Springsteen gets a Tony award

I do not know if his Tony trophy counts, since it is a special award. But no matter, in my book Bruce Springsteen is now one step closer to joining the elite rank of the renowned artists who have been honored with the important music awards. 

He has an Academy Award for Best Original Song Streets of Philadelphia in 1994; a Golden Globe for the same song used in the Tom Hanks starrer, Philadelphia; he has 20 Grammys; and now he has a Tony for Springsteen on Broadway. All that he lacks is an Emmy, so I hope Netflix or HBO produces a documentary about the iconic Boss. 

News have it that the much-loved rocker declined to compete with the other eligible shows at this year’s Tony Awards. But just the same, the Tony organizers decided to honor him with a special award which will be given out during the Tony Awards night at the Radio City Music Hall on June 10 (June 11, Manila time). 

Springsteen on Broadway is an intimate one-man show that features The Boss singing his songs and telling stories about his life accompanied only by a piano or a guitar. Just his music and memories and literally nothing more. We have always associated Springsteen with packed arena concerts but he has now proven what a versatile, magnetic presence he can also be on a small stage. The Walter Kerr Theater at Jujamcyn’s must be one of the smallest venues he has ever performed in.

Springsteen on Broadway is a huge box-office hit. In fact, it is acknowledged as one of Broadway’s biggest grossers last year. Tickets on the black market were being sold for as much as $6,700. Originally scheduled for a limited six-week run, October to November 2017, the show has now been extended three times. As of the latest, it will run until December.

So, if you have plans to visit New York this year, try to catch The Boss. The reviews say Springsteen on Broadway is outstanding and nobody leaves the theater disappointed. From Billboard, “It stands as one of the most fascinating, invigorating, emotionally nuanced entries in his creative catalog.”

“After decades of arena-sized body language, he’s scaled himself down without losing any of his enormous presence. He’s figured out how to be gigantic in a small place,” from Variety. “As portraits of artists go, there may never have been anything as real and beautiful on Broadway,” the New York Times, and “An intimate triumph, one of the most compelling and profound shows by a rock musician in recent memory,” from the Rolling Stone.

And now here are the Tony Awards 2018, Musical Theater nominations.

Best Musical: The Band’s Visit, Frozen, Mean Girls, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.

Best Revival: Carousel, My Fair Lady, Once On This Island.

Best Book: The Band’s Visit by Itamar Moses; Frozen by Jennifer Lee; Mean Girls by Tina Fey; SpongeBob SquarePants by Kyle Jarrow.

Best Original Score: Angels in America by Adrian Sutton; The Band’s Visit by David Yazbek; Frozen by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez; Mean Girls, music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin; SpongeBob SquarePants by various contributors.

Best Leading Actor: Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady; Joshua Henry, Carousel; Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants; Tony Shalhoub, The Band’s Visit.

Best Leading Actress: Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady; Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island; LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical; Katrina Lenk, The Band’s Visit; Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls; Jessie Mueller, Carousel.

Best Featured Actor: Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady; Alexander Gemignani, Carousel; Grey Henson, Mean Girls; Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants; Ari’el Stachel, The Band’s Visit.

Best Featured Actress: Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical; Renee Fleming, Carousel; Lindsay Mendez, Carousel; Ashley Park, Mean Girls; Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady.

Best Scenic Design: Dane Laffrey, Once On This Island; Scott Pask, The Band’s Visit; Scott Pask, Finn Ross and Adam Young, Mean Girls; Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady; David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants.

Best Costume Design: Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls; Clint Ramos, Once On This Island; Ann Roth, Carousel; David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants; Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady.

Best Lighting Design: Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants; Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island; Donald Holder, My Fair Lady; Brian MacDevitt, Carousel; Tyler Micoleau, The Band’s Visit.

Best Direction: Michael Arden, Once On This Island; David Cromer, The Band’s Visit; Tina Landau, SpongeBob SquarePants; Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls; Bartlett Sher, My Fair Lady.

Best Choreography: Christopher Gattelli, My Fair Lady; Christopher Gattelli, SpongeBob SquarePants; Steven Hoggett, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls; Justin Peck, Carousel.

Best Orchestrations: John Clancy, Mean Girls; Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants; Ann Marie Millazzo and Michael Starobin, Once On This Island; Jamshied Sharifi, The Band’s Visit; Jonathan Tunick, Carousel.

Best Sound Design: Kai Harada, The Band’s Visit; Peter Hylenski, Once On This Island; Scott Lehrer, Carousel; Brian Ronan, Mean Girls; Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants.

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater:  Chita Rivera and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Special Tony Award: John Leguizamo and Bruce Springsteen.