Music City gets its TONY on with First Night: The Tony Concert 6/6

Tony Awards excitement comes to a head in Music City USA next week, as the Broadway theater awards presentation gets the full Nashville treatment with two events designed to involve the local theater community in the celebration.

First up is First Night: The Tony Concert, presented by Keeping Scores Concerts at Franklin's Boiler Room Theatre on Monday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m. Featuring some of Nashville's biggest and brightest theater stars performing songs from Tony Award-winning musicals, the concert is the kick-off of the 2011 First Night Season, culminating with First Night, The Nashville Theatre Honors, which will be presented at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre on Sunday, September 4.

On Sunday, June 12, while the 2011 Tonys are being handed out in New York City, Nashville's theaterati will gather at The Keeton Theatre in Donelson for First Night: The Tony Party. The red carpet event will welcome party-goers beginning at 6:30 p.m. (CDT) who'll celebrate the night while watching the CBS telecast of The Tony Awards and indulging in fun and frivolity of a Music City variety.

Tickets for First Night: The Tony Concert and for First Night: The Tony Party are $15 each. For more information about First Night Events, call (615) 530-6178 and to learn more about First Night, The Nashville Theatre Honors, visit the website at www.FirstNightNashville.com.

Among the performers taking part in First Night: The Tony Concert, along with some insight into their performances, are...

Katherine Sandoval Taylor

What song are you singing in the concert and what show is it from? "Stranger in Paradise" from Kismet.

How does this song or this show speak to you personally? The score of Kismet, weds two of my favorite musical genres: musical theatre and opera. The soaring melodies bring out the beauty of the voice. Having studied opera and classical music in graduate school at The New England Conservatory, the role of Marsinah is one that I have looked forward to performing for a long time!

What's your favorite Tony Award telecast memory? You may have unintentionally opened up a can of worms far too big with this one, and very well could trash my response instantly... but I'm going to tell you anyways! I think this question speaks to me on some weird philosophical level. As much as I love watching the performances at the Tony Awards on television, I feel you can only absorb about 75% of the true performance. At the risk of sounding completely cheesy, the other 25% can only come from the "magic in the air" when you experience live theatre, either from an actor OR audience's standpoint. For this reason, I feel that any recorded version of a live theatrical performance lacks that magical sensation that cannot be described, and therefore leaves me personally unfulfilled. There is something to be said for the experience you have with the other people in the room when you see live theatre - a sort of collaboration between the audience and the actors. There can't be an emotional stone wall between the two, or the spectators become uninvested and partially emotionally withdrawn.

The show becomes a spectator sport with no invisible electricity between the two parties. I heard an actress say once - theatre is the only actors medium. TV is a producers medium and cinema is a directors medium. Only in live theatre are the actors alone in charge conveying the characters, the content of the script, the lyrics and the music and the emotion behind them. Singers in live theatre cannot rerecord if a note is flat. At the end of the day, there is no reshoot. There is no cut and splice made by the editor or any camera effect on the lens. You feel what you feel, and you get what you get from the people on stage. Okay now that I got that off my chest, in that same vein...probably one of my favorite moments was in the 2009 Tony Awards where Tituss Burgess's body mic wasn't working, so in the middle of the song, probably not 10 seconds in, the super fast SM ran out a handheld mic for him to use instead. Burgess didn't miss a note. He didn't flinch, he didn't even blink! He just continued the show stopping number without thinking twice about the mishap.

And that is what theatre is! Things go wrong. You drop lines, you mess up a note, you rip the entire seam out of your dress playing leap frog with the Von Trapp family children and then you not only have to continue the entire scene but you have to remap your blocking so you don't flash the audience (yes, this actually happened to me)...But you forget about it. You let it go because you have the rest of the show to think about and you can't reshoot, or edit it out. Sometimes the audience notices the mishap and sometimes they don't, but doesn't matter because it's live theatre and if you've formed a strong enough bond with the audience you are all in it together and they are pulling for you to succeed, not fail.

What show will win the Tony this year for Best Musical? I haven't seen it myself, so I'm going strictly based on reviews but, The New York Times calls The Book of Mormon "the best musical of this Century." I think that might be hard to beat.

 

Vicki White

What song will you be singing? I am singing "Fable" from The Light in the Piazza.

How does this song reflect your sensibilities? This show came out in 2005 the year I had my daughter. I was in love with the music and played it constantly. I played it in the nursery during her first few weeks outside in the world. The mother/ daughter themes in the show resonated with me in a totally new and raw way. I love the song "Dividing Day" ( trying to put your finger on the exact moment your partner fell out of love with you). I also love when Margaret explains how Clara got her mental illness. They are filled with the fragility of life and how in just a second our lives can change for better or worse...the road forks. "Fable" is awesome because Margaret contemplates the many things that have happened to her and Clara and decides that no matter what, if a chance for happiness presents itself don't hesitate, grab it and don't look back.  As far as how this reflects on myself, I hope and pray that Abigail won't have to suffer through heartbreaks and disappointments, like any paren,t but how realistic is that? At some point you have to step aside and let them make their own decisions and choose their own dreams. Margaret sheltered Clara her whole life. In this song she reinforces the decision to let her go.

What's your favorite Tony Awards memory? One of my favorite memories was seeing Kristin Chenoweth sing "My New Philosophy." There was a lot of hype that year about her performance. It was fun to see what all the fuss was about. Then they announced her category and she changed her clothes in 2 seconds and got her award. I cried. Her speech was really sweet.

What show's going to take home the Tony for Best Musical this year? I haven't been to New York this year but, a lot of people talking about Book of Mormon.

 

Michael Holder

What song are you singing at the Tony Concert? "Stranger in Paradise" from the musical Kismet.

How does "Stranger in Paradise" speak to you personally, Michael? This song comes at an interesting moment in the musical. The audience, and the young Caliph, knows that he is pretending to be a gardener so as not to alarm Marsinah with his true identity; a secret that we all keep collectively from her. This moment is so romantic to me, because I love the idea of two people form completely different worlds falling in love with each other on the spot. There is an extremely unique energy within a moment like that.

What's your favorite Tony Awards memory? My favorite Tony Award memory would have be the entire 58th (2004) Tony Awards. I had spent the entire previous year in New York, and was the first time that I had seen a lot of the shows and actors that were nominated: (i.e. Wicked, Avenue Q, Idina Menzel, Hugh Jackman)

What show will win the Tony this year for Best Musical? The Book Of Mormon.

 

Bakari King

What song are you singing in the concert and what show is it from? "Suppertime" from You're a Good Man. Charlie Brown. 

How does this song or this show speak to you personally? I love this show and I am just as energetic and exhuberant about food as Snoopy! I also think that all of the Peanut characters live in my head... especially Franklin (the black one)

What's your favorite Tony Award telecast memory...if you have one...if not, make something up... My favorite one will be the one I am on, but until then I loved it when Brett Michaels got is clock twisted!

What show will win the Tony this year for Best Musical? The Book of Mormon!

 

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