2009 Tony Award Ballot Results/General Musings

And so another Tony Awards ceremony has come and gone. Although it was not the most exciting show of all time (there were no truly MAJOR upsets), it was still genuinely entertaining. Neil Patrick Harris has cemented his place as one of my favorite people thanks to his fantastic ending song and overall air of snarky adorableness. The musical performances were very hit and miss--loved the numbers from Hair, Billy Elliot, and Next to normal--but I continue to be astounded by the shear commercialism of the Tony Awards. I know that CBS needs ratings, but did we really need yet ANOTHER performance from Mamma Mia! or Jersey Boys? This marks the 3rd ceremony that each show has presented a number...whatever happened to just showing performances from the shows up for Best Musical and Best Revival?

The real head-scratcher was the inclusion of Legally Blonde. Despite the best efforts of MTV and thousands of teenage girls, the show was a flop. It did not make back its investment and only lasted a year and a half on Broadway. While I applaud the idea of showing touring companies on the Tonys, it seems like this was a missed opportunity all around. The fact they were rushing Alice Ripley off the stage so they could show us 5 Frankie Valli's singing the same. damn. song. AGAIN was ridiculous. I miss the years when they would do scenes from the nominated plays; surely that would be a better way of filling the air time? 8 years later I still get chills thinking of Gary Sinese's performance from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the real highlight of the evening...Brett Michaels vs. the Set. Maybe it's my healthy sense of schadenfreude, but there is something deeply hilarious about watching a washed-up reality TV star walk face first into a flat while Stockard Channing is singing "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" in a stunning evening gown. While I missed his faux-pas on my first viewing, the wonders of DVR ensured that my friend and I were able to rewind and watch his wipe out ad-nauseum. I'm glad to hear that apparently he was not seriously injured...I just can't help but wonder if this is the Universe's way of getting back at him for Rock of Love Bus.

Before I go any farther, let's take a look at my final tally on my pre-awards ballot. As always, it was the technical awards that messed me up. In the end, I went 23/27; the only categories I missed were Direction of a Play, Costume Design of a Play, Scenic Design of a Play, and Lighting Design of a Play. Technically I didn't guess that there would be a tie for Best Orchestrations, but I did list "Next to Normal" which ended up sharing the award with "Billy Elliot."

Aside from the fact that my parent's house got struck by lightening while my friend and I were re-watching the musical performances on DVR, it was a pretty uneventful evening. Congratulations to all the winners/nominees from last night! On behalf of the kids living in Kansas who use the Tony Awards as a way to dream of the lights of New York, thank you for sharing your craft with us for another year. I can't wait to see what the 2009-2010 season holds in store!

~Katie Doornbos

NYC Trip, Tonys, and Summer Plans

Well, well, well...long time no write! As you could probably guess, the end of the semester/beginning of the summer semester is a very busy time when one works in a Financial Aid office. Add in my star turn as Nancy in "Oliver!" *cue shameless plug* and you can probably understand why I haven't had much time to write. Oh, did I mention that I just got back from my first trip to New York City in 6 years? Because I did. And yes, darlings, it was simply fabulous.

Obviously, I spent my 4 days in the Big Apple wisely and took full advantage of the Great White Way. I saw five spectacular shows and will be posting my reviews as soon as I have the opportunity. I hope to write at least 2 reviews this weekend; we'll see how ambitious I get. I may even get in all five! Not to mention that I still have my notes from the production of "The Tempest" that I saw at Wichita Center for the Arts last month. Long story short, this blog will stop being a holding place and start becoming quite prolific in the upcoming weeks and months. In addition to the 6 shows I have already seen, there is also the entire 5 show season for Music Theatre of Wichita beginning next month as well as the production of "You Can't Take It With You" being co-directed by my best friend at Wichita Community Theatre in July.

Enough of the previews; anyone who knows me will probably know exactly what takes place next Sunday. It is the glorious evening known as the Tony Awards and I fully intend to be glued to my television. Well, probably not my television. Seeing as my parents have a wide screen high-definition television with surround sound and a kegarator, it's a good bet that I will commandeer their basement for the evening festivities. And who would blame me?

I have many fond memories of the Tony Awards through the years; how else is a girl growing up in Kansas going to see performances from her favorite shows? There was the year that I threw my hairbrush at the television and stormed down the hall after "Ragtime" lost the Best Musical award to "The Lion King." The year that The Producers won every Tony Award under the sun. The year that I spent the ceremony in a chat room commiserating when "Sweeney Todd" lost Best Revival to "The Pajama Game." And then last year when I was moved to tears by the ferocity of Patti LuPone...yes, many memories indeed.

With Neil Patrick Harris acting as host, this year promises to be a good time if nothing else. Plus there is the added benefit that I have actually seen 5 of the nominated shows this year with their original Tony-nominated casts. If that doesn't engender at least some level of excitement, I don't know what does. Being an award show junkie, I would be remiss if I didn't already have my ballot filled out and ready to gloat over. I am coming off a very successful year with my Oscar ballot (I won 4 movie passes, a $100 gift card to Target, and a subscription to Marie Claire from the Wichita Eagle for getting 11 out of 12 categories right) and I have a reputation to uphold.

So here, for all the interweb to behold, are Katie's Official Tony Award Predictions. For each category I have listed who I want to see win and who I feel will win. All things are subjective...I will check back in Sunday night and we will see how my winning streak is holding up.

Best Play
Will Win: God of Carnage
Should Win: reasons to be pretty

Best Musical
Will and Should Win: Billy Elliot

Best Book of a Musical
Will Win: Billy Elliot
Should Win: [title of show]

Best Score
Will and Should Win: Next to Normal

Best Play Revival
Will and Should Win: The Norman Conquests

Best Musical Revival
Will and Should Win: Hair

Best Special Theatrical Event
Will and Should Win: Liza's at The Palace

Best Actor (Play)
Will and Should Win: Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King

Best Actress (Play)
Will Win: Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
Should Win: Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart

Best Actor (Musical)
Will and Should Win: David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish; Billy Elliot

Best Actress (Musical)
Will and Should Win: Alice Ripley, Next to Normal

Best Featured Actor (Play)
Will Win: Roger Robinson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Should Win: John Glover, Waiting for Godot

Best Featured Actress (Play)
Will Win: Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
Should Win: Marin Ireland, reasons to be pretty

Best Featured Actor (Musical)
Will and Should Win: Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot

Best Featured Actress (Musical)
Will Win: Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Should Win: Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal

Best Scenic Design (Play)
Will and Should Win: Dale Ferguson, Exit the King

Best Scenic Design (Musical)
Will Win: Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot
Should Win: Mark Wendland, Next to Normal

Best Costume Design (Play)
Will and Should Win: Dale Ferguson, Exit the King

Best Costume Design (Musical)
Will and Should Win: Tim Hatley, Shrek the Musical

Best Lighting Design (Play)
Will and Should Win: David Hersey, Equus

Best Lighting Design (Musical)
Will and Should Win: Kevin Adams, Next to Normal

Best Sound Design (Play)
Will Win: Gregory Clarke, Equus
Should Win: Russell Goldsmith, Exit the King

Best Sound Design (Musical)
Will and Should Win: Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot

Best Direction (Play)
Will and Should Win: Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests

Best Direction (Musical)
Will and Should Win: Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot

Best Choreography
Will and Should Win: Peter Darling, Billy Elliot

Best Orchestrations
Will and Should Win: Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal

So there you have it! And for anyone wondering how I make my predictions, I can promise you that it is far from scientific. It's a combination of reviews/predictions from The New York Times, BroadwayWorld.com, Entertainment Weekly, talking to friends in the theatre, and a dash of good old fashioned gut instinct and prejudice.

Well darlings, the students are waiting and I must away. Stay glued to your monitors for my forthcoming reviews! First up: "Exit the King."

~Katie

Slightly Non-Sequitorial Update

Well, things are a little bit crazy right now. Work is really picking up and on top of that we start tech week for "Oliver!" on Monday. Suffice it to say, I have had little free-time for writing reviews. I hope to get something done this weekend as I will be seeing "The Tempest" at Wichita Center for the Arts on Sunday.

Since I feel bad for letting this blog fester away until my schedule clears up long enough for me to actually fulfill its purpose, I thought I would post one of my recent assignments from my Writing for Mass Audiences class. We had to interview a fellow classmate and then write a feature news piece on them for a print publication. I ended up with a 100% on my article and I'm very pleased with how it came out.

~Katie Doornbos

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Imagine a beautiful beachside sunset, the waning rays of light sparkling on the surface of the ocean. A woman is sitting on the porch of an ocean-adjacent home, typing furiously on her laptop.

While the setting may be a fantasy, the woman is Jennifer Grant, and she loves to write. She is majoring in strategic communications, but Grant has been writing for years.

"As a kid, I would put together mini-stories and give them to friends and family as gifts," Grant said.

Grant often turned to reading and writing to escape difficult situations at home. Grant's mother was married twice and struggled financially. Although times were tough, Grant was able to find solace in simple pleasures.

"My grandma would give me books to read and I would read them by candlelight," she said. "It was a way of coping with all the bad things that were going on at the time."

Although writing is important to her, Grant's desire for a family inspired her current goal of working in either human resources or public relations. She says that her own childhood has made her family oriented.

"I can manage, market, write, or do all of it within the confines of a 9 to 5 job," said Grant. "I want to have children and focus on being a great mom, which is something I didn't really have growing up."

Although Grant may never have her beach-side house and idyllic fantasy lifestyle, she remains proud of what she has achieved and hopes she can inspire others to do the same.

"Here I am. I worked my way through school, I'm the first person in my family to go to college, and I own a home and live a pretty good life. Anyone can do that, anyone can overcome anything."

Katie's Theatre Resume

As promised (semi-egotistically) in the note before, here is a brief rundown of my current list of theatre credits. No, it is not my actual resume; that's saved somewhere on my home computer. I just thought it might be helpful to list my prior experience as a way of showing my qualifications in this subject area. Although, to be honest, much of my Insane Fount of Broadway Trivia comes from other means. They didn't used to call me Miss Broadway.com for nothing ;)

Notable Roles

• Nancy, "Oliver!" (Encompass, 2009)
• Ghost of Christmas Past, "Scrooge!" (Encompass, 2008)
• Mollie Ralston, "The Mousetrap" (Encompass, 2008)
• Little Red Ridinghood, "Into the Woods" (Friends University, 2008)
• Mrs. Stephenson, "Sorry, Wrong Number" (Friends University, 2007)
• Lucy Van Pelt, "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (Wichita Children's Theatre and Dance Center, 2006)
• Lowbutt, "Honk!" (Friends University, 2006)
• Jane Cratchitt/Young Belle, "A Marley County Christmas" (Stage One, 2005)
• Lenya Zubritsky, "Fools" (Friends University, 2005)
• Robin, "Godspell" (Wichita Children's Theatre and Dance Center, 2005)
• Featured Soloist ("Storybook"), MTW Teen Choir (Music Theatre of Wichita, 2003)
• Featured Soloist ("On My Own"), Words and Music: 2003 Tony Awards (Stage One, 2003)
• Whore 1, "Les Miserables" (Music Theatre for Young People, 2003)
• Bickle, "Footloose" (East High School, 2002)

I have done additional shows at Music Theatre of Wichita, Stage One, Music Theatre for Young People, and while in school at both Friends University and East High. I've also been in choirs since I was "knee-high to a pig's eye." Notable choral groups include Singing Quaker Alumni Choir, Singing Quakers, 2003 KMEA State Honor Choir, District 6 Honor Choir (2001-2003), All City Honor Choir (2002), and Wichita Children's Community Choir.

So there you have it...not the most impressive resume in the world, but it at least shows that I have at least a little bit of first-hand knowledge about how the theatre scene in Wichita works.

~Katie Doornbos

Welcome to My Blog

Well, it's been months of throwing out hypothetical ideas combined with weeks of whining to my friends and digging through my brain to come up with a suitable title, but I'm finally here! Finally in my own little corner of the blogosphere, ready to dazzle the masses with my sparkling wit and thoughtfully obsessive analysis. Or something like that.

Honestly though, I couldn't be more thrilled. Since everyone and their dog (and/or cat) has a blog these days, I thought I would take this opportunity to explain just why I started mine and what I hope to achieve through it. And maybe to offer up a little bit of insight into the crazy girl whose posts you will soon (hopefully) be turning to for information.

As most of you (being my friends and/or family) probably already know, my name is Katie Doornbos and I am a complete theatre nut. An amazing accomplishment being located in Wichita, KS and approximately24 hours away from Broadway (as the car via Google Maps drives). I graduated this past May from Friends University with a Bachelor of Arts in English/Drama (English Emphasis) and am currently working as a Senior Administrative Assistant in the Financial Aid Office at Wichita State University. My goal is to (hopefully) apply to the Master of Arts in Theatre Studies program at KU within the next few years (once the economy dies down, of course). Why KU? Because aside from being a Jayhawk fan (RockChalk!), they also provide a Masters program that offers emphasis in criticism instead of just performance/stage work. And that is the ultimate point of this blog: I, Kathryn Elizabeth Doornbos, want to be a theatre critic.

Hence, the blog. Living in Wichita, I obviously have limited opportunities for career advancement in this field (especially given the recent economic impact on newspapers). So what better way to get practice and get my name out there than by starting my very own blog? I plan to use this site as a forum to express my ideas/feelings about theatre in general as well as to post reviews of local productions that I see. In writing, the best way to find your voice is to practice and this blog is a perfect opportunity to do just that.

Being a performer myself (and yes, I do plan to post my theatre resume shortly), I understand the politics that go on backstage and also how hurtful a mean spirited review can be. Negative reviews can also be hurtful, but I personally believe that artistic integrity is the name of the game. In the interest of not stepping on toes, I will only be posting reviews for professional or semi-professional productions in the area. Although I do see a number of shows at Friends University, Wichita State, and area high schools, it is unfair to post reviews of these shows for a number of reasons. For one, these are students who are just learning how to explore their craft. On a more personal level, I tend to have a large number of friends in these productions and I would really like to avoid the drama that would be caused if I were to write a negative review.

I promise that my actual reviews will be far less verbose than this initial post, but they will hopefully be every bit as reasoned and articulated. PLEASE feel free to leave comments for me critiquing my...critiques. The whole reason behind my drive to be a critic is my firm belief that it is only by exploring our mistakes and making the necessary corrections that we can grow, both as performers and people. Being new at this, I know that a number of mistakes on my part will be inevitable.

One last thing--you're probably wondering about the name of the blog. "I Am Not Dorothy" was an idea submitted to me by my friend Clay. Although he originally read the quote in an article "slamming a show by Dorothy Parker," he pointed out (and I agree) that it is also a great way to address the stereotypes inherent in being a woman from Kansas. As any of my fellow Kansas will know, it is BEYOND irritating to have people ask you about Toto any time you are own vacation. So the title is my tongue-in-cheek way of pointing out that not all Kansas worship the Wizard of Oz while also having "the great benefit of actually being an insiderish theatre thing." All quotes are attributable to Clay, btw.

So there you have it folks. The blog is up and running, I will hopefully start cranking out some reviews shortly, and I am thrilled to be dipping my toes into the waters of my future. I leave you with the words of the incomparable Stephen Sondheim:

Here she is boys! Here she is world! Here's Katie!

Or something like that.

~Katie Doornbos