Tony! Toni! Tone! (and Drammy, too)
By Bob Hicks
Well, it’s celebration season again — and not just because the Puddletown rains are threatening to finally go away (although they’ll surely come another day).
No, we’re talking about theater awards season. The Tony Awards, Broadway’s commerce-driven annual extravaganza, are Sunday night. And on Monday night at the Crystal Ballroom, Portland’s far more laid-back and generally convivial version, the Drammy Awards, celebrates the past year’s best on stage. As the R&B hitmakers Tony! Tony! Tone! so memorably put it:
It feels good, yeah
It feels good
Ooohh it feels good
It sure feels good to me.
Maybe not so good to un-nominated shows and the non-winners in the Tony races, where a win or a loss can make or break a show and a well-placed victory can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars, both in the continuing Broadway run and the eventual national tours. Patrick Healy has a good handicapping in Friday morning’s New York Times; read it here. One guess: In the best-musical category, there’ll be a Most Happy Fela! Yes, the ceremony will be on TV. As they say, check your local listings.
Unlike the Tonys, the Drammys don’t announce any finalists: You show up for the party and wait for the winners — often a handful in each category — to be announced. Because almost all of the shows under consideration have already closed, the commercial pressure’s off and it’s more of a celebratory group hug. A couple of years ago Mr. Scatter was awarded a Drammy basically because he’d hung around a long time (like Peter Sellers, he was honored for Being There) and it felt like … well, check those triple-Tony lyrics above.
This is a good party, and it’s free, if you don’t count the drinks. Shmoozing starts at 6 and the ceremony at 7; the suave and funny Michael O’Connell will be master of ceremonies. The Crystal Ballroom is at 1332 West Burnside Street, just a jog away from the Best Big Bookstore in the Known Universe. See you there.
June 15th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Aftermath report: a good time was had by all. Mr. and Mrs. Scatter were graciously hosted at a ringside table by the gentlemanly Mr. Mead Hunter, who also pulled a gaggle of fine theatrical citizens into his benevolent circle.
Two highlights: The Drammy committee bestowed a lifetime achievement award on Kay Vega, who has been quietly pulling the strings to make Lakewood Theatre a model community theater since roughly the time when Ethel Barrymore was an ingenue; and the committee awarded its first-ever producer Drammy to the deeply deserving Greg Tamblyn, who threw everything, including the passion, into his production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.” Plus, there were some good knock-knock jokes.
A full list of winners is here: http://www.drammy.info/2009-2010.html
June 16th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I spotted you and your consort across the room, but lost you in the melee of actors jostling for the bar. I was hoping to be seen confabbing with you to earn a little street cred with the theater crowd. I missed the Award show at which you were feted a few years ago.
June 16th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
We spotted you, too, bobbing about in the waves out there beyond reach. We tried to reach you but the human undertow was too strong. Glad to hear you didn’t drown.
June 17th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
As Tony Toni Tone might also have said, “If the rhythm feels good to you, baby let me hear you say — go Mr. Scatter!”
I’m bummed I didn’t make it back from Ashland in time to join you at the Marvelous Mead Table.
June 18th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Bummed you didn’t make it back in time, too, Hugs. Eagerly awaiting your Ashland report, though.