Playlist For Sunday, June 9, 2024: Tony, Let's Haul It!

Well, this past Saturday (June 1st) I celebrated an anniversary...13 years ago that day, I moved out of NYC. It took 1 U-Haul, driven by my cousin, and 1 SUV (the old large kind) to hold books, plants, clothes, lamps, "art", and a piano. About 150 miles north, the U-Haul stopped hauling, and we sat on a Thruway shoulder waiting for a rescue (4 hours, 88 degrees), which "hauled" the defunct "U" to Colonie, just north-ish of Albany, for a replacement. 

 

Not the actual U-Haul in question, but you get the "picture".

So I stopped being a New Yorker on the 1st, and became an Upstater on the 2nd. I guess the powers-that-be saw it necessary for me to take a longer decompression time, specifically in an Albany Comfort Inn, with Pizza Hut "fuel", to go from City to Country Mouse. Why those powers thought Albany an appropriate decompression venue, and not Skaneateles or the casino at Verona, I'll never know. 

This is me, lounging in my pink feathers about the barn.

 

And just this year, I can now say I've spent half of my life in each location. Half Park Ave., half Green Acres. The pendulum will now swing in the upstate direction, unless I move to Iceland and spend 34 years THERE! 

All this to say, I'm embarrassed by my absence on Broadway. Here it is again, Tony Awards time, and I regret to say I haven't seen 1 of the nominees for Best Musical. (I did see Merrily We Roll Along, but that's a Revival nom. Doesn't count.) Soooo with all that ignorance of the NEW, I've planned a challenge for myself. Let's play alllll of the past Best Musical Tony Winners since the category was launched, starting in 1948 and going all the way to 2023.

 

One of the first Tony Award Ceremonies, held at the Waldorf Astoria

(perhaps that's Carol Haney, at Table 49???),

and (below) the money clip awarded to the male winners,

pre-trophy!

 

That's 77 musicals. This week, 37 (tho my new favorite number is 34). The following, 40? We WILL do this, do not think we can't. I'll just have to shut up and spin. Mostly it'll be in a tight chronological order. Notice I said mostly. That could change.

But tune in and count down...If we can't make it to this year's red carpet, we can reminisce about the old ones. They'll sound just as good, as long as we vacuum. :)

 

We Open In Venice (Alfred Drake, Patricia Morrison, Harold Lang, Harold Lang, Kiss Me Kate)

Bloody Mary (Ensemble, South Pacific)

Guys And Dolls (Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver, Douglas Deane, Guys And Dolls)

Shall We Dance (Gertrude Lawrence, Yul Brynner, The King And I)

Ohio (Rosalind Russell, Edie Adams, Wonderful Town)

The Olive Tree (Alfred Drake, Kismet)

The Pajama Game (Ensemble, The Pajama Game)

Heart (Jean Stapleton, Ensemble, Damn Yankees)

Get Me To The Church On Time (Stanley Holloway, My Fair Lady)

Till There Was You (Barbara Cook, Robert Preston, The Music Man)

Look Who's In Love (Richard Kiley, Gwen Verdon, Redhead)

Edelweiss (Theodore Bikel, The Sound Of Music)

Gentlemen Jimmy (Eileen Rodgers, Fiorello!)

A Lot Of Livin' To Do (Dick Gautier, Bye Bye Birdie)

I Believe In You (Robert Morse, Ensemble, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying)

Lovely (Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)

Miracle Of Miracles (Austin Pendleton, Fiddler On The Roof)

Dulcinea (Richard Kiley, Man Of La Mancha) 

Finale (David Burns, Carol Channing, Company, Hello, Dolly!)

Cabaret (Liza Minnelli, Cabaret)

My Own Morning (Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!) 

Welcome To The Theatre (Lauren Bacall, Applause)

The Lees Of Old Virginia (Ron Holgate, 1776)

The Little Things You Do Together (Elaine Stritch, Ensemble, Company)

Send In The Clowns (Glynis Johns, A Little Night Music)

I'd Like To Be A Rose (Raul Julia, Clifton Davis, Two Gentlemen Of Verona)

Man Say (Joe Morton, Ernestine Jackson, Raisin)

Mean Ole Lion (Ted Ross, The Wiz) 

The Joint Is Jumpin' (Ensemble, Ain't Misbehavin') 

Sing! (Don Percassi, Renee Baughman, A Chorus Line)

Tomorrow (Andrea McArdle, Annie)

Wait (Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd)

Only With You (Raul Julia, Nine) 

Getting Out Of Town (Carol Cooke, Joseph Bova, 42nd Street) 

Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Patti LuPone, Evita)

Memory (Betty Buckley, Cats)

The Best Of Times (George Hearn, Company, La Cage Aux Folles)