The Tony Awards went by on Sunday in a blur of flashy costumes, ebullient production numbers and teary acceptance speeches. But there were a few things that warranted a little further investigation. Here's what had us wanting to know more:
Hoppin' Hugh Jackman?
The host bounced his way into the Tony Awards for four straight minutes, starting at the red carpet and ending on stage after a trip backstage and just one quick pause in the elevator. Eagle-eyed viewers would note that Jackman quickly passed by a TV set showing a clip from a movie in which a very cheery man was doing something similar.
Turns out Jackman was doing an homage to 1953's "Small Town Girl," in which Bobby Van hopped his way through town to "Street Dance." The movie also included the song "Take Me to Broadway," which Jackman sang a few lines from as he finished his marathon hop-athon. And if the whole thing looked familiar, Jackman's not the only imitator: Goldfrapp and Peter Wolf both created "jumping" music videos.
Of course, Jackman had been teasing his performance on the show for a few days, including this brief preview of his hopping good time:
And this one, posted mere minutes before he went onstage:
Chairman of the board?
We're pretty sure Clint Eastwood (who presented two awards) hasn't started seeing things; the brief clip of him examining a folding chair backstage until Jackman and Idina Menzel stopped by to interrupt was a clear wink aimed at his 2012 Republican National Convention appearance, in which he delivered a speech to a chair (meant to be a stand in for President Barack Obama). The speech was mercilessly mocked afterward, so it's nice to see Eastwood has a sense of humor about the incident.
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The 2014 Tony Awards
So wicked!
Someone had to do it. Broadway darling Idina Menzel had her name butchered in a strange and unexpected way earlier this year at the Academy Awards, courtesy of John Travolta — but would anyone do a call-back to that "Adele Dazeem" moment on her home turf?
Yup: Her "Glee" co-star Jonathan Groff, who introduced Menzel's performance from her musical "If/Then," called her "wickedly good," in a very good mimicry of Travolta's clipped Oscars introduction — only this time, the "Let it Go" singer's name was properly pronounced.
Record-breaking win
That's right: Audra McDonald is now Broadway's winningest actress, with six Tonys (she has now surpassed Angela Lansbury, who has five), and Julie Harris (who also has six, but one is for lifetime achievement). But she's not the person with the most Tonys of all on Broadway. That would be Hal Prince, who has 21.
What happened to the 'In Memoriam' segment?
Alas, the roster of those who died during the previous year had to be cut from the live broadcast at the last minute when the show ran more than 15 minutes over, according to the Associated Press.
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