bryan cranston – That Girl Allison

This article, about Jessie Mueller, was really adorable. I highly suggest you read it. I’m sure she was totally excited to do this interview this morning after partying all night at the Carlyle 😉

The top moments from last night:

A Gentleman’s Guide winning Best Musical. Obviously. (Full disclosure: my current office of employment works on the show so we were all incredibly happy.)
Hedwig’s performance. it was the best (GGLAM following a close second!). Hedwig is going to be sold out for their entire run soon. Mark my words.
Lena & NPH winning their much deserved awards.
Bryan Cranston and All the Way winning. Love that show.
Jessie Mueller’s acceptance speech. She was so sincere.

Let’s see, last night’s WTF moments were as follows:

The Wicked performance. That was the best they could do? Come on. Idina Menzel was in the house – throw her $10k to perform Defying Gravity. She’s a single mom now, so she could probably use the extra money, right? (No, I’m just being an asshole and I’m completely kidding. I think she makes upwards of $20k/week for If/Then, she’s fine.) This performance was a waste of time and a dishonor to a show that’s been on Broadway and selling out for 10 years.
The Music Man rapping. WHAT WAS THIS? Everyone at the party was speechless. We had no idea what was going on.
Nikki James in Les Miserables. Jesus christ. When is she scheduled to go on vacation because I cannot sit through a production of Les Miserables for three hours where Eponine sounds like a, and I quote, bag of dying babies. Miscast, indeed.
Celia Keenan-Bolger and The Glass Menagerie losing. WHAT? This was not supposed to happen. Wires got crossed somewhere.
The opening number. Look, I get it, I read online today why Hugh Jackman was hopping, but even if I’d gotten the reference when I was watching it, it was still incredibly boring. It was one of the most lackluster openings in a while.

It wasn’t the best Tony’s, but it had it’s moments. I was exhausted and made my way home around midnight. It’s always worth the exhaustion.

Taking Her Tony Home

I was lucky enough to be able to see a preview performance of All the Way a couple of weeks ago which opened a week ago tonight. It’s a new drama by Robert Schenkkan that received ridiculous reviews at A.R.T. in Boston. A drama about LBJ’s first year or so in office trying to get the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 passed starring Bryan Cranston as LBJ.

I love history plays so I loved this one. It was an era that I’d not known the exact details of. The violence, the struggle, the bargaining behind closed doors. It reminded me of the movie Lincoln if only because it reflected what’s going on today in government and how nothing really ever changes. Wash, rinse, repeat.

I’ve seen Cranston in a couple of movies, but not Breaking Bad (give me five years). But I was thoroughly impressed by his acting chops onstage. He conveyed to the audience his inner struggles excellently. I also really enjoyed Betsy Aidem as Lady Bird Johnson. Other noteables in the cast were John McMartin (duh) as Senative Richard Russell, Michael McKean as J. Edgar Hoover, and James Eckhouse as Martin Luther King Hr.

That said, every person in the cast was fantastic. The lighting (Jane Cox) and sound designs (Peter Fitzgerald) were also notable and effective.

Was All the Way long? Oh yes. Clocking in at a few minutes under 3 hours, it was longer than your usual Broadway play. But did I care? Not for one second. Bryan Cranston was just that good.

Tickets provided by the production. All opinions are my own.