How Did The 2015 Tonys Play in the Heartland?

Now that the dust has settled after the 2015 Tony Awards, we reached out to our readers, asking them to offer their opinions and insights on this year's show, hosted by Tony winners Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming, and how this year's crop of new plays and musicals resonate with viewers in the heartland and, perhaps more importantly, why the Tonys matter outside of New York City.

"This year was the first year I cared more about the nominated plays than I did the musicals," admits Delaney Amatrudo, a member of the Class of 2012 First Night Most Promising Actors who now studies at New York University's New Studio on Broadway. "I saw Fun Home and enjoyed it. But it pretty much seemed like they had it in the bag.

"The show I was rooting for the hardest this year was definitely The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It is probably the most incredible piece of theatre I have ever seen, and I think everyone should see it. It's a great example of the direction theatre is heading."

Amatrudo was especially excited about the Tony win for Curious Incident's Alex Sharp (best leading actor in a play): "Alex Sharp's performance is one for the history books. He is a remarkable performer and he's probably only three or four years older than me. It was inspiring and just plain incredible to witness his performance. People forget about straight plays too often. But I think Curious Incident is making history and it is a serious lesson in acting for performers of all ages. Completely worth the cost of admission."

Amatrudo, who will play Cathy later this summer in VWA Theatricals' production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years at Darkhorse Theater in Nashville, said her favorite Tonys performance came from 11-year-old Sydney Lucas. "My favorite performance was Sydney Lucas singing 'Ring of Keys,'" she says. "Because that kid can teach us all a thing or two about acting and being in the moment."

Another favorite? Lisa Howard's performance of "Jenny's Blues" from It Shoulda Been You. "That woman gave us all a master class in how to sing without any gimmicks, while acting her face off the whole time," she exclaims.

"The reality is that I don't really consider a show a success unless I walk out of the theatre itching to go out and create some art of my own," Amatrudo contends. "Not all shows affected me this way this season. Fun Home didn't really do that for me. Curious Incident, on the other hand, made me want to become a better actor. And luckily they just announced a national tour, so hopefully Nashville will get to experience it."

Veteran Nashville director and actor Lane Wright agreed with Amatrudo on the impact of Lucas' performance of "Ring of Keys" from Fun Home.

"The performances I was most taken with were the ones for Fun Home and Something Rotten! (the latter for its pure entertainment value and the former for its heart and originality)," Wright says. "The numbers for the revivals of On the Town and On the Twentieth Century we're pretty terrific, too. Those four shows are the musicals I would most want to see, and the play I would most want to see on Broadway right now is The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time."

Wright praised the performances of co-hosts Chenoweth and Cumming: "I thought the hosts did a nice job...they seemed to be enjoying themselves, which goes a long way toward making the show entertaining to the audience."

Longtime theater performers/actors/directors/producers Terry and Darryl Deason, who were among the thousands of audience members in Radio City Music Hall for Sunday night's show, were split when it came down to reviewing Chenoweth and Cumming's performances as Tony Awards co-hosts.

According to Terry Deason, who will be directing the upcoming 12 Angry Men at Arts Center of Cannon County this fall, "the hosts' material was not as good as in years past. Those two could have done amazing things; it was a lost opportunity." However, she admits the pair "were funny and kept the show moving along."

On the other hand, Darryl Deason was effusive in his praise for the Tony couple: "I thought Kristen and Alan were perfect for the hosts they chose to be - quirky and fun - and they did not take themselves too seriously. They kept the show moving along and the costume changes were hysterical. Who didn't love ET's 'Phone' Home and a bald Kristen crawling out from underneath Alan's King and I dress! Even though we were there, they were able to set that up while keeping the joke under wraps; and the backstage segues with the performers were delightful!"

Yet despite that praise for Chenoweth and Cumming, Darryl agreed with his wife when he admitted that he missed the big production numbers of years past: "I liked what they did and it allowed more actual Broadway performances but I confess I missed the big Neil Patrick Harris/Hugh Jackman type opening and closing numbers."

What were their favorite performances from the big night? Although Darryl had several favorites, Terry confidently chose one number as her favorite: "Stronger" from Finding Neverland, the new musical shut out of any Tony love this year, with no nominations.

"Best number last night was from Finding Neverland," says Terry. "It was better than the same number in the show itself! I enjoyed all the musical numbers live, but I don't know if the small screen really captured the great dancing this year."

"Terry and I had seen Finding Neverland on Saturday night and 'Stronger' was one of the two best moments in the show," Darryl explains. "What was most surprising to me was that the number was slightly redesigned and tightened and played much better on the Radio City Music Hall stage than it did at the Lunt-Fontanne."

"Finding Neverland is not Wicked or Peter and the Starcatcher, but the spectacle and the Peter Pan references will put a smile on every theatre goers face. The end is touching and moving and the audience thoroughly enjoyed it."

But Darryl's most enthusiastic praise came for the young actress who plays a pre-teen Alison Bechdel in Fun Home: "Sydney Lucas, Sydney Lucas, Sydney Lucas! They needed nothing else but that wide-eyed talent singing from her heart. Vanessa Hudgens was stunning and made you forget High School Musical - if they had chosen not to remind us with [presenter]Ashley Tisdale, it would've been perfect. Victoria Clark is mesmerizing and I was quite surprised by the entire Gigi production [which announced its closing on Monday morning, following the Tony Awards]."

Considering the importance of the Tony Awards telecast and its impact on viewing habits for theater-goers in the heartland, Terry Deason says she thinks this year's featured shows accomplished what they had set out to do. "I think that every musical that had a number probably sold tickets because of the Tonys, so, yes, that is important in 'our neck of the woods.'"

Lane Wright agrees: "probably the biggest thing is that it lets people know about shows they might not otherwise be aware of, like Fun Home. Then when that show gets done by some local company in the future, it won't be a complete unknown."

"The Tony Awards are the Super Bowl for theatre nerds," contends Darryl Deason, who most recently directed Tarzan, the Musical, at ACCC in Woodbury and who daily can be found working in his Murfreesboro dental practice. "The last two years, the presenters and organizers have talked about the young child or teenager glued to the television every year on a Sunday night in June singing and dancing and dreaming of being there someday."

"Some of those kids think they are outcasts (I know I was one of them). Those kids are not just in NYC, they are in the heartland in every small town in America. They need to hear whatever your dream 'you can do it' and The Tony Awards does just that," he suggests.

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