categories. The musical nominees are filled with amazing singers Laura Benanti, Megan Hilty, and the fantastic Andrea Martin (who I saw in Pippin! and which won her a Tony). The number of amazing actors that we know from film and TV are also up for the prize. There visibility from film and TV obviously drives audiences to the theaters but a Broadway crowd is discerning and you have to have strong chops to survive.

Until Sunday I leave you with my favorite Tony opening ever, with Neil Patrick Harris from 2013.

Until then, I’ll be in line at the Pantages waiting for Hamilton tickets to go on sale for 2017.

Have you been lucky enough to see Hamilton? What is your favorite Broadway Show? (Play or Musical) Let us know in the comments!