All Over the Place

Any happy hangover from the star-studded Tony Awards ceremony has now faded. I’m still not sure what to make of the whole thing. The fact that so many of the big acting awards went to performers who were essentially imports from other realms sticks in the craw a little. With her performance on Sunday, Ms. Zeta-Jones raised serious questions about how she managed to score her Tony (though I have seen YouTube clips of her doing the song much better). Viola Davis’s and Scarlett Johansson’s speeches seemed earnest enough. I love Denzel Washington but, despite the times he has appeared on the New York stage, he is clearly of a different world (the “Tony Committee?”)

But the three things I’ll remember most about the broadcast are: 1) Katie Finneran’s “follow your dream” speech, 2) Green Day, and 3) Lea Michelle and Matt Morrison from “Glee.” Even though she has been a film and TV actress as well, Ms. Finneran seems to be much more a creature of the theater world and I thought her speech reflected that. I loved the varied reactions to Green Day: Nathan Lane politely clapping, Matt Morrison enthusiastically pumping his head back and forth to the beat, etc. And I think the Glee stars displayed some serious talent. After Sunday, Ms. Michelle is my new star crush of all time; sorry Catherine and Scarlett.

But in the afterglow of Sunday’s awards, something significant was happening here in Virginia that may have more of an immediate impact on local actors. Gov. McDonnell signed legislation that should stimulate the production of films in Virginia. As the impact of this bill takes hold, perhaps there will be a little flurry of opportunities for Richmond-area folks.

Two local media notes: Boomer magazine has a nice cover piece about Roger Gregory, judge and actor, who has appeared on the Barksdale stage a few times. Which is a good opportunity to mention that Amy Berlin (also of the lawyerly persuasion, I believe) and her compatriots in “Kitchen Witches” will be playing at CAT through this weekend, your last chance to catch them. Finally, Maria and the kids from “Sound of Music” were on Virginia This Morning this morning. I expect they’ll post video at some point and when they do, you can bet I will be linking to it. In the meantime, you can check out this video from a recent appearance on the show by a couple of the stars from CYT’s production of “Peter Pan.”

UPDATE: Here's that link to the appearance by the "Sound of Music" kids. Enjoy!