| Speaking up for the speeches | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 02:12 pm EDT 07/09/24 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 02:04 pm EDT 07/09/24 | |
| In reply to: 18 minutes of speeches - mikem 08:17 pm EDT 07/08/24 | |
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| I thought Sonia and Maria Friedman's speeches were wonderful, genuine and heartfelt. Their various thank-yous showed their generosity of spirit toward their many collaborators, especially those who hadn't gotten tons of appreciation, like the swings, the show's choreographer, the design team, etc. it was also thoughtful of them to quote Lonny Price, from the original ''Merrily,'' and give a shoutout to Jeff Romley, Sondheim's widower, in the audience. It's not as if the Friedmans were at the Tonys, during a live broadcast and pressed for time. (For the record, Sonia and Maria each spoke for a minute there.) Clearly, the closing performance of ''Merrily'' was a Sondheim lovefest, full of applause. No other Broadway musical has had the trajectory this one had: from a slammed, 16-regular performance flop in 1981 to a critically acclaimed, Tony-winning hit (of over 300 performances), more than four decades later. It was classy of the Friedmans to take the time to salute Sondheim and Furth, and their extensive team, and underscore the context and history of this occasion. And that was capped off by Jonathan Groff's reading of Frank's ''Merrily'' line about how ''musicals are popular'' and can ''change the world.'' Bravo! |
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