Tommy Tune will receive a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award on June 7, but CBS still hasn’t decided whether to air his speech that night.
In the past, some lifetime achievers have been relegated to the pre-telecast ceremony, their speeches appearing only on YouTube.
This shouldn’t happen to Tune!
I’m going over the heads of Tony producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss to make my case directly to CBS’s head, Les Moonves. A former actor, Moonves loves the theater and has vowed that as long as he’s in charge, CBS will always carry the Tonys.
OK, Les. If you’re going to broadcast any speech by a lifetime achievement winner, it has to be Tommy Tune. He’s won nine Tonys as a director and a performer. The last of the great director/choreographers of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s — Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion, Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett — he’s an iconic Broadway figure, as recognizable as Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury and Nathan Lane. He’s handsome, charming and telegenic.
And for God’s sake he’s 6-foot-6!
I know CBS wants as many musical segments on the telecast as possible, so I’d go a step further and include not only Tune’s speech but numbers from his shows, preferably performed by original cast members.
Carlin Glynn, the original Miss Mona in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” is still alive. She could sing “Hard Candy Christmas.” And some young dancers could perform the show-stopping “The Aggie Song,” which appeared on the 1979 Tony Awards. It’s campy but fun.
What musical fan wouldn’t be thrilled to see Karen Akers sing “My Husband Makes Movies” from “Nine,” the first musical Tune directed and choreographed? Liliane Montevecchi could then swan onstage with her rousing “Folies Bergeres.” (I bet both ladies can still fit into William Ivey Long’s original all-black costumes.)
Jane Krakowski received a Tony nomination in 1989 as a typist who dreams of becoming a film star in Tune’s “Grand Hotel.” I’m sure she’d perform her big number, “I Want To Go to Hollywood,” in a minute.
It’s too bad Michael Jeter is no longer with us to do his human rubber-band dance “We’ll Take a Glass Together,” a number that brought the audience to its feet every night at “Grand Hotel.” But a worthy successor would be Neil Patrick Harris, paired perhaps with Hugh Jackman as the handsome Baron Felix Von Gaigern.
Hello, ratings!
Keith Carradine, Dee Hoty and Cady Huffman could reprise their roles in “The Will Rogers Follies.” With other cast members, they could bang their tambourines in Tune’s delightful number “Our Favorite Son.” It was broadcast on the 1991 Tony telecast.
And I’m sure Jerry Mitchell, now a big-time director in his own right, would put on his scanty Indian outfit and reprise his dance on a big drum.
To cap it off, Tune himself could perform “ ’S Wonderful” from “My One and Only” with his original co-star, Twiggy. Stranded on a deserted beach, they sing, dance and splash about in a pool of water. It, too, was featured on the Tonys in 1983, and I defy you to find a more charming number.
Now that’s what I call entertainment!