The Good, The Bad & The Tonys
You know summer is just around the corner when the movie studios start to unleash big budget films, the current season of television begins to wind down, and Broadway announces its nominations for the Tony Awards. I’ve experienced a little of each this week…
The Good - I went and saw Iron Man on Tuesday, which for me was an awesome start to the summer blockbuster season. Being supported by both rave reviews and spectacular boxoffice ($188 million domestically to date, with another $165 million overseas), I would have been rather surprised had I not enjoyed it. And in case you haven’t already heard or read it somewhere else, if you’re planning on seeing the flick, hang in there thru the ending credits. What follows can best be described as confirmation of the (now) inevitable sequel(s). The always interesting Robert Downey, Jr. shines in the title role and it’s really nice to finally see Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges in a hit movie; they’re all exceptional actors.
The Bad – I could barely stay awake earlier this week as the final episode of the season for MTV’s The Hills came to its conclusion. I’ve been a big fan of the guiltiest pleasure on television since it first aired, but after sitting through this mini-season and waiting (and waiting and waiting) for something exciting to happen, I’m in total agreement (see my “The Hills Are Alive…” blog entry) with the current issue of Entertainment Weekly when it keenly observes that if the show doesn’t do something soon to keep its audience interested, then “it may be time to head for a new set of hills”.
The Tonys – I’ve never been the kind of fag to pay a lot of attention to Broadway shows or the Tony Awards (to be televised on June 15) for that matter—which isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy Broadway when I’m visiting the Big Apple–but that all changed when I saw Xanadu on Broadway last summer. For anyone familiar with my blog, you’ll remember me first going on about how the infamous 1980 Olivia Newton-John cult classic musical (an oddity that I absolutely love, for the record) was going to be made into a Broadway show; and then I was thrilled when it opened to unexpected rave reviews from many of the influential theater critics in NYC turning it into the surprise hit of the season; and then how all of the hype that I had absorbed on-line about the show was effortlessly surpassed by my ecstatic reaction when I saw Xanadu in person in the summer of 2007. Since then, I’ve made weekly visits to the Broadway World site to monitor how the show is doing (over 400 performances to date, and $12 million plus at the boxoffice) and have continued to check the cool Xanadu on Broadway website on a very regular basis. So you can imagine my delight when it recently picked up an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical and then earlier this week was nominated for 4 Tonys, too: Best Musical, Actress, Book, and Choreography. I was disappointed and shocked that Cheyenne Jackson (as talented as he is hunky) wasn’t nominated in the Actor category, or that Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman (as deliciously evil muses) were overlooked. Needless to say, this will be the first time ever that I watch the Tony Awards; here’s hoping it will be worth my while!
God (or Goddess) only knows what treasures and/or turds await me next week…
Cheerio!
S.R.
