Simon Morris on Everything You Need to Know About this Year’s TONY Awards

The TONY Awards have once again come and gone, and if you missed out on the best night in musical theatre, you’re in luck, as this week Simon Morris is here to give you the low down.

The 68^th Annual TONY Awards

The TONY Awards are to the musical theatre world what the Grammy’s are to music and the OSCARS are to film; the one night of the year where players in this world get the recognition they deserve for their stellar work over the past 12 months.

This year’s TONY Awards (68^th) once again took place at the Radio City Music Hall, one of the most renowned and prestigious venues in the  whole of New York City. That alone should let you know what kind of night it was; a truly spectacular one filled with epic wins, disappointing losses and grand performances that had the hair standing up on the back of just about everybody’s next.

A Night of Many Performances

So what happened; let’s start with the performances. Every year stars from some of Broadways must successful productions take to the stage to belt out their signature number, and this year’s awards saw the tradition continue. Tracks were performed from the productions of Les Miserables, After Midnight, Aladdin and If/Then, among others.

Neil Patrick Harris Sizzled on Stage

There were two that I believed stood out. The first was the performance of ‘Sugar Daddy’ from the revival of 90’s classic Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This musical has seen resounding success this year, and went on to win the TONY for the best revival of a musical later in the night. Neil Patrick Harris sizzled and delighted in equal measure in the role of an East German transgender rocker.

As Good as it Was Ten Years Ago

The other performance that stood out to me was the performance of ‘For Good’ from one of my personal favourites, Wicked. Performed in honour of the game-changing musical’s tenth anniversary, it struck a chord with perennial Wicked lovers such as myself, for managing to achieve the same sense of heart-warming melancholy it did ten years ago. There is no greater compliment than that.

Best Actor/Actress

Now onto the winners in the three main categories (who really cares about stuff like best lighting anyway.) Best actor in a musical went to Neil Patrick Harris; as I’ve already mentioned, he was phenomenal and it was totally deserved. Best actress in a musical to Audra McDonald for the role of Billie Holiday in a production about the life and times of the icon; Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. It was a no brainer, she shone in the role.

Drum Roll Please… And the Award for Best Musical Goes To?

Now the big one, best musical. In the end, despite stiff competition, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder walked away with the night’s most prestigious award. I’m not going to give the plot away, all I’ll say is; I’m really not surprised.

There you have it Simon Morris readers; this year’s TONY’s were yet another night of amazing performances, spectacular wins and devastating loses; I so can’t wait for next year!

By Simon Morris

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Why Are We All Reading the Book of Mormon?

Broadway musical The Book of Mormon is a runaway success, and this week I wanted to get to the bottom of its momentous popularity, and ask, just why are we all reading the Book of Mormon?

Tomorrow is a Latter Day

It tells the story two young Mormon missionaries who are sent to a remote village in Northern Uganda to spread the good word. When they get there however, they find the locals less than receptive, as they have far too many problems of their own to deal with and subsequently, the young men see their own worldview challenged.

With a stunning soundtrack boasting soon to be classic show tunes such as ‘Orlando,’ ‘You and Me (But Mostly Me),’ and ‘Tomorrow is a Latter Day,’ a riveting plotline and dollops of side-splitting humour, it went on to become a critical and commercial success, even bagging the TONY Award for Best Musical.

The Controversy of the Portrayal of Religion

So why are so many people into it? On the face of it, it shouldn’t work. Religion is always a tricky topic to tackle, and most musicals that do attempt to climb this hill, like Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat play it safe. They stick to biblical truth.

Quite simply they do this because of the sheer righteous indignation that rains down on an artist when they dare to challenge the established cannon is terrifying. All you have to do is look at the fierce outrage the film The Last Temptation of Christ provoked back in the day, to realise why most creatives shy away from this kind of thing.

Simon Morris on a Changing Religious Landscape

However we aren’t back in the day, we’re in the modern era and we’re living in a time where experts have found a noted trend in the western world; people are turning away from religion. Innovations such as the internet are fostering a tendency to question religion more than ever before.

And The Book of Mormon ultimately seeks to answer some of those questions. It’s a fascinating exploration of the indoctrination of religion, and what happens to the indoctrinated when they’re released out into the real world.

The Book of Mormon works because it taps into the current zeitgeist. Whilst it’s phenomenal all on its own, people are into it because it asks the questions they want answered, and tackles the issues they care about. This is the hallmark of many a timeless musical.

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The Versatility of the Musical Theatre Heroine

What fascinates me about the role of the heroine in musical theatre is that it comes in so many shapes and sizes, speaking to the audience on an array of differing levels, which is why on the Simon Morris blog this week, I want to explore the versatility of the musical theatre heroine.

The Societal View of the View of Women

To play a heroine on the musical theatre stage is no easy task. Women often get the hardest, most vocally challenging of numbers, the most elaborate of costumes, the most strenuous of dance routines. Technically, it’s an exhausting job.

However there’s also the added pressure of societal views of women to contend with. Society has a complex relationship with its perceptions of the female gender, with old stereotypes clashing dangerously with modern beliefs in the power of the strength of women. Often, heroines (especially in older productions) need to communicate both to the audience to fully capture their imagination, and this takes a truly gifted actress, no matter the type of heroine they’re playing.

Simon Morris Explores Every Shade of Heroine

There are several types of heroine that demand talent to truly communicate their complexity, and I want to examine a few to show the true versatility needed to play the role of a heroine:

·         Elphaba: Your classic modern woman in green skin, Elphaba is a sympathetic take on an archetypal villain and the trick to nailing the role is to balance the innate goodness of the character with the pain that allows others to perceive her to be the Wicked Witch of the West.

·     Mary Magdalene: A woman often damned and hailed in equal measure, Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar is both selfless and selfishly in love, and any woman taking on the role needs to be able to communicate the full spectrum of this most complex of emotions to make her even slightly believable.

·         Maureen: If Elphaba is the modern woman, Maureen is the post-modern one, all brash rebellion and pure intentions, an idealist and a dreamer. However the trick to getting Maureen right is to balance her bravery with the faint vulnerability that lies underneath and drives her insecurity.

·         Evita: If the first three are heroines with a shade of villainess, Evita is a villainess with a shade of heroine. The very definition of ambition, her actions are questionable and self-motivated but any effective Evita makes her believable by providing that balance that suggests that beneath the glaring blonde ambition lies at least some convoluted form of altruism.

What I hope to have shown you here, Simon Morris readers, is that there is no straightforward modern heroine. No black and white, good or evil, rather there are shades of all, and that is why the musical theatre heroine is the most versatile of roles any actress could ever hope to take on.

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