Anything Can Happen If You Let It - From School's Out to The Tony Awards
It's not about your mama. If you're a student at the Hetrick-Martin Institute's Harvey Milk High School you might not have a home, or if you do, it might be an abusive one. At "School's Out", the East Hampton fundraiser on June 7th, the crowd rallied in support of the organization's work with at-risk youth. It was a huge gathering at Peter Wilson's elegant estate near Three Mile Hollow (The Gay Beach) in East Hampton. And it was a lively one! With the landscape of people spread across rolling green lawns, the scene held the promise of a beautiful wave forming.
Talking about mamas, Patti LuPone (Mama Rose) made it a spectacular evening at the Tony Awards. Accepting her award for Best Actress in "Gypsy", she made light of it all, but back stage she talked to the press with a command of herself that spoke proudly and importantly of her accomplishments. Responding to questions about the show, she described it as a "Greek tragedy, a universal story about parenting and children". One really gets a sense of how intelligent and strong she is, and how fully she embraces life.
On another note, Deanna Dunagan, this year's Best Actress in a drama for "August: Osage County", arrived at the red carpet in what appeared to be a taxi. While others arrived in their chariots, Dunegan emerged like Venus, fully blown in her royal blue gown.
In "Osage County", Dunagan portrayed vicious Violet, the matriarch who eviscerates every member of her family. In real life, Dunagan played the role for the last time on Sunday June 15th, at least until the show opens in London. But she spoke humbly about returning home to spend time with her own ageing mother, and to take a rest from the intensity of playing that role eight shows a week. Dunagan, an unknown to Broadway audiences until just months ago when "Osage County" opened, describes herself as a woman of a certain age. In spite of it, she radiates an amazing sense of innocence and humility.
The press, on the other hand, seemed frankly jaded. The tenor in the pressroom was a little too quiet and obviously unengaged. Having covered the event in prior years, and looking forward to it with such excitement, I was dumbstruck by how dull it really was. Where is the enthusiasm? Who needs ennui?
In fact, even Lily Tomlin who had just a moment on stage as a presenter, greeted her fans cheerfully, welcoming a photo op with GO! Fortunately, the actual telecast was far more ambitious than the stale air backstage. And Whoopi Goldberg played it like Mother Courage. Flying in as Peter Pan, she spoke to the spirit of it all, stating from the very beginning "anything can happen" if you let it. That, indeed, is the spirit of the most nominated show this year, "In The Heights" which won Best Musical. While essentially a story of family values in a Latino community in Washington Heights, its hot salsa and Latin sounds mixed with hip-hop, were a true infusion of vitality. And for the 28-year-old author/lyricist/composer/star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who began working on the show 8 years ago while a sophomore at Wesleyan, it is a testament to the reality that in fact "anything can happen if you let it".
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