You want to know the pulse of America? See what is on Broadway. The Tony's give a glimpse of what is in fashion, what is in the news and what interests the public. And they sing and dance.

You can judge a society by how it treats the arts and their dead.
The Tony's appreciate both.

Best Awards Show so far, well, except for the poor sound, the headbanging of a singer, and the poor showing of non-musical shows.

But otherwise. . .

I thought the show, overall, was good. The sound, as mentioned by others, was terrible. I live in Atlantic Canada and love New York and Broadway. I have visited the city 5 times and am going again end of August. I had already decided that one of the show I want to see when I go is Billy Elliot. But, having seen the Tony's, now I want to see God of Carnage, Hair, Guys and Dolls and West Side Story. I do not want to see Shrek. I loved the movie but this Shrek just creeps me out. I thought Neil Patrick Harris did a fantastic job and loved, loved, loved his closing number.

The Tony, no matter what it may or may not mean outside of NYC, is still one of the top four awards a performer/artist can win (along with the Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy). I don't think many would deny the prestige associated with getting one, though how much cache it carries in the long term for a person's career (at least a career outside of the theater) is certainly a whole other debate (though in fairness, many Oscar winners have dropped off the face of the earth, too).

I just wish they'd stop moving awards out of the broadcast. Personally, I'm just as interested in what the winners of Best Score, Best Book, and Best Costume Design have to say as in the performers and directors.

Also, "penultimate" means "next to last" and is not a stronger way of saying "ultimate."

Tony's highlight shows that will end up touring in your city in the next coming year. Sure it's relevant outside of NY.

I thought the show was great. The 3 hours flew by. I thought it was weird that Legally Blonde performed (and for like a minute). Sound problems were inexcusable. I mean, don't they do stage productions for a living? Overall, watching the Tony's made me interested in Billy Elliot and Next to Normal. And also confirmed that I will be avoiding the Shrek musical like the plague.

MarcDom7

I've heard of Shrek (the movie). Didn't know it was a play. Have no idea who Billy Elliot is.
Thw Broadway Theater, like the Metropolitan Opera, is a wonderful institution. I hope it continues forever. It just doesn't interest me or many others. The TONYs are not relevant to many other than those like yourselve,

MarcDom7

I agree its a great art form, but who outside of a very few ever see them. I live a couple of hrs from NYC, but have never been to a Bway play, nor can I name any of the plays up for last nights' awards.

The show had some very good moments (Neil's closing among them) and some very bad moments (terrible sound production throughout).

As someone with a slightly higher than average interest in Broadway, I thought the problem with this year's show was the shows it was trying to promote. I read terrible reviews of Billy Elliot and was not impressed with the number they highlighted, yet it won 10 awards? The Shrek numbers were unwatchable, and Next To Normal ... well, let's just say it doesn't look like the "feel good" show of the year.

The highlight for me was watching Bret Michaels get face-planted in the opening.

Who really cares about the TONYs, besides those in NYC.
I never have heard of most of them, much less gone to see them.

... and what was with the artsy camera moves during the "In Memoriam" section of the broadcast? With the camera moving as it was, you couldn't see the names of half of the people whose faces were shown.