5 Things I Learned Watching the Tonys

1) It's gay, folks: It's beyond trite to comment along the lines OF, "hucks, look at all the homer-sexuals at the Tony Awards," but allow me one observation. This is the first year I watched so much of the show so closely, and I was surprised not at how many presenters were gay, how many honorees were gay, how many performances were gay, but how many people I thought were straight appeared to be gay perhaps by virtue of being on this broadcast. Understand I don't mean "gay" in a pejorative sense here. It's just a very...gay awards show, period. And that's fine. But I had this sense even BEFORE the "It's Raining Men" number.

2) Neil Patrick Harris is awesome: OK, I knew this, but really the Tonys have a winner here in someone who is poised, charming, funny, and versatile enough to provide a useful presence throughout the whole show...and who actually loves Broadway enough to care about it. I assume he has the Oscar-esque Billy Crystal Standing Invitation by now. If he doesn't, who are the Tonys holding out for?

3) Having said that, Hugh Jackman is quite the man, too: And his "Any show you can host, I can host better" routine with Harris was a lot of fun. A dual host format (if not a dueling one) might work. I hope those guys are as self-effacing as they appear and not so egocentric to reject that kind of thing out of hand.

4) There may not be a lot of Broadway plays worth spending all the money on right now: I'm not a big Broadway guy, but my wife and I were talking about what shows we WOULD see if we had the opportunity right now. Part of it is the format of the Tonys, I'm sure, but I didn't see a lot that would make me want to go out and see any of the nominated plays and musicals. The musical numbers were OK, but nothing really grabbed me as a showcase scene that worked well on television to lure me into the theater. Like I said, I'm not a Broadway guy, and I'm not much of a Tonys guy, either, except of course for Tony Soprano, Tony Danza, and sometimes Tony the Tiger when he's not being so damned overbearing. Is this always the case, that the real spectacle just doesn't come across on the telecast?

5) The Tonys matter: When you're watching an awards shown you don't always watch, one celebrating a medium you don't really follow, it's nice to get a reminder that the honor really is meaningful to the recipients. Nikki Reed of "The Book of Mormon" gave a passionate, touching speech that involved a metaphor, heartfelt tributes to family both alive and not alive...and the orchestra playing her off in the middle of talking about a deceased loved one. Real classy! I believe something similar happened later in the show. It's nice to know that getting out in time for the local news is more important than letting the winners express themselves--and on the Tonys as well as on other awards shows.