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[0:00] Eila Mell: Lastly, 40 years ago yesterday, I walked into the Imperial Theater to begin my Broadway career at 18 years old. I have had so many amazing experiences and some heartbreaking ones too. I took a short break from show business and raised a son as a single parent while trying to build a career. This moment is the one I dreamed of for most of those 40 years. So I say to everyone who can hear my voice, don't give up.

[0:43] Eila Mell: Hello and welcome to Behind the Awards. I'm Eila, as always here with Bruce.

[0:49] Bruce Gotlieb: Hey Eila.

[0:50] Eila Mell: Hey Bruce, how are you today?

[0:53] Bruce Gotlieb: We had such a night last night.

[0:54] Eila Mell: We had a day, not even a night, we had a day.

[0:57] Bruce Gotlieb: We really had a whole day, yes, because where did we go?

[1:02] Eila Mell: We went to the 77th Tony Awards.

[1:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, but our day started early because we also went to the rehearsal for the Tony Awards.

[1:12] Eila Mell: We had to be there at 8:15. Before we start unpacking, let's just say that clip was new Tony winner, Kecia Lewis, best featured actress in a musical for Hell's Kitchen.

[1:24] Eila Mell: So we were invited by the American Theater Wing, which was very lovely because I wrote the book with them. So they gave us our tickets. It was pretty crowded.

[1:35] Bruce Gotlieb: So I naively didn't realize that the rehearsal was like a whole show in itself.

[1:41] Eila Mell: I thought we were just gonna go and like sit in on the rehearsal.

[1:46] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, I knew from multiple people that I had gone to Tony rehearsals in the past, I knew that it was a full run of the show.

[1:56] Eila Mell: I went in with the expectation that we were gonna be there for a few hours to see the start to finish because they have to work on camera angles and do all the things that happened during the show just to let it run its course, make sure there are no pitfalls.

[2:10] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[2:11] Eila Mell: I mean, yeah, I expected that too. I just didn't think it was like such a formal thing where it was like completely packed.

[2:17] Bruce Gotlieb: I just thought it was some people were gonna be there, but it wasn't, you know, like the whole theater.

[2:23] Eila Mell: Right, right. So the one thing that was interesting, not I guess I'm gonna kind of fast forward a little bit is they don't rehearse act one.

[2:31] Bruce Gotlieb: That was on Pluto.

[2:33] Eila Mell: That was really surprising. And for those of you that watched Pluto, they probably should have because Billy Porter had a whole little technical issue when he came up to accept his Isabel Stevenson award.

[2:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, that was funny, but he handled it really well.

[2:50] Eila Mell: He did. It took a little longer to get his phone than he would have liked, but he did handle it well.

[2:54] Bruce Gotlieb: It did, yeah. So um, all right, so let's talk about our day, right? So we get into the theater. Well, first of all, we have to wait online for a while, but that was fine. We get ushered in to our seats. Um, there's all kinds of buzz, everyone's chatting about, casually dressed, nobody's a couple of people were dressed up for the awards.

[3:06] Eila Mell: A couple of people did not realize.

[3:16] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, they were like in gowns.

[3:19] Eila Mell: I would choose to believe that they that was a choice that they made, that this was their moment to go to the Tony's and they were going all out.

[3:26] Bruce Gotlieb: All right, you're kind. I didn't think that. I thought they just didn't realize that it was casual for the rehearsal, but you could be right.

[3:35] Eila Mell: So yeah, so then even the presenter, well, the presenters aren't even all there. Some are there, but some aren't there.

[3:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Some are there and the winners, the seat fillers, or whomever they are, they're definitely people that have been hired to do this job.

[3:49] Eila Mell: Well, people who can speak, yes, right. Because I knew that it wasn't going to be the actual nominees there. I thought it was just gonna be someone who goes up, gets the award, and goes back down. I didn't realize they were gonna give a mock speech.

[4:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh yeah, and these people prepared speeches.

[4:05] Eila Mell: Yes, they were pretty great. They were one guy every time, because he it was the same like five or six people that had this job.

[4:12] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[4:12] Eila Mell: And the one guy every time he got up there, he said, "Well, it's Father's Day, I'm gonna tell dad jokes." And he did a dad joke with every time he won.

[4:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, and they got less funny, but that I guess that's as it should be because you know, he was running out of jokes, he kept getting called up.

[4:26] Eila Mell: And one of the fun things is that when they are announcing the winner, they say, "and the winner for best musical at this performance only."

[4:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[4:34] Eila Mell: Because they don't want you to think that they're opening up envelopes and spoiling the show.

[4:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[4:38] Eila Mell: Some people might think that and then put it out there, right? Because they do, they ran graphics behind for whoever they announced, even if it wasn't right, you know.

[4:46] Bruce Gotlieb: So it could very easily if you took a screenshot, well, not a screenshot, you're there in person. If you took a picture, it would look like, you know, let's say Leslie Pritzer Rodriguez won.

[4:56] Eila Mell: Yeah, right, won when that's not what happened.

[4:58] Bruce Gotlieb: So yeah, that was fun. Do you think of the people who were the five people who were standing in, sitting in for the nominees, do you think they knew which one was gonna be called up?

[5:09] Eila Mell: I don't. I mean, I maybe they did. I didn't get the inclination that they did, but yeah, I really I'm not sure. They might have said, you know, okay, we're gonna rotate it, and you know, right.

[5:18] Bruce Gotlieb: So then some people came out and did their thing. Sean Hayes was fun, right? Because he comes out and you know, there's banter written, it was just him, but you know, there was a joke written. He says, "All right, I'm skipping the joke. We don't need that now. We want to move along." And he just read the absolute like whatever was necessary.

[5:35] Eila Mell: Correct.

[5:35] Bruce Gotlieb: And that was it. He's such a pro, he doesn't need to rehearse that. So then when he did it later on that night, it was completely natural.

[5:41] Eila Mell: And you know, of course, he did amazing.

[5:44] Bruce Gotlieb: It was. And one one thing that they did during the rehearsal when they were announcing Souf's performance, they just said, uh, TBD presenter. And we were like, TBD presenter, like it was odd. Who's that? And we didn't really give it much mind.

[5:57] Eila Mell: And then when we were there last night and Hillary Clinton came out, yes. Then we realized, oh, probably for security that they can't say that she's going to be there later.

[6:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. That's it. She was the one person whose name they didn't announce. Like we knew it was gonna be Taraji P. Henson giving out an award.

[6:14] Eila Mell: Right.

[6:14] Bruce Gotlieb: She wasn't there at the rehearsal, but we still knew it was gonna be her. But yeah, Hillary was the one person, and how thrilling when she came out.

[6:21] Eila Mell: I guess other than Ariana wearing costumes because of obviously having to work through numbers. The only person I think otherwise that was in the same dress that she wore was Nicole Scherzinger. She didn't have her makeup and hair done yet, but she was in her gown that she wore.

[6:35] Bruce Gotlieb: I wasn't sure she was gonna come out in something different.

[6:37] Eila Mell: She didn't, but her hair and makeup then was done. She looked beautiful.

[6:40] Bruce Gotlieb: She did, and she sounded great.

[6:41] Eila Mell: She did. The other thing that, you know, you and I got a little sneak peek, which I thought was fun, was the Hell's Kitchen number. So we knew Alicia Keys was out.

[6:50] Bruce Gotlieb: I had a feeling she was gonna come out. It just made sense to me that she would. Jay-Z, on the other hand, though, I we didn't see that coming.

[6:57] Eila Mell: That was exciting.

[6:58] Bruce Gotlieb: It was, but even more exciting was knowing it was coming and the reaction in the theater.

[7:05] Eila Mell: Right, that night. Because most of those people didn't know it was coming.

[7:05] Bruce Gotlieb: So and Jay-Z never actually came into the theater itself. He was in the lobby.

[7:12] Eila Mell: Correct.

[7:12] Bruce Gotlieb: So Eila and I knew all of this. We knew what to expect, and we were very excited to hear the crowd react to that.

[7:19] Eila Mell: And the reaction was exactly what I expect it to be. The place went nuts.

[7:23] Bruce Gotlieb: It was like amped up to a thousand. But what was funny to me was that a lot of people were standing up looking to see where he was.

[7:32] Eila Mell: To try to find him, yes.

[7:33] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. But he was not in the room. But the fun thing was if you were so on TV, you got Jay-Z and Alicia in the lobby because we saw the teleprompter.

[7:42] Eila Mell: On stage, we got the cast still dancing, doing all their choreography full out.

[7:47] Bruce Gotlieb: So it was cool because they have the monitors. You got to see both going on at the same time.

[7:51] Eila Mell: Right. But yeah, the show didn't stop on stage.

[7:54] Bruce Gotlieb: So that was cool. But it was such a fun night, a day afternoon.

[7:59] Eila Mell: Oh my gosh.

[8:00] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[8:00] Eila Mell: And we got to see so many people. We saw our guests, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Jesse Robb.

[8:06] Bruce Gotlieb: We saw the Cooperman brothers, our guests that are now our friends.

[8:09] Eila Mell: It was great to be able to congratulate them in person, you know, face to face with them on their accomplishments this season.

[8:16] Bruce Gotlieb: We also got some we got to chat with Shayna Taub, two-time Tony winner.

[8:22] Eila Mell: Yes, and Justin Peck, who won for Best Choreography for Illinois.

[8:26] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes. Uh, Sky Lakota Lynch, we got a couple of minutes with before he was hurried off inside.

[8:26] Eila Mell: Who else did we get time with? Oh, Amy Ryan, Nikki M. James.

[8:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. The pictures are on our Instagram.

[8:37] Eila Mell: Yes. So just look for that behind the awards. You can see everything about our night there.

[8:42] Bruce Gotlieb: So we we're gonna bring on our special guest for our show recap.

[8:47] Eila Mell: Yes.

[8:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Our resident Tony theater expert.

[8:50] Eila Mell: Our Tony correspondent, Matt Stashin, who has been with us for the whole season.

[8:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Hello, Matt.

[8:59] Matt Stashin: Hi, how are you guys?

[9:00] Eila Mell: We are good.

[9:01] Matt Stashin: So did you enjoy your Tony night?

[9:03] Matt Stashin: I did. I did. It was great. It was a really exciting show.

[9:06] Matt Stashin: It really was. Because, you know, like we've been saying, there was no clear winner. And even what we thought were clear winners turned out not to be so clear.

[9:15] Eila Mell: So, all right. Bruce is our statistician. Do you want to talk a little bit about that, Bruce?

[9:20] Bruce Gotlieb: What you're gonna do? I felt that it was important to hold ourselves accountable for our predictions. So I calculated and I did so.

[9:27] Matt Stashin: All right.

[9:28] Bruce Gotlieb: So it's kind of a contest here to see who the best predictor is.

[9:28] Eila Mell: Who the best predictor.

[9:33] Bruce Gotlieb: And I also, before we get into that, I will say that I also calculated what we wanted to win. We were far less successful.

[9:40] Eila Mell: All right.

[9:41] Bruce Gotlieb: So should how do you how should we do this, gentlemen? Should we go through each category and just give a little recap? Or what what are you thinking?

[9:49] Matt Stashin: The show itself?

[9:51] Bruce Gotlieb: How about both?

[9:51] Matt Stashin: I think we should do it all.

[9:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Let's do it all. So, Matt, what did you think about Ariana DeBose, who was returning as the host?

[9:58] Matt Stashin: It was her third time. Did you like?

[10:00] Matt Stashin: Yeah, I thought I had thought she had some really good moments. I might be the only one. I did not love that opening number.

[10:07] Eila Mell: I don't know.

[10:07] Matt Stashin: I feel like it played much better in the room than it did at home, because a lot of the camera angles were close up and we did not see a lot of the dancing.

[10:15] Eila Mell: Like for me at home, it looked like pose, pose, spin. Clap for yourselves if you're nominated. Belt to high note. I didn't get to see a lot of the dancing that was going on.

[10:25] Matt Stashin: Yeah, I like when the opening number is more of a play on what's going on that season. You know, I felt that it was a bit just different from the rest of the show.

[10:34] Eila Mell: So I kind of agree with what you're saying.

[10:36] Matt Stashin: Ariana choreographed that herself too.

[10:39] Eila Mell: She did.

[10:39] Matt Stashin: I wish I'd seen it then. It was more, I guess it was a little bit more stylistic than energetic, if I had to put an adjective to it. I think, you know, going in, there's all this, you know, build up this energy that's been building for this whole season, especially with the races being as close as they are and all these other factors that I was hoping for a little bit more of a punch.

[11:00] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, I think it played to her strengths, but maybe not what was best for the show itself. And I guess that's, you know, that's a decision that has to be made when the, you know, from the committee or the team that's deciding this. You know, you have you've put somebody in this position. So as much as you do want certain things for the show, you also have to keep it within the person's wheelhouse, what they're able to do.

[11:23] Matt Stashin: Yeah, there were a couple of moments where I thought that maybe they the show was asking more than was in her wheelhouse.

[11:29] Eila Mell: My favorite thing of hers was that dance when she came out with the cheetah honoring the dress, the choreography.

[11:36] Matt Stashin: Yes, she was fantastic.

[11:38] Eila Mell: She was brilliant. That was like just chef's kiss.

[11:42] Matt Stashin: Absolutely.

[11:43] Eila Mell: Yeah, that was one of and that was a great. I love that tribute too. It was perfect. It was happy, it was a celebration of Chita Rivera, you know, it really gave us a very brief overview of her career and highlights, and it was great dancing. And so I really like that.

[11:57] Matt Stashin: Agreed.

[12:00] Eila Mell: I loved it. I thought it was really great. A good balance, you know, a clip, a little speech, a little, you know, just through line, and the dancers did a wonderful job.

[12:09] Matt Stashin: Yeah. I thought the show itself moved along pretty well.

[12:12] Eila Mell: It did from at least in inside it did. I mean, there are times where I've watched award shows where I'm like, is this over yet? From home, even, you know, just being like, What why are we still here?

[12:21] Bruce Gotlieb: No. There and it didn't feel like there was anything extraneous either.

[12:24] Eila Mell: That's an interesting question, though. When you get to shows like this, are they being done for the people in the room or are they being done for the people at home? Especially when we get to talking about some of the performances, I feel like some of the performances almost definitely worked better in the room than they did for the viewers.

[12:39] Matt Stashin: Oh, that's so interesting because we were saying that some of them worked better at home than in the room because they were played to the camera.

[12:47] Eila Mell: Because obviously when you're there, you see the cameras right on stage with the performers.

[12:51] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. So that's very interesting to see.

[12:53] Matt Stashin: So like especially cabaret. Most of it the performers had their backs to us in the theater.

[12:58] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[12:59] Matt Stashin: Was it projected like on screens then also? Like could you see their faces when they were doing it?

[13:03] Bruce Gotlieb: Or was okay. There were monitors all over.

[13:05] Matt Stashin: So yeah. Our assumption was that that was performing better on the TV.

[13:10] Eila Mell: I don't know. Because that production seems like so stylized that I almost think you need that distance to see it from the stage.

[13:17] Matt Stashin: Played to the camera. I it almost yeah, I don't know if it worked as well.

[13:20] Eila Mell: That's one that I actually thought was working better in the room.

[13:23] Eila Mell: Ha ha that's interesting.

[13:24] Bruce Gotlieb: So you felt like you weren't seeing like what the show really was because it was so to the camera?

[13:30] Eila Mell: Yeah, but some shows I really did feel like we were getting the show and some shows I did, yeah.

[13:35] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, I get that. All right, so should we go into some of the awards?

[13:38] Eila Mell: Let's do it.

[13:39] Bruce Gotlieb: All right, Eila, we're gonna take our cue from you now.

[13:42] Eila Mell: So I'm just going in the order that we did it on the episodes, just because that was the easiest way to write it all down. Featured actor in a play went to Will Brill for Stereophonic.

[13:51] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, was that the first award of the night?

[13:53] Eila Mell: On the main telecast it was.

[13:54] Bruce Gotlieb: So that was a big surprise.

[13:56] Eila Mell: I didn't see that coming. How about you?

[13:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, none of us did. None of us had him written down at all.

[14:01] Eila Mell: I just didn't see that happening. I'm not mad that that happened. I think he's fantastic. I love him in everything, but I, you know, he's especially good in Stereophonic.

[14:09] Bruce Gotlieb: So who did we predict?

[14:10] Eila Mell: Matt and I predicted Jim Parsons, and you had predicted Corey Stall.

[14:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, so we were all wrong.

[14:15] Eila Mell: We all kind of thought the Stereophonic guys would cancel each other out.

[14:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, which they did not. So did any one of us want Wilbur?

[14:21] Eila Mell: Well, I thought maybe we're doing great so far, aren't we? It's so funny that I don't even remember my own predictions.

[14:26] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, I have them here for you.

[14:28] Eila Mell: So the next one was pretty easy. Sound design of a play went to Stereophonic, which we all said it was gonna happen. You know, you have a recording studio on stage. How do you not? It wouldn't be nominated if it wasn't a successful outing, right?

[14:40] Bruce Gotlieb: After that, we had choreography.

[14:41] Eila Mell: I went to Justin Pack from Illinois.

[14:44] Bruce Gotlieb: Now, who predicted that?

[14:45] Eila Mell: We all predicted that would be the case.

[14:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Now, Justin is fantastic. The choreography's great, but you know, just because we love Water for Elephants and Jesse and Shana, we were kind of hoping that, you know, they would pull it out.

[14:58] Eila Mell: We were hoping for them. I know I also was had a little, you know, I was also pulling for the Cooper and Brothers for The Outsiders. The one thing I will say is with all the choreography this season, I know I said it in one of the other episodes. I just appreciate all of the artistry that is pushing the way choreography is used to tell stories this season.

[15:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Because in all the nominated shows, it was used so differently, and that's exciting.

[15:21] Eila Mell: I will say, like about the choreography, Illinois and Water for Elephants and SUPs were I think the three most successful performances.

[15:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, okay.

[15:30] Eila Mell: Those were the three that hit the best at home where you really got a sense of the show. Hell's Kitchen, also actually, but that's for totally different reasons.

[15:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[15:37] Eila Mell: Yeah, I thought that Water for Elephants was a really good representation of the show.

[15:41] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[15:41] Eila Mell: Illinois, I loved that performance. I would have liked to have seen more of the circus performances in the show. I just thought it would be even more exciting than it was, but it was pretty exciting anyway.

[15:53] Bruce Gotlieb: You know, it's funny because when we ran into Jesse before the show, we had congratulated him and said how one how beautiful it looked during rehearsal. And he was like, did it? I was holding my breath. If they wanted the poll, there was just so much he shared with us that went into the behind the scenes of getting this particular moment that they wanted to highlight to actually be done in that space.

[16:15] Eila Mell: So knowing all that or hearing that, then rewatching it again in the evening almost made me appreciate it even more to be like, wow, there's, you know, all this nuance that goes on. Then next we had the Tony for Orchestration.

[16:27] Bruce Gotlieb: So that went to Jonathan Tunick for Merrily We Roll Along.

[16:30] Eila Mell: Bruce and I got to talk with Jonathan a little bit before the show.

[16:34] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, we did.

[16:35] Eila Mell: And so how did we predict?

[16:36] Bruce Gotlieb: I predicted that that would win.

[16:38] Eila Mell: You and Matt did not. Matt said Hell's Kitchen and you said Illinois.

[16:42] Bruce Gotlieb: All right.

[16:43] Eila Mell: Well, clearly we didn't know what we were talking about.

[16:45] Bruce Gotlieb: Not on that one, no.

[16:46] Eila Mell: Okay. And then we ended, we ended, we ended episode one and the next category with an easy one. We all said want and thought Daniel Radcliffe featured actor in a musical.

[16:58] Bruce Gotlieb: And he did.

[16:59] Eila Mell: He won. That was a very nice win. I thought his speech was nice.

[17:01] Bruce Gotlieb: I thought Jonathan Tunick's speech was nice too. He talked about Sondheim, his friend. A lot of people get this opportunity to speak about what these moments meant to them. And for the most part, they're just straight from the heart.

[17:14] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[17:15] Bruce Gotlieb: We'll be right back. We have to listen to some commercials.

[17:22] Eila Mell: Then we went into score.

[17:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[17:25] Eila Mell: Which Shana Taub won for Suffs.

[17:28] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[17:28] Eila Mell: For me, I think, because I thought Stereophonic was gonna win. I think a lot of people thought that. My thought process going in was it's the only play that's nominated for best score, so it has to stand out. Like, how could it not? Not to take away from the beautiful score that Shana Taub has created, clearly, yeah. But I just was like, well, one of these is not like the other.

[17:50] Bruce Gotlieb: So that would make it more prominent.

[17:52] Eila Mell: That would make it, but it didn't end. And none of us thought that. None of us had that predicted to win. But what a lovely moment for her. She was so excited. You know, seeing the reactions.

[18:03] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[18:03] Eila Mell: Not that you get to see them at home too. And probably even a little bit closer.

[18:07] Bruce Gotlieb: Right, because you're seeing them so close up.

[18:10] Eila Mell: Seeing that is just that's almost worth watching it alone. Just that you can sort of feel that energy in the room in a way that you don't see it on TV.

[18:18] Bruce Gotlieb: So while you get the visual better on TV, at least you do get something in the room too.

[18:22] Eila Mell: Oh yeah. Did we say what our predictions were? Mine and yours was Stereophonic.

[18:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[18:27] Eila Mell: And Matt's was Days of Wine and Roses. Did any of us watch Shayna?

[18:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Matt.

[18:32] Eila Mell: Okay. Munted Soufs. All right. You wanted Here Lies Love and I wanted The Outsiders.

[18:36] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[18:36] Eila Mell: We spread our love around. Unfortunately, we can't all get what we want.

[18:40] Bruce Gotlieb: No, but Matt did.

[18:41] Eila Mell: I am not complaining. Costume design of a play went to Day Day for Ja Ja's African Hair Braiding.

[18:48] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[18:49] Eila Mell: So, you know, she's just wonderful and so lovely. I adore her. Of course, you know, Emilio Sosa is my dear friend. So I was so hoping he would win, but thrilled for Day Day too.

[19:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, I mean, to be nominated at all, but nominated twice. We went over this in the other episodes. I don't want to bore our listeners, but it's just, you know, how amazing to be able to have that accomplishment to be twice nominated.

[19:12] Eila Mell: Twice in this category. But she was three times in this season. So she's amazing. But this was her first win.

[19:18] Bruce Gotlieb: So that's fantastic.

[19:19] Eila Mell: How did we predict?

[19:21] Bruce Gotlieb: You and Matt thought Stereophonic, and I thought Pearly.

[19:24] Eila Mell: I can't believe none of us thought that.

[19:25] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[19:26] Eila Mell: What was it? Any of our wants?

[19:28] Bruce Gotlieb: Both Matt and mine.

[19:29] Eila Mell: I'm a little embarrassed now. But I must have wanted Emilio Sosa.

[19:32] Bruce Gotlieb: You did.

[19:33] Eila Mell: Okay. All right.

[19:34] Bruce Gotlieb: So that makes sense.

[19:35] Eila Mell: Lighting design of a musical went to The Outsiders.

[19:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Brian McDevitt and Hannah S. Kim.

[19:40] Eila Mell: I loved her speech.

[19:42] Bruce Gotlieb: He's a veteran. He's won before. This was her first win, and she made maybe one of the best speeches of the night.

[19:48] Eila Mell: Oh, definitely my favorite.

[19:50] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh my gosh. She was so overwhelmed.

[19:52] Eila Mell: It was great. It just such a pure moment of joy.

[19:55] Bruce Gotlieb: Totally.

[19:56] Eila Mell: How did we predict this category?

[19:58] Bruce Gotlieb: Matt predicted Hell's Kitchen. You predicted Water for Elephants, and I predicted The Outsiders.

[20:03] Eila Mell: Oh, so you got it.

[20:04] Bruce Gotlieb: I did.

[20:04] Eila Mell: Well done.

[20:05] Bruce Gotlieb: And our wants.

[20:06] Eila Mell: Matt was Hell's Kitchen, as was mine. Yours was Water for Elephants.

[20:10] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[20:10] Eila Mell: Featured actress in a play went to Carrie Young with our three consecutive nominations.

[20:16] Bruce Gotlieb: So Bruce and I were so hoping for a tie for this because we were. I mean, I was dying for Cara to win, but we also wanted Celia Keenan-Bolger to win.

[20:25] Eila Mell: So but I will say it just speaks to, you know, what Celia was sharing with us about the community on the episode with her. If you have an opportunity to go back and just watch Cara's win when they announce it, Celia's reaction in her face.

[20:40] Bruce Gotlieb: She's cheering louder than anyone.

[20:42] Eila Mell: It's genuine.

[20:43] Bruce Gotlieb: It is.

[20:43] Eila Mell: She told us. We actually walked in with her and she told us. She said she'd be so happy if someone else won also. You know, you know, she really is so generous that she said, I'm really okay if it's not me. The reaction, I was just like, oh, it's so great.

[20:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[20:58] Eila Mell: How can you not love it?

[20:59] Bruce Gotlieb: So you predicted this one correctly.

[21:01] Eila Mell: Who?

[21:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Me?

[21:01] Eila Mell: Eila.

[21:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Really?

[21:03] Eila Mell: Well, of course, because I, you know, I've been talking about Carrie Young forever. I think she's amazing.

[21:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, you got it. You hit the nail on the head.

[21:10] Eila Mell: Yay. Am I the only one?

[21:11] Bruce Gotlieb: You're the only one who predicted it, but you and Matt both that was your want as well.

[21:14] Eila Mell: I was very happy with that one, yes.

[21:16] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, that was great and well deserved.

[21:18] Eila Mell: Absolutely. Even when they showed the clips from the five performances, hers got the hugest amount of reaction from the audience, too.

[21:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, it's funny when you're either even when you're listening at home, you know, watching at home, and you do hear the crowd, the noise level, you wonder is that translate?

[21:35] Eila Mell: Because I'm sure some of the people that are in the room are Tony voters.

[21:38] Bruce Gotlieb: Of course.

[21:39] Eila Mell: But for the most part, the majority of them probably aren't. And you wonder if the, you know, what the translation is. Is the popular vote the same as the actual vote?

[21:48] Bruce Gotlieb: Right, exactly. A lot of times it did line up.

[21:50] Eila Mell: Yes.

[21:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, let's stick with featured actors and talk about Kecia Lewis's win.

[21:56] Eila Mell: Um, we thought I will speak for myself. I thought no one was gonna beat Lindsay Mendez.

[22:02] Bruce Gotlieb: However, it's on record.

[22:04] Eila Mell: I know, I know. But I will say that at the time we recorded this, but then in the past few days, even the momentum seemed to be shifting a little bit.

[22:14] Bruce Gotlieb: So I thought maybe Kecia Lewis can do it.

[22:17] Eila Mell: And I was so rooting for her to win.

[22:20] Bruce Gotlieb: You were she was your want.

[22:21] Eila Mell: Yeah. So I'm so glad that she won.

[22:24] Bruce Gotlieb: But did not predict it.

[22:26] Eila Mell: No, no, nobody did.

[22:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, none of us did.

[22:29] Eila Mell: Right, right. I'm sure someone in the world did.

[22:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[22:32] Eila Mell: She gives such a great performance in that.

[22:36] Bruce Gotlieb: She does.

[22:37] Eila Mell: And what a speech. That speech was so moving.

[22:40] Bruce Gotlieb: So wonderful.

[22:41] Eila Mell: I will say I did have a feeling, and I because I picked the wrong person. I did have a feeling Lindsay Mendez was gonna be the one of the three of them to miss. There were so many good shows this year that, like, and so many great performances. I couldn't wrap my brain around giving one show 75% of the acting Tonies.

[22:57] Bruce Gotlieb: I figured they were gonna spread it out a little bit.

[22:59] Eila Mell: I just didn't think it would go. I thought Shoshana Bean and Kecia Lewis would cancel each other out.

[23:04] Bruce Gotlieb: So I went with I thought it was gonna wind up being B.B. Newer.

[23:04] Eila Mell: Well, B.B. gets a lot of love. We know that.

[23:09] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[23:10] Eila Mell: But do you think that Lindsay's absences from the run hurt her?

[23:15] Bruce Gotlieb: I want to say no, but if they didn't see her, could they vote for her?

[23:18] Eila Mell: Right.

[23:19] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[23:19] Eila Mell: I don't know.

[23:20] Bruce Gotlieb: So I've heard many other people who, you know, do the same thing that we're doing and, you know, talk about the shows and up and kind of predicting through. A lot of people have that they that it could have hurt her chances.

[23:34] Eila Mell: Who knows? But you know, that's not to say that Kecia Lewis wasn't deserving because she's deserving.

[23:40] Bruce Gotlieb: And I think, yeah, I think this is a great choice, and very happy that it happened this way.

[23:44] Eila Mell: Yeah. And she said in her speech, you know, almost to the date of 40-year career when she got her first show.

[23:51] Bruce Gotlieb: So how amazing.

[23:52] Eila Mell: That's very special. But next we go on to Book of a Musical.

[23:55] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[23:55] Eila Mell: Which went to Suffs.

[23:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[23:57] Eila Mell: Now, I will say we all said we wanted The Notebook to win.

[24:03] Bruce Gotlieb: Huh.

[24:03] Eila Mell: It's so funny because we recorded these episodes early, and again, momentum really shifted.

[24:08] Bruce Gotlieb: It did.

[24:09] Eila Mell: And we also then, since we've recorded the episodes, we've had opportunities to see other shows that might have stayed with us or, you know, had experiences around other things that have changed how our perspective was.

[24:21] Bruce Gotlieb: So does that mean next year we record them later?

[24:23] Eila Mell: I don't know. Who has time to do that?

[24:25] Bruce Gotlieb: I know, especially when we're seeing.

[24:25] Eila Mell: I know, it's crazy.

[24:28] Bruce Gotlieb: All right, so how did we predict?

[24:30] Eila Mell: Matt predicted that Suffs would win.

[24:32] Bruce Gotlieb: All right.

[24:32] Eila Mell: Very good, Matt. There might have been a happy dance when she won, also.

[24:36] Bruce Gotlieb: I'm very competitive, so I don't like that Matt's getting all these right.

[24:39] Eila Mell: Well, I have the percentages we'll unveil at the end.

[24:43] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[24:43] Eila Mell: I'll give you this one's an easy one because we all got it. Scenic design of a play, Stereophonic.

[24:48] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, I mean, that was pretty easy.

[24:50] Eila Mell: Although, although I thought maybe it was gonna go to Appropriate at one point.

[24:54] Bruce Gotlieb: You know, it's like everything else, and we keep saying it. The clear runaway categories, they're few and far between, which made it a very exciting season.

[25:02] Eila Mell: Yes.

[25:02] Bruce Gotlieb: And again, another really lovely speech by Davidson.

[25:05] Eila Mell: Yeah, I loved his speech. I really did. It was beautiful.

[25:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Revival of a play went to Appropriate, which again we all predicted it would be.

[25:12] Eila Mell: That was a pretty easy prediction, I think.

[25:14] Bruce Gotlieb: And then director of a play went to Stereophonic.

[25:18] Eila Mell: Again, we all predicted that would be the case as well.

[25:20] Bruce Gotlieb: Right. I mean, we knew Stereophonic was gonna have a good night.

[25:23] Eila Mell: Yeah, especially, you know, it just came out of the gate running, and the momentum hasn't really changed for it.

[25:31] Bruce Gotlieb: No, it only gets more and more, actually.

[25:33] Eila Mell: And Bruce and I ran into Andrew Butler, who's in the show.

[25:36] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[25:37] Eila Mell: And he seemed to be just having a great time and really appreciative for all the accolades and love that the show is getting.

[25:43] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely. Then our next category was sound design of a musical.

[25:48] Eila Mell: And that went to The Outsiders.

[25:50] Bruce Gotlieb: Did any of us predict it?

[25:52] Eila Mell: Matt and I did.

[25:53] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay, and what did I predict?

[25:54] Eila Mell: You thought it was gonna be Here Lies Love.

[25:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, that's what I thought.

[25:57] Eila Mell: Then we go on to lighting design of a play went to Appropriate.

[26:02] Bruce Gotlieb: Although I will say we were all of our wants was Natasha Katz for Greyhouse.

[26:08] Eila Mell: Of course.

[26:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh yeah.

[26:09] Eila Mell: I kind of thought it was a long shot just because Greyhouse was the first show of the season.

[26:13] Bruce Gotlieb: Matt, I know you agree on that.

[26:15] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[26:15] Bruce Gotlieb: But it's one of those things though, where the job she did was so incredible that I thought maybe it would stick in their minds.

[26:21] Eila Mell: Right.

[26:22] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, at least it's stuck in their minds enough to get the nomination, so that's great.

[26:25] Eila Mell: Isabella Byrd won, and she seemed thrilled for it.

[26:28] Bruce Gotlieb: So none of us predicted this one.

[26:30] Eila Mell: Matt and I did.

[26:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, you did.

[26:31] Eila Mell: That's okay, sorry.

[26:32] Bruce Gotlieb: You predicted Prayer for the French Republic.

[26:34] Eila Mell: I know I couldn't go for this one because I did not like that scene in the blackout. It really bothered me.

[26:38] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, you might be in the minority for that.

[26:41] Eila Mell: Clearly I am, but I still didn't like that.

[26:43] Eila Mell: But okay. I like the lighting for the rest of it. Then we had the Tony for revival of a musical, which went to Merrily. Okay. That we all knew. I'm sure we all got that one right. We all predicted that, yes.

[26:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[27:00] Eila Mell: I don't think so. The only one that looked like it might have a chance is Cabaret, but then it just didn't. Yeah. People didn't love it as much as they might have. Then we went on to which surprise, at least as far as our predictions concerned, and I think for the room too, director of a musical. That was the biggest surprise to me. I thought for sure it was gonna be Maria Friedman.

[27:21] Bruce Gotlieb: That's what we all said.

[27:23] Eila Mell: And The Outsiders was my choice, my want. So I was happy that I was thrilled that it won. And plus I know when we went into it, we said, you know, it's fun to get a couple of upsets, you know. As competitive as the competitor in us wants to be a hundred percent right.

[27:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely.

[27:38] Eila Mell: But how boring would that be?

[27:39] Bruce Gotlieb: I know.

[27:39] Eila Mell: So a couple of things on that win. So Bruce and I happened to be sitting in a section with a lot of people from The Outsiders. So when she got that win, wow, our section exploded. They were so happy. So that was fun just to be there for it. Bruce and I looked at each other and we were thrilled. We thought that was great. Were you shocked watching at home, Matt?

[28:00] Matt Stashin: Not shocked. Like everything in the last couple of weeks. Like there was so much about the show and about her that I did kind of think she had a chance. It was a surprise. I don't know if it was a shock.

[28:10] Eila Mell: Okay. Well, once she won, then Bruce and I looked at each other and said, I think The Outsiders has a chance of winning Best Musical.

[28:17] Bruce Gotlieb: We did.

[28:18] Eila Mell: We absolutely did. So, but none of us predicted it. But how sweet when Merrily won for Best Revival that Sonia Friedman, the producer, gave her sister, Maria Friedman, the chance to speak.

[28:28] Bruce Gotlieb: That was very lovely.

[28:29] Eila Mell: That was. And she absolutely, she was recognized for the incredible work that she did in really making Merrily an event.

[28:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely.

[28:38] Eila Mell: You know, and while she might not have won for her direction, I mean, essentially, didn't she? It won Best Revival.

[28:43] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[28:44] Eila Mell: Without her direction, it doesn't. And no matter what, she's won because she made this show that was like this classic flop, the show of the season. And now it's going to be considered a successful musical. And she really turned it around in a way that so many people, and I'm sure Sondheim and Hal Prince, Chief Among Them, really wanted. So that's a win.

[29:04] Bruce Gotlieb: So then the next one we all got correct was costume design of a musical for Gatsby.

[29:10] Eila Mell: Yes.

[29:11] Bruce Gotlieb: Which is what we all thought was gonna be the case. I mean, the costumes are just so beautiful. So that was Linda Cho's second win. She had already won a Tony for Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

[29:22] Eila Mell: Yes.

[29:23] Bruce Gotlieb: And then we had lead actor in a play, which Matt predicted correctly.

[29:27] Eila Mell: We went to Jeremy Strong.

[29:28] Matt Stashin: Good for you.

[29:29] Bruce Gotlieb: I was surprised.

[29:30] Matt Stashin: Thank you.

[29:31] Bruce Gotlieb: I was too. I wasn't 100% sure where it was gonna land, but for some reason he did, it didn't fall on my mind like that. I thought Michael Stuhlbarg had some momentum going into it with the performance that he did, but again, you know, they were all just really riveting performances.

[29:48] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[29:49] Matt Stashin: How did you know?

[29:50] Bruce Gotlieb: It was my gut, honestly, like the Succession buzz and the prestige of the show, and just what a good actor he is. I will say, I think if Patriots had gotten any other nominations, Michael Stuhlbarg would have probably won also.

[30:05] Eila Mell: Not also, but I think he might have taken it.

[30:07] Matt Stashin: I still can't believe Will Keene wasn't nominated. He's so great in that show.

[30:10] Bruce Gotlieb: He absolutely was.

[30:11] Matt Stashin: I'm a little bit in shock on that one, also.

[30:14] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Well, the next category, you were the only one to predict it correctly.

[30:19] Eila Mell: What was it?

[30:20] Matt Stashin: That was lead actress in a play for Sarah Paulson.

[30:23] Eila Mell: Oh, because you guys were hoping for Jessica Lange.

[30:26] Matt Stashin: We were.

[30:27] Eila Mell: We were hoping, and I really thought, I mean, I really thought she was gonna get it. And that was one I leaned over another category. They leaned over the aisle and I said, Can we get a tie here?

[30:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, that would have been nice.

[30:38] Eila Mell: That would have been okay. Did it happen at one of the other awards?

[30:42] Matt Stashin: Yes, they tied for Drama Desk.

[30:43] Eila Mell: As did Celia Keenan-Bolger and Carrie Young.

[30:46] Bruce Gotlieb: So that was pretty much.

[30:47] Eila Mell: There you go. Those two ties, yes.

[30:49] Bruce Gotlieb: So I was kind of writing that and saying, Let's do it again.

[30:51] Eila Mell: Let's do it again.

[30:53] Bruce Gotlieb: That would have been great.

[30:54] Eila Mell: So then the next category which we all got correct in our prediction was Best Play, which went to Stereophonic.

[31:00] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[31:00] Eila Mell: It would have been the shock of the season, honestly, if it didn't based on the momentum.

[31:05] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[31:06] Eila Mell: It would have been exciting because it was so predictable. But yes, of course it won. Nobody was surprised by that.

[31:12] Bruce Gotlieb: No, and this next category I think was a shock to me at least.

[31:16] Eila Mell: It wasn't even on my, if I had to pick from two, it probably wasn't on.

[31:20] Bruce Gotlieb: Was scenic design of a musical went to Cabaret.

[31:23] Eila Mell: Yes, I was surprised by that.

[31:25] Bruce Gotlieb: How did we predict? Because I don't remember.

[31:26] Matt Stashin: Matt predicted Back to the Future. I predicted The Outsiders, and you predicted Hell's Kitchen.

[31:32] Eila Mell: Hmm.

[31:33] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay. I think I didn't know at the time, and I'd kind of heard about it between when we recorded and last night that just like Here Lies Love, where they absolutely like gutted the theater and redid the whole thing, they did the same thing with Cabaret.

[31:45] Eila Mell: It was a much more elaborate set than I think any of us realized.

[31:49] Bruce Gotlieb: I also thought in the moment that it was gonna be Here Lies Love. I was just, I thought they were gonna call that, and then they didn't.

[31:56] Eila Mell: No.

[31:56] Bruce Gotlieb: Here Lies Love did not do well last night, unfortunately.

[32:00] Eila Mell: I wonder, do you think that also is because of where it fell in the season?

[32:04] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[32:05] Eila Mell: Like it's opening and closing of where it was.

[32:07] Bruce Gotlieb: I do, yes.

[32:07] Eila Mell: Yeah. It certainly doesn't help. I think if it had still been running now, I think it would have been nominated for more and probably won a couple.

[32:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Let's take a minute to hear a word from our sponsors.

[32:22] Eila Mell: Well, the next award that we have, which was the last award of the evening, Matt predicted correctly, would go to The Outsiders.

[32:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, Best Musical.

[32:32] Eila Mell: Well, that was just thrilling when that happened, right?

[32:35] Bruce Gotlieb: That was so exciting.

[32:36] Eila Mell: That was a great moment.

[32:38] Bruce Gotlieb: So exciting. And the place, again, especially our section.

[32:42] Eila Mell: Oh my god erupted.

[32:44] Bruce Gotlieb: And then when we're leaving the theater, it was this guy on his cell phone.

[32:49] Eila Mell: Screaming and screaming.

[32:51] Bruce Gotlieb: And screaming. At the top of his lungs.

[32:53] Eila Mell: We fucking did it over and over and over.

[32:55] Bruce Gotlieb: He kept screaming that over and louder each time.

[32:58] Eila Mell: Yes. Most of us that were walking around him were looking at each other, going, What's happening? What's happening?

[33:04] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, the awards over the course of the night were really like other years you knew what was going to wind up winning because it had won a whole lot of other things going in. With Best Musical, it was very spread out.

[33:16] Eila Mell: I mean, SUFs took book and score, and Hell's Kitchen took actress and featured actress, and Illinois took choreography, and The Outsiders took director. There was no way to predict in the moment what it was going to be. It could have been anything.

[33:27] Bruce Gotlieb: I hope every season is gonna be like this.

[33:30] Eila Mell: It's so much fun.

[33:31] Bruce Gotlieb: It was so exciting. So then we have lead actor of the musical, went to Jonathan Groff.

[33:36] Eila Mell: Isla and I both predicted that that would be the case.

[33:39] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[33:39] Eila Mell: Matt thought that it would be Brian Darcy James.

[33:41] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[33:42] Eila Mell: Who I think going in had a really big push behind him.

[33:46] Bruce Gotlieb: That wouldn't have been shocking if he won.

[33:48] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[33:48] Bruce Gotlieb: But I think that voters really forgot about that show.

[33:52] Eila Mell: It seems to be the case.

[33:53] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Again, I think it's also that, you know, that placement where it opened and closed.

[33:57] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[33:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Maybe the nominators got to see it, but the voters might not have.

[34:00] Eila Mell: Maybe not.

[34:01] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah.

[34:01] Eila Mell: Impossible. Then we had lead actress in a musical, which Matt predicted correctly would go to Melina Joy Moon.

[34:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[34:09] Eila Mell: And that was another wonderful speech.

[34:12] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes.

[34:12] Eila Mell: Oh, I loved her speech. I don't know how it translated at home, but it was quite a few minutes for her to even get to the podium.

[34:19] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, I don't know if you could see it from where you were. She was having trouble getting her speech out of her purse.

[34:23] Eila Mell: Oh, that's what was happening.

[34:24] Bruce Gotlieb: Whoever, I think it was her father with her, was like holding it and she was digging, she was having trouble getting her speech out.

[34:29] Eila Mell: Ah.

[34:30] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay. Well, next time maybe have the speech ready.

[34:32] Eila Mell: She was as surprised as everybody else, honestly. So you know, again, once when we recorded, I thought she had much less of a chance, but I was thinking she was gonna take it recently.

[34:43] Bruce Gotlieb: Certainly can't say I predicted it because I know I didn't.

[34:46] Eila Mell: You didn't. Your prediction was actually Marianne Plunkett.

[34:48] Bruce Gotlieb: But I think she was my want, wasn't she?

[34:50] Eila Mell: Your want was Kelly O'Hara.

[34:52] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, okay. Well, it definitely seemed like she had gained a lot of momentum in the past week or so.

[34:57] Eila Mell: Agreed.

[34:57] Bruce Gotlieb: Agreed. I was very happy she won.

[34:59] Eila Mell: And I no longer wanted Kelly O'Hara to win. I wanted her to win. For the record.

[35:03] Bruce Gotlieb: Well, if we could only go back and correct our wants.

[35:05] Eila Mell: I mean, can I go back and change a couple also then?

[35:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Come on.

[35:08] Eila Mell: Only your wants, not a prediction.

[35:11] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[35:11] Eila Mell: So would you like the tallies?

[35:14] Bruce Gotlieb: Of course.

[35:15] Eila Mell: All right. We are very competitive people here, Bruce. So our predictions, I had predicted 46% correctly.

[35:22] Bruce Gotlieb: No, that's not so good.

[35:23] Eila Mell: I predicted 54% correctly.

[35:27] Bruce Gotlieb: And our expert Matt predicted 58% correctly.

[35:30] Matt Stashin: All right.

[35:31] Bruce Gotlieb: Well that's why you're the expert.

[35:33] Eila Mell: The predictions expert.

[35:34] Bruce Gotlieb: That's wonderful. Congratulations, Matt.

[35:37] Matt Stashin: Thank you very much.

[35:37] Bruce Gotlieb: I will save these stats so we can do year over year comparisons.

[35:41] Eila Mell: Oh, okay. That's a good idea.

[35:42] Bruce Gotlieb: All right. So now the question, Matt, what were some of your favorite moments watching from home?

[35:49] Matt Stashin: My favorite moments watching from home. I loved both of Shana Tobb's speeches. I thought she was so genuine and so from the heart and just seemed so nice. Like she was just genuinely grateful to be there. Like I said, the performances from Water for Elephants and Illinois and SUFs. Absolutely loved them. I think they were really good just at showing the audience what it's going to be, which is what those performances are for. It's to get people to want to go see the shows. All three of them did that really, really well.

[36:16] Eila Mell: Hannah S. Kim just was so endearing.

[36:19] Matt Stashin: Yes, she really was. And Malia Joy Moon and Jonathan Groff's speech, I really loved also.

[36:23] Eila Mell: Yeah, that was a beautiful speech.

[36:24] Bruce Gotlieb: It was great.

[36:26] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[36:26] Bruce Gotlieb: And Bruce, what were your favorite moments from being there?

[36:29] Bruce Gotlieb: My favorite. I honestly, I mean, my favorite moments from being there are different than my favorite moments from the Tony Awards.

[36:36] Eila Mell: Yeah, me too.

[36:37] Bruce Gotlieb: Because I think being in the room with the energy and all that's going on is something obviously you could only experience in person. But to sit down and watch the show, watch the telecast is all, it's almost better if you're just there to watch, is better to do it from the comfort of your own home.

[36:54] Eila Mell: You know, watching it live is its own entity.

[36:58] Bruce Gotlieb: It's like watching a show. You're far removed, even if you're, but you're far removed, and then you have the commercial breaks.

[37:04] Eila Mell: So then they're like, it stops, it takes your focus away from everything.

[37:08] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[37:08] Eila Mell: And you can't get up and, you know, I'm just gonna run and get a snack.

[37:11] Bruce Gotlieb: Or I mean, I guess you can, but...

[37:11] Eila Mell: Well, can I ask a question actually? Because I did years, I mean, years ago, the year that Billy Elliott and Shrek and Rock of Ages were on Broadway. I got to go to the rehearsal. And during the commercial breaks, they like came out and did other stuff.

[37:22] Bruce Gotlieb: They had, um...

[37:26] Eila Mell: No, we didn't get that.

[37:28] Bruce Gotlieb: They didn't do that. Who was the host?

[37:30] Eila Mell: They didn't do that either time. I believe it was Neil. Don't 100% quote me on that, but I think it was Neil.

[37:35] Bruce Gotlieb: That could be why maybe that was just more of a strength of his in Ariana.

[37:39] Eila Mell: I mean, she did it a little bit, but not much. Like they had presentations, they did a raffle at one point. There was a video that came out.

[37:46] Bruce Gotlieb: No.

[37:46] Eila Mell: I do remember there was a video that is on YouTube somewhere of the ensemble of Shrek auditioning for other Broadway shows. The three little pigs were singing Age of Aquarius. It was very funny.

[37:59] Bruce Gotlieb: The only thing they had during the commercial breaks were just little trailers for what's coming up this season.

[38:04] Eila Mell: Okay.

[38:05] Bruce Gotlieb: So they, you know, there was a commercial for Gypsy, there was a commercial for Smash, The Lost Boys, Romeo and Juliet. They had these trailers kind of playing during the commercial breaks.

[38:15] Eila Mell: Well.

[38:15] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh, wait, I like your, what were your favorite moments?

[38:17] Eila Mell: Oh, oh my. So my Hillary Clinton coming out, that was...

[38:18] Bruce Gotlieb: Oh yeah.

[38:24] Eila Mell: Jay-Z, just because of the crowd. They were so excited. But really, my favorite moments from the night were just being there with and talking to the people and seeing people that we know. So I mean, that's not so much the show itself, but that was just a really special experience for me and I think Bruce too.

[38:39] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, no, it was really thrilling to be able to be there in person, the before, you know, for being there in person, the before and the after the telecast, you know, the actual awards was definitely the highlight because we did get to spend some time and congratulate people that we've had the pleasure of interviewing and people that we know to be able to just congratulate them face to face and share in that moment together.

[38:59] Eila Mell: And that's something you can't do, you know, anywhere else.

[39:03] Bruce Gotlieb: It's not the same experience as it is when you're locked eyes and you're, you know, right next to one another.

[39:08] Eila Mell: So I think that's gonna put a wrap on the 77th Tony Awards 2024 Tony Awards season.

[39:14] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, but we will come back with more specials for the Emmys in September, right?

[39:19] Eila Mell: Ooh yes, we gotta get geared up for that. You know we're gonna start hearing some buzz about nominations I'm sure are gonna come out and the new season starts for the theater so we got to get out there and start seeing things and there are so many shows coming so and more announced by the day.

[39:34] Bruce Gotlieb: I mean, what was it just Friday Adina said coming back with Redwoods.

[39:38] Eila Mell: So yeah, so there's plenty to do so that's a wrap on our special episodes for now but we will be back in just a few months with more special episodes and you can catch all of our regular episodes of course every week on Behind the Awards.

[39:51] Bruce Gotlieb: Thank you so much for being our expert this season, Matt.

[39:54] Matt Stashin: My pleasure.

[39:54] Bruce Gotlieb: We appreciate your predictions and insights and we will have you back very soon.

[39:59] Matt Stashin: Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to it.

[40:01] Eila Mell: Bye bye.