Who won? Who cares?

I didn't watch the Tony's tonight. Partly because very few of the shows interest me, and partly because I'm not willing to sit through eight thousand commercials. But I did peek in every now and then and was surprised. First surprise was the embarrassing opening by Kristen Chenoweth and always-too-campy Alan Cumming delivering material that was truly Oscar show worthy. They began by bragging how profitable a Broadway season it was. I'm not surprised considering the outrageous cost of theater tickets. Sadly Broadway has become an entertainment only for the wealthy or the vacationers willing to spend most of their savings on seeing the latest musical version of a moderately successful movie. The next surprise was discovering a production of a Kander and Ebb musical called The Visit, based on the moderately successful 1964 movie. The scene they chose was unclear and unamusing, made worse by having to see an aging and weak-voiced Chita Rivera. The next surprise was a scene from Finding Neverland, a musical version of the mildly entertaining 2004 Johnny Depp film. I can't imagine why the audience applauded for this loud, chaotic, claptrap whose forgettable song was an poor imitation of music from Les Mis. I can't comment on the other musicals and plays because I didn't see the entire show. I suspect I didn't miss much. Although to be fair, some of these costly shows were based on somewhat more successful films, like 1951's An American in Paris and 1938's You Can't Take It With You. I don't know about you but I expect more than an old movie rehash when the price of admission is $130.00 plus.