The 2007 Tonys: TV Meets Theatre (and I'm in Hog Heaven)

I love TV, and worship theatre, so it's probably not a huge surprise that I await the Tony Awards each year with the enthusiasm and fervor that only the diehard music theatre geek can muster.

I was a trained singer through college, and actually got a minor in Theatre, so of course I'm hopeless for life. I may be writing plays nowadays, most of the time, but I can still sing any Sondheim song, anywhere, anytime (whether or not you want me to). I respond to a question about a song with the theatrical resumes of people like Idina Menzel, Boyd Gaines, Kristin Chenoweth, Victor Garber, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, and others. I even love the mega-musicals, unabashedly, and passionately. Les Miz? Phantom? Producers? Bring 'em on! I respond to discussions of TV's "CSI" with a list of most of Liev Schrieber's onstage Shakespearean roles and still mourn not getting to see the reimagined "Sweeney Todd" of last year.

Annoying stuff like that.

So there I am each season, handicapping favorites, listening to all those show tunes (and wishing I were there in NYC to see them performed), and hoping Hugh Jackman will host again so I can watch and lust at the same time.

Although this year's Tony's did not, alas, feature the freakishly talented Mr. Jackman, it was a satisfying broadcast, featuring so many of the New York stage's great performers. I was thrilled to see Christine Ebersole win for "Grey Gardens" -- I've been a fan of hers ever since seeing her play Guinevere opposite Richard Burton in snippets from the revival of "Camelot" as a kid. She wasn't just gorgeous, she also brought a sense of vibrancy and sass to Guinevere that I always remembered. I loved seeing her on TV and film occasionally but it always seemed like most of the time, people didn't know what to do with her. So to see her continue a successful Broadway career, and to be so acclaimed in this show this season, is really wonderful.

I was also thrilled about so many wins for "Spring Awakening," with an ingenious score, smart book, and truly unusual choreography and staging. It not only got rapturous reviews, but which also seems to be bringing something genuinely new to the table. I also love seeing someone like pop singer Duncan Sheik discover the magic of musical theatre, and if his enthusiastic acceptance speeches were any indication, I think he's there to stay.

I also loved seeing Julie White's unexected win for "The Little Dog Laughed," and her acceptance speech was one of those bubbly, spontaneous moments that stand out each season. I was also happy to see Frank Langella's win for Frost/Nixon, and adored his quiet and eloquent acceptance speech, which was all about work, love, dedication, and how that fit (or didn't fit) into a competition.

And although I hated the score for "Curtains" (it just feels tired to me, despite the prodigious talents of Holmes, Kander, and Ebb, as if someone told them to write a pastiche of show tunes in a single weekend), I was thrilled with David Hyde Pierce's win, as well as his moving and gentle acceptance speech. And give the boy a hand for those voice lessons, because he's gone from patter-songs in "Spamalot" to a nice, trained sound in "Curtains" that totally surprised me.

The Tony broadcast always has a show-stopper. I still remember Brian Stokes Mitchell bringing down the house with his gorgeous rendition of "The Impossible Dream" four or five years back, in a haunting performance that I'll never forget. This year's show-stopper, for me, was easily Raul Esparza's lovely and understated performance of "Being Alive," (one of my all-time favorite show tunes), from this year's restaging of "Company." "Company" as a show has always struck me as somewhat cold and soulless though, so his performance made me do a complete turnaround. A single heartfelt performance of a lovely song, however, and suddenly I wanted to see that show more than anything. A gorgeous moment.

I'm in the process of moving to New York, so I haven't seen any of these. I've just listened to the scores, watched for snippets, read reviews, etc. It's all incredibly unsatisfying compared to the real thing.

But within a few months, I'll be able to see whatever hasn't closed. The wonderful transience of theatre is part of its appeal, that built-in fragility that reminds you that the production you're seeing today won't be around forever. So I won't get to see "Journey's End," or "The Little Dog Laughed," which had already closed at Tony time, nor "Grey Gardens," which is ending its run even as we speak. But I hope there's still some wonderfulness left for me to see when I get there -- there always is.

"Scrubs" Cleaned Up as Season 6 Ended

I have a confession to make. I am a "Scrubs"-aholic. I love the show. Love it unabashedly. It's stupid and infantile and sweet and smart and almost always makes me laugh. Right after my stepdad passed away from cancer last year, sometimes the only laughs I could find were on those "Scrubs" DVDs. I could always trust "Scrubs" for a grin, from the sublimely cranky Dr. Cox, to the fabulousness of "the Todd," the zany unpredictability of the Janitor, to the giddy sweetness of J.D.'s unshakeable friendship with Turk. Even the theme song makes me happy.

So it's not easy for me to admit that, despite its marvelous musical episode this season (still brilliant, and still echoing in my head with refrains of "everything comes down to poo" and "it's guy love, guy love"), Scrubs had worried me this season.

The show just felt tired. For every zinger, every pitch-perfect pratfall, there was also a moment that thudded painfully into unfunny silence. And not in the "tackling serious issues" good way. In the "did they really think this was funny?" way. The actors were all doing their best, but there was also enough dead air for me to wonder which of them were simply going through the motions at this point, collecting paychecks while politely not mentioning to the writers how much the latest scripts, er, blew.

So I was really ambivalent about "Scrubs" this season, was sad about its decline, and for several weeks in a row, simply almost flipped away, not wanting to watch a show I loved go circling down the drain. Then I'd watch anyway, but in a way that was anxious instead of delighted, worried at every step. I'd be bummed when an episode really tanked, or pleased and surprised when it was better than I expected. Not the place from which I'm used to watching "Scrubs," by any means!

But I kept watching. And while, yes, there have been some episodes that sucked eggs, SUCKED, frankly, just awful segments where the timing was off, where J.D. seemed to exist on a wholly different planet, where he seemed not cutely unique but actually immature and unlikeable, and Elliot's trademark run-on monologues were not only not funny, but painful. Even Cox's rapid-fire responses weren't as funny, as if we'd heard them all before.

But I kept coming back, and was ultimately glad I had, by season's end. When it's good, I believe in J.D., the world's gayest straight guy, or in Carla, the best nurse on the planet, or in the gentleness of Cox, the alpha male whose wife wears the pants, suspenders, and everything else. And the arc of this season about responsibility and maturity, and the surprising episodes dealing with the injury and loss of Laverne, won me over. The quiet understated matter-of-factness of it, reassured me: Scrubs can still deliver.

Which makes me happy, because honestly, for anyone who's actually got a doctor (or a patient) in the family, "Scrubs" is consistently the most realistic medical show I can think of. Screw the blood and guts and melodrama of NBC's "ER". I worked in an ER for two years, and this show's excesses simply make me laugh. I hung in there through the crazed knife-wielding maniacs, the gunmen, the plagues, even the scary helicopters. But the tank? And the really shabby end to the story of Romano? I was outta there. Besides, any show that casts Maura Tierney and never lets her smile, or my lovely little "Dracula Doc" Goran Visnijc and won't let him let loose, hey, I leave because I love.

"Scrubs" isn't about gods, but about the doctors and nurses realistically at the bedside. I adore "House," but it's about entirely different things, using its 'patients of the week' to explore the things that make House himself, and those around him, tick.

But "Scrubs" is about real-world medicine, about harried hospital corridors, rows of patients, sniffly kids, recovering soldiers, arrogant administrators, HMOs that don't work, the terminally ill, and everything else. The "Scrubs" universe also acknowledges that the hospital is actually staffed by nurses, aides, and other support staff (and not all of those are white, beautiful, or thin). It's a welcome respite from the usual (and while I'm on the subject, somebody please give the beautiful Jennifer Morrison of "House" a sandwich).

And even though it annoyed me this season more than any other, I kind of like the fact that J.D. can be an annoying, selfish, preening little jerk. I disliked his usual "but what if I love Elliot?" revelation near the end, but this was probably pretty true to what J.D. would do. Elliot's always his reserve dream girl when things go bad, so it made sense in a way for him to look on wistfully as she planned her marriage. But I was thrilled at the return of the still-pregnant Kim, at the way she just seems to fit with J.D. -- she doesn't stifle his inner kid, but she does make damned sure he acts like an adult. Sure, her lie to him about her pregnancy was a massive mistake, but my hope is that he will forgive her, and not act on that little moment with Elliot that we saw at the end (please no). Because if he doesn't? Next season we might actually see J.D. grow up. How weird would that be?

So hats off to "Scrubs" for a solid end to the season, especially the episodes on Sacred Heart's sudden loss, which were a quietly lovely meditation on life, death and faith, as the staff said goodbye to the devout Laverne. "I hope Jesus exists," said a tearful Elliot, "Because otherwise you're gonna be really pissed." No doubt, he's there, and waiting for Laverne. This show's too gentle to believe otherwise.