2009 Tony Awards - Opening Part 1

[@zerrish]

Dont you just love how you can hear Karen Olivo back stage couging and warming up during the song "Tonight"??? You can really hear it around 2:00 lol

[@KHobbies_cina]

I think audio connected to the broadcast is different than those who are actually there.

[@mchammar416]

anyone else love how aaron goes offstage belting is adorable little heart out?

[@stuffrules416]

I can't recall a better tony opening, truly an amazing season.

[@ferrierepc]

Yes, thanks. I saw how it was laid out, but what I am hearing is background noise....there is a soprano, who was not on stage at the point I am hearing it, along with coughing, from backstage. When I listen/watch KZbin, I use headphones for better sound. If you use the headphones, you might hear it too. It was a sensational opening, just some tech/sound issues at the end. Even with errors, was still the best I have seen. Thanks and Peace!

[@beckybullock7461]

As much as I love Aaron Tveit, I still can't get over Stockard Channing. Even after the years of Grease, she still has that legendary voice!

[@michaeladkins6]

Only 40 years difference.

[@MyPaperBleedsInk]

I remember watching this and being amazed at how many things went wrong. My high school theatre, as pathetic of equipment that we had, never had technical errors during a show.

[@beingbeckeroni]

I love that even before Elton John's mic came on, you could hear him. I went to his concert last year when the tour came to my town, and that man barely need a mic in a stadium, much less a theater. Love him, love his music, love everything.

[@Demitrarose]

Love the "Tonight" arrangment with Guys and dolls!

[@milmillionaire]

Aaron murder me with his angel voice >

[@rentfriend]

I love how Aaron dominates that duet!!!

[@BrieLeazer]

for me this is one of my all-time favorite tony openings! Aside from the sound, which was sack, but these are some of my fav shows!

[@bribee1991]

The dude from Next to Normal is really good looking

[@davidpreece52]

Totally agree....the duet was terrific.

[@ferrierepc]

I think this was the best Tony opening I have seen....but the sound problems was really distracting. I could hear people coughing, warming up (a soprano in the background doing scales when GUYS AND DOLLS were singing), and talking. Was so odd and wonder if the audience was hearing it, too. Nonetheless, was a great opening and the boys in BILLY ELLIOT were so amazing, fluid, soaring, literally! Just great!

[@KaraokeKid22]

Billy Elliot was the most incredible show I have ever seen in my life! And I love Stockard. I just wish that she would have done a full performance of "Bewitched" as her show's performance instead of this tiny part even tho the show is closed.

[@Margotxmargot]

i LOOOOVE what they did with west side and guys and dolls!!!

[@techieprez]

Next to Normal

[@jgaffney7643]

My favorite part is that I can hear Maria warming up back stage.

[@khadijah4lyfe]

The Tonys are LIFE. I wanna be on Broadway =(

[@RandomAndysChannel]

Did anyone else notice after Rock of ages when the big set was coming down the main singer runs and hits the big set!? I laughed.,

[@HiThisIsOlivia]

The graphic in the background said the name of the show when the cast was performing. In order it was Billy Elliot, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Rock of Ages, Pal Joey, and Next to Normal.

[@paulgduckworth]

Thanks from the UK. Never seen this, amazing ... X

[@bwaycraz3d84]

THANK YOU!

[@deborahtragasz1218]

seeing the boys from guys and dolls and west side story together is awesome for me, cause we did guys and dolls at my school junior year and west side seniot year...so it's like watching my bros

[@dramagal19]

yes that is Aaron Tveit who is Tripp on Gossip Girl. However most broadway fans know him as Gabe in N2N A fun fact is that Gossip Girl films in NY and sometimes uses broadway stars since they are close. Eric's boyfriend was in Spring awaking and the girl who played Aaron's sister in his show N2N was also on an epsidoe of Gossip Girl.

[@ImaStarkidtoo]

I love how everyone loses their filth when Aaron comes out! Praise God for that beautiful creature.

[@straightbarns]

It crazy how one of the Billy's went on to play Bernardo in the 2021 film version of West Side Story

[@Damianarose]

It totally happens every tonys its hilarious!

[@HerlyneMoonlight]

I love when Aaron Tveit appears on stage !

[@daveedo10]

I like the microphones with the people warming up.

[@JackMorganEFLavandowska]

The guys from West Side Story are very nice. Met them all this past June. :)

[@fluffypuppy42]

he does. there is a video that has a close up of the set coming down and knocking him over.

[@wellar6]

best Tony awards i recon

[@elphaba0judy]

If you didnt notice but when the guy fell the two people from the next two musicals, next to normal and the other one, they didnt notice and the guys cowboy hat was still on stage and they didnt know!

[@TorchKat]

@VAMPIRICROCKSTAR The Tony's usually are the 1st Sunday in June at the Radio City Music Hall in NYC.

[@arwentheelf02]

West Side/Guys and Dolls mashup was a highlight for me. The guy who plays Tony is SO HOT!!!!!!

[@johnflynn9619]

Stockard Channing is Amazing.

[@jongzo]

look at 5:32 for the guy from 9 to 5 waiting to dive in and get Brett Michaels' cowboy hat.... the backstage stories of this number alone must be immense and hilarious

[@hyeitsnatalie]

AARON TVEIT I LOVE YOU

[@ejm51395]

@mvy109 Yes... the technical aspect did suck. But live theater is extremely hard. It happens. And it's amazing to see the actors over come it and still kill their songs. :)

[@wellar6]

best Tony awards i recon. they got lucky all the best musicals came out then

[@KikkaLuly]

anyone else died of laughter at 4:53 when the curtain closes right on top of the rock of ages dude?

[@SQmonkey55]

Absolutely love Billy Elliot and West Side Story!!

[@kamwrites]

Stockard!!!!!!!!!! I love that woman!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ironcladbeauty]

I still can't got Abby out of my head every time I see Stockard Channing

[@MonsoonWinds6]

This is sooooo amazing! (did anyone else hear all of the weird sounds in the backround?)

[@Picard71]

@SingingGeek05 They didn't have only "a couple days" to work out everything. Pre-production for the Tony's starts about 5 weeks before broadcast. Performance numbers for the opening begin 3 weeks in advance. Final decision happens 10-14 days before broadcast. Rehearsals start 5 days before the awards. Final dress rehearsal is the day before broadcast. My bf has been involved with the Tony's for the last 8 years. They have plenty of time. This time the techs just sucked. Plain and simple.

[@pirateluvr94]

I love the girls warming up during the guys and dolls part xD

[@janetfranke08]

the guy playing Tony from West Side Story is FINE!!!!

[@SingingGeek05]

Can we give the tech a break?! Yes, there were some mic screw-ups, but they had like a couple days to work out everything with everybody- not alot of time! This also highlights the actor's ability to overcome a tech error, just look at the Guys and Dolls video from the 09 Tony's! Mistakes happen, but we ARE still watching an excellent show right?

[@SexyHogwarts]

hahahahaahaha!! At around 2 minutes u can hear Karen and Josefina warming up backstage before they go on. I guess they didn't realize there mics were on. I can hear them clearly with my headphones! It's so funny

[@MagikMelody22]

Actually, she's an Argentinean pop star.They brought her in cause she's genuinely Spanish and it aided greatly with the bilingual production. So she's not "white" in your way of saying she doesn't fit the role, because she actually is a native Spanish speaker. She's not Puerto Rican, but there are many types of Spanish-Americans other then Puerto Ricans that lived in that area at the time and she totally would have fit.

[@iloverent101]

@Beatleslover231 YES!! OMG!! that looked so painful! did you see his injuries after

[@KyleOgilvie1]

this was the first real clue that billy elliot was gonna win, it was the opening number of the opening numer and got the longest time slot other than hair.

[@lalalablahblah101]

thanks

[@SingingGeek05]

@Picard71 Thank you for correcting me! I guess I had misinformation because that info doesn't surprise me at all. It makes sense. So thanks for telling me :)

[@morwenmur]

@danceSINGactBWAY Okay. We have a compramise. You are correct about the warming up before the start of the show, but there are many other tech issues during the performance (Elton John's mike *not* on at the beginning; flat hitting the guy on the head etc.) I think the opening number was doomed from the word go. Still looks as though it was awesome though. Wish I could have seen the whole show :(

[@merceditas2009]

@MsBwaybabe all hispanic people look different not just dark brown. josefina is from argentina which happens to contain a lot of lighter skinned people.

[@ActorAaronBooth]

the 2009 tony awards was pretty much an audio nightmare. There were sound problems all night with Mics not working, and the stage managaers headset being broadcast and yea..... wow, lol.

[@HelloMissJordan]

Oh look my one true love Aaron Tveit :)

[@FalafelRawr]

@mvy109 Yes, but that's the beauty of live theatre. The show goes on. :)

[@theeblakester002]

@Beatleslover231 smooshed is a great word. You win for using that word.

[@danielweddell7319]

In order of appearance: Billy Eliot West Side Story (Revival) Guys and Dolls (Revival) Rock of Ages Pal Joey (Revival) Next To Normal Shrek 9 to 5

[@elphielover247]

@sinatrabooth89 You can hea someone doing vocal warmups during the West Side Story/Guys and Dolls mashup.

[@kekkistekkikudasai]

@MsBwaybabe Josefina Scaglione (Maria) is Argentinian. She IS Hispanic.

[@sth128]

LOL that guy pulled a Storm Trooper with the background prop.

[@horselover100]

Electricity is the song at the beginning that Elton sings.

[@cxeazn]

Now that videos can be 15 minutes, can you upload the entire opening sequence in one video? Thanks!!

[@princesofdarkness29]

I love how this ends right before Shrek performs :P

[@bookwormwebgirl]

Did anyone else notice that while the guys from West Side Story and Guys and Dolls are singing, it sounds like someone backstage has their mike on? I can hear coughing and people warming up.

[@broadwaymelody33]

2:16, that man is such a crooner

[@fluffypuppy42]

i think what you hear during guys and dolls is west side story. they did a combined thing

[@EYDstudios]

@dramatay33 Well, I think the sound at other Tonys is for the most part fine. But whatever floats your boat.

[@LemonExtras]

yup

[@Nerds4life89]

the sound quality bites

[@newseditor5]

yes it is stockard channing

[@galindawithaga24]

LOVE THIS SOOO MUCH!!!

[@diprimareber]

Bret Michaels is so funny. You need to slow it down to see it happen (The board smacking him in the face.)

[@gudwontonsoup]

West Side Story/Guys And Dolls Mash Up! Súper Like!!!

[@mchammar416]

@johnsmileyjr that was actually brett michaels...

[@miep8675]

Was someone warming up during the West Side Story/Guys and Dolls mashup?

[@broadwaybaby24k]

at 4:50 you can see the third billy waiting in the wings.

[@TerribleGreenBlizzrd]

fan-girls of the world scramed when Aaron came on....

[@kelseyanne08]

Stockard Channing

[@Dannyboi925]

Honey, its called musical theatre for a reason, the emsemble dances and sings and lead just stands there..unfair but true. Then there are shows like Anything Goes that needs a true triple threat lead

[@Matildamental]

At about 4:55 did the rock of ages guy get hit by the screen coming down

[@vegishishkabab]

I think I kinda like all the little "wrong" things. it's um... special. But I still really want a "luck be a lady tonight / tonight" recording without the little sounds that I do like but they're not supposed to be there.

[@schmashbox]

They look remarkably alike.

[@mikokat]

@mvy109 You'd think they'd have top-notch tech people are RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, but apparently they don't. 2010 Tonys open had problems again. >>

[@lalalablahblah101]

What's the list of musicals? Please answer.

[@ChicagoSouthDan]

I remember reading about that. Neil Patrick Harris, the host, made a joke about that, but the guy who was hit in the head did not find it to be very funny, since he was hurt pretty bad. He was not permanently injured, but I think he needed a couple of stitches.

[@dramatay33]

@EYDstudios Except for the fact that the Tonys are notorious for having sound problems every year. It's basically a running joke at this point. It's not a mistake it's just plain not having their shit together, and it gets old.

[@KyleOgilvie1]

oh my god, the bret michaels thing is hillarious.

[@PoynterFinger]

what show is the one with stockard channing?

[@TsWade2]

4:54 Wow! Poor guy!

[@trinidad300]

It's Risso from Grease!! :)

[@rachel869]

This was a definitely a low for the tech team of the Tonys.

[@schmashbox]

2:53. Is that Monica Raymund? Or Ria from Lie to Me? SOMEONE ANSWER ME. I Love her. :D

[@kylejerel]

Well one of did sound like Josefina from West Side Story!

[@BethanyBriggs]

Yea the sound was pretty bad. The Bret Michaels incident was his falt either he wasn't at the dress rehearsal and didn't follow instructions or he was at the dress rehearsal and forgot that he had to do exactly as rehearsed or he would get hit in the head.