The Tony Awards on Sunday were a big hit.
Ratings were up 38% from last year. The beautifully executed show boomed on host Cynthia Erivo’s popularity from “Wicked,” and a 10th anniversary reunion of “Hamilton.”
This year’s Tonys achieved a level of chemistry that just hit right. First of all, there wasn’t much competition on Sunday night. Second, producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner found a perfect balance between attracting and offending audiences that might have Baway in the past.
Darren Criss, star of “Maybe Happy Ending,” also brought along his fans from “Glee.” Nicole Scherzinger, from “Sunset Boulevard,” has a big following from many appearances on TV talent shows. That they each won on Sunday didn’t hurt, for sure.
Total numbers were 4.85 million, up from 3.53 million.
The show was well paced, also, with the list of awards presented tossed in the air. Best Actress in a Play was first, and if you didn’t have the ‘run of show’ in front of you, you wouldn’t know what was coming next. That led to a little mystery. Even in the theater at Radio City, where no one had information, the audience remained glued to their seats.
A very clever gambit was starting with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter from the “Bill and Ted” movies promoting their upcoming Broadway adventure. For once the Tonys got it right putting popular mainstream faces in front of the home audience.
Erivo will almost definitely be asked back for next year considering she will likely win an Oscar for the second “Wicked” film — also a cinch blockbuster. She was warm and funny and witty, a rare combination at this point. She couldn’t have done better.
