IN BETWEEN SHOWS: Finally, The Tony Awards

So much to discuss this week! As you must know by now, Guys and Dolls, the Broadway revival and my current gig, is closing this Sunday. It is never easy to get that kind of news and I am going to write all about it next week…but this week, THE TONYS!!!!

As a kid, the Tonys were my yearly chance to see what was going on in the world of Broadway. It was my opportunity to see performers do what they do best in a medium that, except for Tony Day, could only be viewed live and in person at a Broadway theater. What I didn’t know then that I know now, is how incredibly complicated and stressful it is to put on this kind of a show.

The week of the broadcast, all of the shows are busy in rehearsal at their own theaters putting together their numbers. On top of that, all of this year’s shows participated in the opening number, which was a “mash-up” of several different shows and songs. In my opinion, some of the combinations (us and West Side Story) made sense and worked. Other combinations, like Stockard Channing and Aaron Tveit singing a strange Pal Joey, Next to Normal duet just seemed strange; especially in light of the fact that everyone had just seen Bret Michaels possibly decapitated by an enormous sign that said “BROADWAY”. I guess it would be bad for that guy’s street cred to get killed on the stage of the Tony Awards, huh?

On Tony day, all of the participating performers are called to their own theaters to get into hair and make-up at 7:45AM. That’s right, after a two-show day that ends at 11PM, we have to be back at work at 7:45AM. So a very drowsy G&D company then loads onto a bus, in full 1930’s Gangster drag, bound for Radio City. Once there, we essentially do a full dress rehearsal of the Tony Awards. They go through the entire show, complete with numbers and awards. None of the actual nominees are sitting in their seats, so when they announce a winner they say, “And the winner of the Tony for this rehearsal only is…Christopher Sieber!” Then a seat filler gets to go on stage and accept the award as the person who wins. That’s right, at the dress rehearsal, a person pretends to be a person who pretends to win a Tony. In fact, my favorite seat filler this year had a fantastic speech about it always being her dream to win a rehearsal Tony award.

Rehearsing the opening was a trip, because there are literally hundreds of people in all kinds of costumes backstage. You see Shrek’s fairy-tale creatures mingling with Jets, Rock of Ages strippers hanging out with Hair’s hippies and everyone hanging out with Liza. That’s right, Liza Minnelli is like the mayor of the Tonys, wandering all over the theater and talking to everyone as if they were her oldest friend. At one point I found myself talking to her about Elton John not being able to come to rehearsal. She told me “I guess he’s not from our world.” It was a real thrill that Liza implied that she and I existed in the same “world” and that Elton John was excluded from our club. Take that Sir Elton!

The stage managers and directors (and Rob Ashford who staged the opening number) were absolutely heroic in dealing with the enormous number of people entering and exiting the stage. Once the opening number was tech-ed and rehearsed, everyone filed back onto their respective bus to wait for their show’s number to be performed. Once back on the bus, the adrenaline shuts off and everyone remembers how tired they really are… That’s the moment when the call comes to get off the bus and wait in line backstage to rehearse our number!

Once we finished dress rehearsal, we went back to our theater to take off our costumes. We then had about 2 hours to kill before we had to be back for our matinee performance. The Sunday matinee on Tony day is just about the worst show an audience can see, specifically if the show and its stars are involved in the Tonys. There is just no gas left in the tank to do the actual show with all of the stress, pressure, and exhaustion surrounding the broadcast. We at G&D would do the show as normal, but one look into the eyes of our cast-mates and it was apparent that our inner monologues were screaming “Let’s finish this so we can take a nap!”

When the show came down at 5:30PM, we had an hour for dinner before we had to return, get costumes on again, and file onto the bus for the actual trip to the Tonys. It was mayhem as Billy Elliots and 9 to 5-ers filed into the theater, all looking exhausted but exhilarated and ready for the big opening. I will never forget sitting backstage left watching Elton John at the piano while Poison, Dolly Parton and Brian D’Arcy James in full Shrek make-up, all paced nervously.

The opening number went off without a hitch with the exception of the sound. If you thought it was hard to hear at home, it was IMPOSSIBLE to hear on the stage of Radio City. The acoustics there are indeed brilliant, but because of all of the sound bouncing back from the house, there is a wicked echo and you feel like you’re singing in a time delay. It was all such a blur but, before we knew it, we were singing “Let the Sun Shine In” and being rushed back to our buses. Those with iphones were frantically checking Facebook and Twitter feeds to find out who had won, as there were no televisions on the buses.

Eventually, we were called back to perform “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” As we were set behind the Broadway sign that nearly killed Bret Michaels, we could hear (my new best friend) Liza Minnelli accepting her award for Liza’s at the Palace. Again, the acoustics were so strange that we couldn’t understand a word she was saying and we were 20 feet from her. As one of my cast-mates put it, “It sounds like she’s talking backwards.”

As I’m sure you noticed, Tituss Burgess, my dressing room mate and sensational co-star in Guys and Dolls, had to be handed a microphone at the top of our number when his microphone fizzled out. This is a testament not only to Tituss’s profound professionalism, but also to the spirit of live performance. After all of this hard work, rehearsal, and preparation, a sensational performer was handed an obstacle on live television and had no choice but to make it work. Once that drama finished, we were back on the bus driving through Times Square where we saw Karen Olivo winning her award on the giant screen.

We knew that we didn’t have a prayer to win Best Revival against such heavyweights as Hair and West Side Story, so we didn’t have a major party planned. But Kate Jennings Grant and Lauren Graham, our sensational Sarah Brown and Miss Adelaide, kept the celebratory spirit alive. They threw the whole cast and crew an impromptu party at the bar in the Hilton Hotel across the street where we ate and drank until 2AM.

It was an amazing evening to be a part of and I hope that it was not my last. As exhausting as it is, nothing compares to the rush you feel when it’s all over…well maybe actually winning a Tony, I suppose. If I ever win one, I will let you know.

images courtesy of www.tony.com