Seasons of love

I watched the Tony Awards Sunday evening. It was very gay friendly, starting from the first award given to Andrew Garfield from Angels in America (a very gay play). Garfield’s acceptance speech was wonderful. And it was good to see Nathan Lane get an award for what looks like serious (rather than comic) acting. Wish I could see the performance.

Several other winners took their time on stage to say something pointed about inclusion and diversity. And one winner even asked the audience to sing Happy Birthday to his boyfriend!

I watch the Tony Awards to see what interesting plays are out there in hopes they will come to Detroit soon. The Band’s Visit looks really interesting. Once on This Island looks like fun. Some have intriguing titles, though no details were offered – Meteor Shower, Farinelli and the King, and Latin History for Morons.

There was a highlight to the ceremony the brought me to tears. Melody Herzfeld is a drama teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the Valentine’s Day massacre earlier this year. She sheltered students during the lockdown, then helped them deal with the aftermath using theater. She helped turn hurt into art. Those watching from home didn’t see her acceptance speech, though we were introduced to her after a commercial break.

Matthew Morrison took up the story from the stage. A couple months ago he had gone to Parkland and performed with some of Herzfeld’s students for a benefit concert. One of the students, Tanzil Philip, contacted the Tonys and asked to appear to say thank you. The Tonys flipped it around and invited 16 students to perform during the awards. They sang “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. Follow the link to see their performance.

Wonderful!