The Tonys are Coming! The Tonys are Coming!

Next Sunday is the annual Tony Awards telecast on CBS. Although I have often been underwhelmed by the entire Tony Award experience, I actually watch most of the show (as opposed to, say, the Oscars). This year has some very promising nominees such as Patti LuPone, Kelli O'Hara, and Patrick Stewart (you can see the full list at the New York Times).

Many of the nominated shows (with the exceptions of Grease! and Cry-Baby) had reviews that ranged from good to excellent. I'm particularly excited about seeing the numbers from Gypsy (starring Patti LuPone) and Sunday in the Park with George. As an added bonus, the official site for the Tony Awards has put clips of the nominated shows up, so you can make your judgments before the actual awards show.

In addition to the surprisingly good slate of musicals that are up for "Best Musical" and "Best Revival of a Musical," Stephen Sondheim is receiving a special award for "Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre." As long as the presentation is better than Hal Prince's from last year, I will be happy.