Tony vs. Tony

On the evening of Sunday, June 10, there are two very important television events – The last episode of The Sopranos and the 2007 Tony Awards presentation. Both shows air simultaneously and I can’t decide which one deserves my live attention. It all comes down to Tony vs. Tony.

The Sopranos finale is a long time coming and I desperately need resolution to all of the issues that have been building up over the years. This is the first season we actually have HBO and I can watch the show in real-time, as opposed to catching up on Netflix. This episode is certainly something everyone is talking about the next morning.

But as much as I love the Sopranos, when you’re a huge Broadway fan like I am, you can’t just skip the Tonys. This year is especially interesting for me because I’ve seen more of the eligible shows than I have in any other year.

So let's discuss, starting with The Sopranos:

The writers have done a wonderful job so far in wrapping up this, the last season. I lost interest a bit last season but all of the imagery and symbolism is back. In the pilot we saw Tony out in the backyard at the grill. This season, we see Christopher out in his backyard doing the grilling for the family. Of course Tony still had plenty of advice for Christopher. And looking back on last night's episode, maybe Christopher would have been better off listening to Tony a bit more often.

Rich and I have been fans of the show since the first season. We even took a Sopranos tour a few years ago when we were up in the New York/Northern Jersey area. The tour took us around to the Soprano hotspots like Satriales and the Bada Bing. (The Bing is actually a strip club called Satin Dolls. Fun fact: The ATM inside dispenses $1 bills.)

But it's just a short drive up 95 from Sopranoland where we find Broadway -- such a magical place.

While the Tony nominations don’t come out until tomorrow morning, there’s a very good chance that Spring Awakening, a new coming-of-age musical based on the controversial 1891 Frank Wedekind play, could do very well. We saw this a few weeks ago and were completely enthralled.

Our seats for Spring Awakening could not have been better -- we were on the stage itself. The actors actually sat among us. We could see every bead of sweat and glob of saliva. When the cast took its final bow, we were right there on stage looking out over the standing ovation. There is no more amazing feeling for a theater fan than that.

In addition to Spring Awakening, we were also lucky enough to have great seats for the new musical, Legally Blonde, while it was still in previews. This show is so fun and I predict will make it big on Broadway. I’m counting down the days until the original cast recording is released in July.

And then there’s Les Miserables – the show Rich and I both adore. Between us, we’ve seen it at least 30 times. The revival opened in November and we’ve been to see it twice already.
Assuming these shows are nominated, the Tonys will feature performances from each of them.

I can't watch both shows live. I'm going to have to pick one and TiVo the other. It's just a matter of which one wins out.

To quote Avenue Q, which won the 2004 Tony Award for best musical: "Why does life have to be so hard?"