67th Annual Tony Awards

67th Annual Tony Awards, a set on Flickr.

This past Sunday, as is every year, was the most exciting day of the year. It was TONY Awards Sunday! The lead up to this day was so big for me I went all out with preparation to attend the ceremony. Firstly, this year was the first in 25 years that I had seen 95% of the shows on Broadway. There were lots of shows and performances I liked and it was great to see that they were nominated. I knew this night would be historic in so many ways and I wanted to be there.

This year, there were 8 African-Americans nominated and three performances in the Leading categories which is very rare and so great to see. There was also lots of buzz about Cicely Tyson, Billy Porter and Patina Miller winning and they did! Cicely Tyson became both oldest person to win a TONY and the 2nd African-American to take home an award for Leading Actress in A Play. Courtney B. Vance took home a supporting TONY for his work in "Lucky Guy". Condola Rashad (two time back to back TONY Nominee), Shalita Grant and George C. Wolfe went home without trophies, but they'll be back very soon to collect them.

The night was also historic for women. Not until 1998, when Julie Taymor won the TONY for Best Director of a Musical ("The Lion King"), had a woman ever won for Best Director. Since Julie Taymor's win, there have been a handful of women who have won Best Director of either a Musical or Play. As of this past Sunday night that number grew to two handfuls. Pam McKinnon and Diane Paulus took home TONYS for Best Director Of A Play and Best Director Of A Musical, respectively. 1980's icon Cyndi Lauper became the first woman in history to win the Best Score of a Musical. It was so beautiful to see the ladies take home their trophies. That contributed to the special night.

The day the nominess were announced the tickets for the TONY'S went on sale. I had gone to the TONYS 3 years ago when the tickets were a bit cheaper. Sadly, the tickets had risen to a ridiculously high price of $495 and $795 each. I know.... the prices are insane and I refused to pay either of those prices. So I put it out in to the universe to get a ticket to The TONYS and by the grace of GOD a friend of mine was able to get me and my friends a ticket. I was over the moon about getting a ticket to the show! Once I had a ticket my next thought was, "what will I wear"? I decided to have a tuxedo shirt made from kente cloth. I knew it would be bold, beautiful and represent the true colors
(Cyndi Lauper reference) of how I felt about the evening.

My Tony Sunday run down:

The day finally arrives. I wake up about 9am so anxious for the Awards to begin. I was just going to the event (not even nominated) and I was anxious. I couldn't imagine being nominated, doing a matinee and then performing on The TONYS as most of the nominees did but one day I will and it's going to be incredible! That's what makes us theatre artists so special. The time finally came to get dressed and I left my house around 4:30 to head to my buddies Ben and Jeff's house where we finished getting ready. We left their house and headed to the train station where "master bow ties" Ben tied my bowtie for me to finish off the sharpness. We did a little photo shoot on the C train and switched to the D train at 59th street. Within minutes we arrived at the Rockerfeller Center train station. We walked up the stairs and we arrived at Radio City Music Hall!!!! There were still about 1,000 people going in RCMH with less than 10 minutes before the Pre-show. We ran into so many colleagues and friends who were all excited just like us and who were all dressed to kill! While waiting in line I saw Tony Winner Tom Kitt waiting to get inside. Our tickets were scanned outside and then we walked in to the famed Radio City Music Hall. We went downstairs to the Grand Salon were I saw Tony Nominee Carolee Carmello in a beautiful pink ballroom gown. Moments later the announcement came to take our seats because the show was starting in 5 minutes. I tried to get a libation for the show, but the line was shut and there would be no more drinks served for the duration of the evening. Finally, we walk into the room of 6,000 plus theatre professionals and theatre lovers just like us who were excited and ready for the show to begin. I met another friend of mine, Rich, who had arrived a bit earlier and we snapped some photos of us with the Radio City Stage in the back. Once we took our seats the Pre-Show opened with Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who was always nice to me back in the day) and Jane Krakowski (whom I took a photo with) introducing the special TONY winners. One person who won a special TONY was my Production Stage Manger from Cotton Club Parade Peter. Ming Cho Lee won a special TONY Award for Life Achievement in the Theater for set design. Mr. Ming Cho Lee delivered a beautiful and touching speech about the success of failure. Mr. Ming Cho Lee who is 82 years and came out on stage with a walker to accept his TONY spoke with the wisdom as only one who has lived a life of vitally and experience could. Mr. Ming Cho Lee told a story as our grandparents would of how every show he ever did was a flop and the one time when he thought it was a flop and removed his name from the program the show was a hit. So the moral of the story is lead by your heart and the fruitfulness will follow.

More TONYS were received for many of the technical aspects of the Theater and then before I knew it 8 o'clock had arrived. The live telecast was about to begin :) ....TONY host Neil Patrick Harris opened the show with an incredible opening number called "Bigger". This opening number was fantastic and included members of current Broadway shows and special guest Mike Tyson who appeared on Broadway earlier this year in his one man show "Undefeated".

The night was going so fast. Award after award was announced and I agreed with some and others I didn't. However, once a lot of the winners won I was genuinely happy for them as a fellow theater artist and I'm a sucker for a beautiful acceptance speech. Then the most anticipated category of the evening had finally arrived. Best Leading Actress in a Musical. One of my favorites to win was Valisia LeKae. I thought Valisia's portrayal of Diana Ross was so brilliant. Valisia literally channeled Diana Ross. The race had come down to Patina Miller and Laura Osnes. Most of the pundits had mostly all predicted Laura, but I was sticking with Patina Miller. Jake Gyllenhall named the nominees then as he reached to open the envelope I was crouched in my seat covering my eyes...When I heard " ...and The TONY goes to Patina Miller" I literally screamed and leapt out of my seat with applause. When Patina took to the stage in the most beautiful Zac Posen gown, she was poised, elegant, well spoken, genuinely grateful, humble and expressed love for her family. Ahhhh! She made my night!

After Patina's win I was on cloud nine. "Kinky Boots" won Best Musical and sadly, my magical night was coming to an end. I snapped some photos with Jane Krakowski and Tony Shaloub, two performers who I really admire. My buddies and I took some photos on the stairs of Radio City Music Hall to cement this moment in history. We made a pact to return to the TONYS soon either as performers, presenters, nominees, and/or winners!! And that was my experience at The 67th TONY Awards!

Thank you all for taking the time to read and follow us at thatgirl006. Please check back with us soon.

Until Next Time Live And Love New York, New York!

Jason E. Bernard - is a native New Yorker from The Bronx. Jason began seeing theatre at the age of 4 and at the age of 17 made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award Winning musical " Bring In Da' Noise, Bring In Da' Funk". Jason toured the world for 10 years with the international dance show "Riverdance". He has performed with Cois Ceim Dance Theatre  in Ireland and was a  member of the original companies of "Cotton Club Parade" City Center Encores! and Kris Johnson's " Jim Crow's Tears". To date, Jason has attended over 1,000 shows on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Concerts and counting. He has all the Playbills to prove it! :)

Visit JasonEBernard.com  

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