As the opening number of tonight's Tony Awards concluded, we could only drop our jaw. OK, now what do you do for an encore?
Onstage were somewhere between three zillion and four kajillion people. I haven't seen a stage that crowded since ... well, since the writing staff of "Saturday Night Live" won an Emmy.
There were a few flaws -- songs overlapping in a way the human ear can't discern -- but not many. That was the start of what was basically a great night. Here are my comments; please add yours:
1) Mostly, the musical numbers did a tremendous job of selling the shows. "Next to Normal" (especially), "Billy Elliot" and even "Rock of Ages" all looked terrific.
2) The exception? "Shrek" mostly gave us a collection of short-guy jokes. That didn't have many people reaching for their credit cards.
3) Also, the performance by the "Mamma Mia" road cast seemed like bad karaoke.
4) Yes, Angela Lansbury has been a while. She's 83 now and has just won her fifth Tony. Now think about this: She received her first Academy Award nomination when she was 19; that's 64 years ago.
5) The night's biggest hero? That was probably the guy who ran out with a hand-held mike, when the "Guys and Dolls" guy had a crackly clip-on mike.
6) The night's second-biggest hero? Maybe Frank Langella, who showed up as a presenter and gave a hilarious lecture on not being nominated. You don't expect that from old theater guys; in fact, many of them wasted their acceptance time reciting a listless list of people.
7) Others dropped in fine bits of humor. Neil Patrick Harris closed the show by singing a brilliant piece -- part of which had to be written while the show was going on. (We have to find out who wrote it.) He didn't have much time on stage, but he did drop in a few other good lines. That included his note that one play ("Joe Turner") was boosted by a visit from the president; his suggestion was that other shows change their names to presidential ones -- "Barack of Ages" and "Obama Mia" and "Phantom of the Oprah." ("Well, she's almost president.")
8) How cool is this, for people around Michigan? Jeff Daniels, the guy who created the wonderful Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, is on Broadway in a Tony-winning play. "God of Carnage" was named best play; all four actors (including Daniels) drew nominations and Marcia Gay Harden won, promptly giving a fun speech.
9) In the old days, the Tonys never gave much time to revivals. Now those shows are treated as virtual equals. Tonight's numbers reminded us that "Hair" (the best-revival winner) and "West Side Story" are true classics; they're astounding shows for the ages.
10) And from what I've seen so far, "Billy Elliot" might be up there with them. It was great to see it win -- and to see the "Next to Normal" actress get a personal Tony. On nights like this, we're reminded how good theater can be.