The 76th annual Tony Awards received backlash after Lifetime Achievement Award winners Joel Grey, 91, and John Kander, 96, were not allowed to speak after receiving their award. Fans quickly took to social media to point out the situation, with many calling it disrespectful to the living legends. Grey was previously given the opportunity to make a speech as he accepted the award, however it was at the pre-show. Kander also received his award at the pre-show from New York, New York writing partner Lin-Manuel Miranda.
"New York, New York," the latest musical offering from legendary songwriting partners John Kander and Fred Ebb, gets stuck between old-age pageantry and new-age sentiment. The musical, based on the 1977 Scorsese film of the same name, adds some fresh tunes, a new cast of characters, and an original book by David Thompson and Sharon Washington. While director-choreographer Susan Stroman’s staging holds tight to the old-school aesthetic framework of the film, Thompson and Washington’s script hastily stuffs in contemporary ideals about female empowerment and race — both of which lag.
The new Broadway musical "New York, New York" is based on the Martin Scorsese film of the same name, but the show's true inspiration is the title song. Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, the show follows the lives of musicians and singers in post-World War II New York City. However, the characters lack depth and the score lacks the signature edge of Kander and Ebb's previous works. The show's rah-rah tone becomes numbing, and the overall result is a surprisingly dull production that fails to capture the grit and complexity of the city it seeks to celebrate.
