SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS: DAY 7 - Billy, Elton & Liza - Oh My!

As a super-special Spring extension of BroadwayWorld's SOUND OFF column, every day until the Tony Awards on June 12 we will be presenting a spectacular new entry in the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS series featuring a particularly entertaining, interesting, relevant and exciting Tony Awards-related clip from the last sixty-three years of the ceremonies (and subsequent seasons on Broadway) with a rundown and commentary on the sights, sounds and showmanship on display in each carefully chosen selection - all, of course, coming in anticipation of Broadway's biggest night, which will be broadcast on CBS this year, as always. Once again this year, BroadwayWorld is the official home of the 2011 Tony Awards and we will also be featuring exclusive interviews, articles, photos, video content, interactive features and more in the coming days and weeks leading up to the event so be sure to check back daily for your theatre fix!

Perhaps the most exciting and all-encompassing Tony Award opening number of the modern era was that of the 2009 telecast - everything from Elton John and Billy Elliot to WEST SIDE STORY, NEXT TO NORMAL, ROCK OF AGES with Bret Michaels leading Poison, NINE TO FIVE with Dolly Parton, SHREK with Brian D'Arcy James and Sutton Foster, to the Queen of Broadway herself singing one of her iconic signature anthems by Kander & Ebb, "And The World Goes Round" - the one and only Liza Minnelli. And, how exactly do you top that? Well, you can't. So, you throw all the casts of all the shows together and add in HAIR and "Let The Sunshine In" and stir. What a soup - and a soupcon of the best of Broadway! Watch - and be amazed all over again.

Sign of the 9

If HAIR has the "Age of Aquarius" then the finest sign that all was well and good - if not better - on Broadway in 2009 is the positively spectacular and so-over-the-top-you-have-to-love-it opening number of that year's Tony Awards telecast. This has everything and the kitchen sink - literally, at least if you consider NEXT TO NORMAL a kitchen sink musical, if such a thing exists. Though Elton John skipped rehearsal and thus missed his entrance, the rough start of the cavalcade of shows is forgiven thanks to the beautiful ballet taking place center stage. Following up the Billy Elliot portion - which was that night's big winner for Best Musical and many of the other prizes, though NEXT TO NORMAL took Best Score - we have the casts of the late Arthur Laurents's revival of WEST SIDE STORY along with the cast of Des McAnuff's coolly-received GUYS & DOLLS, led by Craig Bierko, leading to a curious mash-up of "I'm Alive" from NEXT TO NORMAL by the appealing Aaron Tveit matched by an uncomfortable-seeming Stockard Channing belting out "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" from Joe Mantello's PAL JOEY. While SHREK served up the cartoony fun and Dolly added some country flair, the piece de resistance of the entire opening comes in the form of Ms. Liza Minnelli slayin' 'em in the aisles as only she can do - and as only her mother could do before her. The best - or, befitting the song she sings: the top of the world.

If Broadway is the Earth, Liza is the sun. Let her shine in - and shine on!

While the 2010 opener could not and did not beat this, who knows what we can expect on June 12... we shall soon see!

That's all for today. Be sure to stay tuned to BroadwayWorld for all things Tony Awards and subscribe to this column to be the very first to check out the clips, commentary and take part in the conversation in our deluxe toast to the one and only Antoinette Perry every day until June 12 - and, especially, on that day! Until then…