Kevin Spacey opened the Tony Awards show with a boring and not-so-entertaining musical collage that left the audience wondering who ill-advised Spacey as the host to focus on strange music that people are not familiar with. The Sunday night show of Broadway’s annual festivals started on a low key note that the event organizers had difficult figuring out what to do with Spacey.
Spacey is recognized for his achievements in theater and films including The Usual Suspects, American Beauty and House of Cards on television. He once won a 1991 Tony Award for his concert in the Lost in Yonkers and his 1999 Broadway performance in The Iceman Cometh became one of the most important shows of the year.
Spacey’s recent performance in the Tony Award show was slammed by some uncomfortable and strange show. However, he saved his evening towards the end of the show when Frank and Claire Underwood made their appearance on the stage to perform the Best Musical award to the Dear Evan Hansen. Their performance uplifted the spirits of the whole show making things to look a bit impressive.
For years, The Tonys have had problems guessing which audience to target for their events. For instance, the Sunday’s incidence focused on the theater insiders found in the Radio City Music Hall but not for the uninitiated TV watchers. Apart from the celebration turning out to be unimpressive, the three-hour show was also unwelcoming and cold.
Some suggestions from the participants were that the opening number should have been towards the end of the broadcast. The audience would then have seen a few of the reference from the musical collection performed during the evening. Spacey instead did his own things without thinking out-of-the-box during the evening show.
Another challenge is that Spacey is not familiar with the music and dance genre of the newest hosts such as the Hugh Jackman and Patrick Harris. The opening ceremony was full of the Spacey’s batch of jokes concerning his insecurity at being the event host. The event should normally start on the right note to set the good mood for the audience.
