Tag: theatre

Tony Awards Dress Rehearsal (2026)

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In 2022, I was lucky enough to attend the Tony Awards ceremony through a friend in the Broadway community, and I blogged about it the next year (here). This year I was able to attend the Tony Award dress rehearsal (through the same – very good! – friend) and thought I would compare the experiences.

First, a comparison of the tickets. When I attended the ceremony, my ticket specified “black tie only” while that is not a requirement for the dress rehearsal. The ticket for the ceremony was thick and more elaborate – embossed, not printed. And I was fortunate enough to be in the orchestra for the 75th Tony Awards, but no ticket holder sits in the orchestra for the dress rehearsal.

The dress rehearsal is held early on the same morning as the Tony Awards, which makes for a very long day for those also performing that day! As I was preparing to enter at 7:50, I saw the bus for The Lost Boys show up and the cast, already in full costume and makeup, enter Radio City (see below). They then performed at about 11:30 that morning in the dress rehearsal, had a 1PM matinee, and of course were back for the ceremony that evening. And then there are after-parties! Luckily there are generally no performances on Monday.

We were let in, under the usual tight security, at about 8am. There were concessions for sale, as well as merchandise. I was happy to see that, as I still enjoy the shirt and sweatpants I got at the 75th Tonys, and for this one I picked up a keychain and a magnet.

This dress rehearsal never has tickets for sale, they are freely distributed to the Broadway community and is an insider event. They have had tech rehearsals with no audience in the days leading up to Tony day, but this is a chance to do a run through in real time with an audience.

We were held in the lobby for longer than expected, and could faintly hear them rehearsing the opening number several times while waiting. We were finally let in a little after 9, with the dress rehearsal starting shortly after that. I had enough time to take a few pictures inside, of the set and of myself to compare with last time, before putting my phone away – no photos or videos allowed during the dress rehearsal.

One of the things you can see from looking behind me in the pictures from the dress rehearsal is how the orchestra is really a work zone. There were large signs on certain chairs where nominees or celebrities would be sitting, with a photo of them as well. For camera work during the dress rehearsal where they intend to show someone in the audience, you could see who they planned on showing because they would show the seat with the name and photo. During the Cats: The Jellicle Ball number I saw Rum Tum Tugger interacting with the chair for Paul Rudd, and in fact it did happen during the live show.

The show was a full run through of the main three hour ceremony aired on CBS that night. When there were commercial breaks, the time was used to set up for the next segment just as when you attend the award ceremony, and you hear the countdown in the same way (“back live in 15 seconds . . . . 10, 9, 8 . . .” etc). I don’t need to run through all the numbers since at this point anyone who cares has watched or could watch the awards show. But what was interesting was that they do go through giving out all the awards just as they would that evening. But each time the presenter would read out the “winner,” they would say, “And the Tony Award, for this rehearsal only, goes to . . .” and a seat filler would come up and accept the award. They really could say anything and had been encouraged to keep it brief. At least three of the “acceptances” contained some version of “Go Knicks!” as we are two wins away from the NBA Championship, which was kind of charming. I thought at first they were selecting the least likely to win in each category but realized toward the end, when the winner of Best Actor in A Musical was announced as Joshua Henry (one of the least surprising wins) that they were likely just trying to give the orchestra practice playing all of the snippets of music that would be played as a winner came up to accept an award. It also gave the announcer a chance to realize which names he needed to practice (as he mangled Lear DeBessonet’s name during the dress rehearsal).

Speaking of presenters, not all were at the dress rehearsal, so I was even more impressed with those who were: Sting, Annette Bening, Sarah Paulson, Patrick Wilson, Billy Crystal, Megan Thee Stallion, and even Bernadette Peters were there in person to run through their presentation. Even Stone, Parker, and Lopez were there to introduce the Book of Mormon 15th anniversary number. Others weren’t there for the rehearsal, like Paul Rudd and Nicole Scherzinger. Presenters just wore casual clothes as well, although Pink was in full attire including all her costume changes, and of course all the musical numbers had performers in full makeup and costume. But when Rachel Ziegler sang “What I did for Love,” or Neil Patrick Harris and Ariana DeBose showed up to give Pink tips on hosting, they were just in casual clothes.

Before two of the musical numbers, during the commercial breaks, the show’s choreographer came out to give us tips on how to participate. So on the award show, if you thought the audience magically knew how to clack their fans for Jellicle Ball or do the Time Warp during the Rocky Horror number, you can now realize they had been coached!

Occasionally, a cue was called out, and there was a small technical issue at the beginning of The Lost Boys number, but overall things went very smoothly. Pink fumbled lines once and said “I promise I will learn to speak by tonight!” And when she was trying to get out of her flying apparatus at the very beginning, Neil Patrick Harris had to help her – they handled it so well I thought it might have been scripted, but didn’t happen at the televised ceremony. We didn’t get a program, which is also what I have experienced when attending an invited dress rehearsal the night before a first preview of a new show on Broadway. Like those invited dress rehearsals, the one for the Tony Awards allowed the show to do a complete run through with an audience, and also serves as a way to thank all of the people in the Broadway community who are a part of each show’s success but are not routinely given tickets to the award ceremony.

We got out about 12:15, and they were still setting up for the ceremony as we left, installing a huge Tony Award in front of Radio City and getting the red carpet ready. I really enjoyed experiencing the dress rehearsal, and of course hearing the musical numbers live is always a different experience that when hearing music broadcast. Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Without You” during In Memoriam, and Rachel Ziegler’s “What I did for love” were far more powerful in person than when I heard them on the live broadcast at night. I hope this wasn’t my last time to attend the Tony Awards dress – and if I am lucky perhaps attending both the dress and the ceremony in one day could be in the future as well!

Red Bucket Follies

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If you have attended a Broadway show in the spring or late fall, you may have experienced an appeal to donate to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA) after the performers have received applause during their bows. Shows still in previews don’t generally participate, but nearly all shows that have opened do. Often you can purchase Playbills or window cards signed by the entire cast in exchange for a donation to BCEFA, and sometimes there are special items auctioned off to the bidder donating the highest amount. I once watched Glenn Close auction off the false eyelashes she had worn during the last revival of Sunset Boulevard (not to be confused with the currently running Sunset Blvd!), along with a photo opportunity with her, for over $10,000. Daniel Radcliffe has a history of raising quite a lot for BCEFA auctioning things like the literal shirt off his back (in Equus) and a piece of paper he had typed on during the performance (in Merrily We Roll Along). But always during these times of year there are people waiting as you exit with red buckets to receive donations of any size (as I have heard many times, “no donation is too small . . . and no donation is too large!”). They now also have QR codes on the buckets to scan and donate through in these relatively cash-free times.

These fund-raising drives were started in 1987, as AIDS was ravaging the theatre community and so many brilliant artists needed assistance with medical costs and social services. Much of the money raised now goes to the Entertainment Community Fund to fund The Friedman Health Center for the Broadway community, the HIV/AIDS Initiative, and The Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative, but also expands to provide grants to AIDS and social service organizations all over the country. With these drives occurring roughly around the Easter season and just before Christmas, BCEFA has held revues since 1989 at the end of each round of fund raising to announce the shows that have raised the most money. In addition, shows that choose to can also perform a short musical skit in front of the Broadway community and a panel of celebrity judges in hopes of winning bragging rights by placing in the top three. The spring drive led to one show being called the Easter Bonnet Competition (and each musical skit ended with one performer wearing an elaborately themed hat) and the one in early December was called Gypsy of the Year until being renamed Red Bucket Follies in 2022. As of this year, Red Bucket Follies was the only show being put on (despite the drives still being twice a year), but perhaps Easter Bonnet will come back!

I have been going to these events for years now. The audience is largely made up of the Broadway community, but for a donation to BCEFA some additional tickets are available to the regular public. Generally there are two performances, one on a Monday at 4:30 (think of this as a dress rehearsal, and a way for the judges to decide which skits they plan to award so that there are no delays the next day) and the finale the next day at 2PM (earlier since most attending and performing have a show that night). At the Tuesday performance the fund raising and musical skit winners are announced, as well as the total raised by everyone during the drive.

One of the great things about going to these is being at an insider Broadway event where the more shows you have seen, the better you will enjoy the musical skits. For instance, I remember when the original cast of Hamilton retold the story of “Demon Barber Sweeney Todd” to the tune of “Alexander Hamilton.” When Phantom was about to close, cast members going back decades had a skit set in a nursing home for Broadway performers. You also see Broadway performers interact and introduce different skits (above see Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff from Merrily We Roll Along at the 2023 Red Bucket Follies). The BCEFA YouTube channel has videos from many of the performances over the years.

Often the musical skits are funny (I remember well the opening number honoring the covid testing teams at the first Follies following the covid shutdown – including dancing nasal swabs), but sometimes are quite touching.

The photos above show you the judges and which shows participated in the Red Bucket Follies in December of 2024.

The final total and the shows that had raised the most for the fall drive in 2024 were announced by Jim Parsons (Our Town), Cole Escola (Oh Mary!), Ruthie Ann Miles (McNeal) and Nicole Scherzinger (Sunset Blvd).

The total for the fall drive in 2024 was over $5.3M! As someone who truly loves Broadway theatre, BCEFA is one of my favorite charitable organizations (every year I send their cards, which also represent a donation, to family and close friends). There are other shows during the year to raise money for BCEFA (for example, Broadway Bares, if you are feeling adventurous) and other ways to support BCEFA (they often have Broadway house seats for even sold-out shows available if you are willing to donate twice the face value of the ticket – better than giving the money to a scalper). If you happen to be at a Broadway show during the fund raising periods, please consider being generous. Every single person who participates in the BCEFA drive donates their time, both while collecting and for the Red Bucket Follies. Even the theatre space for Red Bucket Follies is donated by Disney Theatricals. And if you happen to be able to attend Red Bucket Follies next December, let me know – I’ll see you there!

Thoughts on the Tony Awards 2024

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On June 16th, the 77th annual Tony Awards will be awarded (and televised on CBS). The ceremony this year is at Lincoln Center for the first time and American Express will be holding a live simulcast at Damrosch Park just behind the David H. Koch Theatre where the awards will be given out (see here for more information about how to attend if this interests you). Two years ago I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the 75th annual Tonys in person at Radio City (see how I wrote up the experience here) but this year I will be watching on television as usual. The awards this year seem harder than ever to predict this very crowded season. Needless to say, with so many new productions, not everything could be nominated, and most musicals and plays rely on the publicity and the “stamp of approval” from the Tonys to fuel sales.

Best New Musical

This was an unusually busy season for new musicals on Broadway, which is great for musical lovers – but very tough on producers as there was a lot of competition for the ticket-buying public. Six new musicals have already opened and closed this season:  Once Upon a One More Time, Here Lies Love, How to Dance in Ohio, Harmony, Lempicka, and Days of Wine and Roses. From earlier this season, only Back to The Future (which opened last July) is still running, with most new musicals on Broadway having opened in a very busy spring season. So the eligible original musicals were Back to the Future, Days of Wine and Roses, Harmony, Hell’s Kitchen, Here Lies Love, How to Dance in Ohio, Illinoise, Lempicka, Once Upon a One More Time, Suffs, The Great Gatsby, The Heart of Rock and Roll, The Notebook, The Outsiders, and Water for Elephants. I saw all of them, and correctly predicted which five would be nominated (which is not the same as saying I agreed with the result). The five are:

“Hell’s Kitchen”

“Illinoise”

“The Outsiders”

“Suffs”

“Water for Elephants”

I have to say, this is a year where any one of these could win. The best reviewed by the New York Times were Illinoise, Hell’s Kitchen, and Water for Elephants (all “Critic’s Picks”) but Suffs and The Outsiders are both nominated for best original score as well as best new musical. Illinoise has had perhaps the most rave reviews across the board, but since it is a very unique Broadway musical (the story being told entirely through Justin Peck’s dance and a group of instrumentalists and singers, all based on Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 album) it may be hard for Tony voters to award it best in this category (although I expect it will get best choreography) when it is not nominated for Book or Score. However, Hell’s Kitchen had the most nominations (13; tied with the new play Stereophonic in number of nominations this year).

Best Musical Revival

The eligible musical revivals were Cabaret, Gutenberg, Merrily We Roll Along, Spamalot, The Who’s Tommy, and The Wiz. Only four were nominated:

“Cabaret”

“Gutenberg! The Musical!”

“Merrily We Roll Along”

“The Who’s Tommy”

This category definitely comes down to two productions, the transfer from the West End of Rebecca Frecknall’s Cabaret, starring Eddie Redmayne, and the smash hit revival of Merrily We Roll Along, a musical once felt to be Sondheim’s great flop, but transformed by the direction of Maria Friedman and the performances by Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez. The Cabaret revival has not been received as well on Broadway as it was on the West End, so I would expect Merrily to take this award. The same goes for Leading Actor in a Musical – I would be surprised (and very very disappointed) if Jonathan Groff does not win this category over Eddie Redmayne. I love The Who’s Tommy, by the way, but don’t expect it to win.

Best New Play

The nominees for best new play are:

“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”

“Mary Jane”

“Mother Play”

“Prayer for the French Republic”

“Stereophonic”


I will be very surprised if Stereophonic doesn’t win this category. It’s a “play with music” (and in fact, it is nominated for best original score, which is unusual but not without precedent) by David Adjmi, about a rock band in the 1970s recording an album. It’s over three hours long, takes place entirely in a recording studio with no change of sets, and yet is completely riveting.

Best Play Revival

All three of the nominees for best revival of a play are excellent. They are:

“Appropriate”

“An Enemy of the People”

“Purlie Victorious”

Despite the strength of all three of these revivals, I would be surprised if Appropriate did not win this category (and I think Sarah Paulsen is a lock for Best Lead Actress in a Play despite being up against Jessica Lange in Mother Play).

Other thoughts

This season not only had a great number and variety of new productions, there were many extremely innovative sets. The category of best scenic design of a musical had seven nominees (for The Outsiders, Hell’s Kitchen, Back to the Future, Lempicka, Water for Elephants, Here Lies Love, and Cabaret) and I was dazzled by all of them. I think the immersive quality of Here Lies Love, which has closed but I absolutely adored, was a stand out in a great field for me – but it is very unusual for shows that have closed to win even if nominated (Here Lies Love is also up for best original score, best choreography, and best sound design).

A shout out to the Director categories this year, with four out of the five musical directors and three out of the five play directors being women.

After the Tonys, I expect many shows with disappointing results will post closing notices, either right away or as the summer ends. Tony awards do not guarantee a long run (look at A Strange Loop from 2022) but the lack of awards can be the difference between enough ticket sales to keep going and a decision to close the show. What will keep Broadway alive is not only a wealth of plays and musicals in the pipeline but also the ticket-buying public out there to support them. Go see a Broadway show (or a ton of them!) and keep this very special art form thriving here in New York City.