The 2010 Tony Awards

I am so excited that Memphis won for best musical. It's incredibly inspiring how times have changed. The show is set in the South in the 50s, and it's about a white man bringing black music to white people. And now we've got white men bringing a show about a white man bringing black music to white people to white people. I don't think anybody would ever have guessed we'd come so far so fast.

In fact, if it weren't for whites, I don't know where minorities would be today. They sure wouldn't be seeing their story being played out on Broadway for just $125 a seat.

Another favorite of mine is Million Dollar Quartet, which answers the question, "Well, what if Johnny Cash and Elvis did sing backup on 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'?" I haven't seen it, but I still get chills when I picture scenes in my head:

ELVIS: Well, Johnny, here we are: two of the most popular performers in history.

JOHNNY CASH: Yup, we're on top of the world. Hey, why don't we go act like Pips for that dude who married his cousin?

My feelings about Fela! are almost beyond words. As somebody said last night, "his life inspired a nation." I'm actually thinking about buying a ticket to Africa, just to see if they all followed his lead and got twelve wives. You gotta give the dude his props, though, for singing about corrupt leadership and "the day of change is now." You can almost picture him turning to his women and going, "Hey, chicks, I ain't talkin' about you!"

Really, when you think about what a downer his women were, your admiration for him increases exponentially. From Wikipedia: "On his release he divorced his 12 remaining wives, saying that 'marriage brings jealousy and selfishness.'" Man, I totally get it. There's something about women that makes them permanently miserable, even when you're giving them 1/12th of your heart.

I was so inspired by Viola Davis' speech when she won best actress in a musical. "I absolutely believe in the presence of God in my life," she said. I've always thought pretty much the same thing, though I say, "Looks like God loves me more than he loves you!" If you're not as successful as us, well, you can't blame the Dude for not wanting to hang around losers.

On the whole, though, the Tonys saluted traditional values. Men played artists and rebels and inventors, and women played secretaries, smokin' nieces and vibrator aficionados. Men were Elvis, Fela and Rothko, some lady was Whatsername. Still, American Idiot looked terrific. I wish I knew rebellious, anarchic punks who bounced around on bungee chords and knew the Twyla Tharp repertoire.

In the end, I was left asking the hard questions, which is what good theater is supposed to do. Next year, will a white man bring the story of a white man bringing the story of a white man bringing black music to white people to white people to white people? What would happen if Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga and Marie Osmond were locked in a recording studio? Would Fela be alive today if the white man had brought vibrators to Africa? It's questions like these that assure me Broadway is still shaking with vitality today.