The Tony Awards

Well, Eric and I had big plans for this past weekend: the Big Apple BBQ Festival was back (has it really been a year since I met Billy Mays?), a Naked Bike Ride (we planned to watch, not participate! Not-safe-for-work pics courtesy of Time Out NY here), and some celebrity stalking. I ended up having work all weekend, which forced us to skip most of our plans. No complaints here about the work, of course - I'm glad to have the work and it was an interesting case. But, work meant no barbecue and no naked bikers. Sigh. We did do some celebrity stalking, though!

Last night was the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall. Eric and I briefly considered actually going to the Tony Awards until we realized the outrageous price tag on the cheapest seats in the house, so we just settled for a little red carpet action. (Although in retrospect, I kind of wish we had splurged, because it was a great show. Unfortunately, we recently had to pay for oral surgery for the dog so he kind of stole our Tony Awards money. Boo.)

  Tony Awards at Radio City

It was a pretty drizzly evening, and actually rained pretty hard as we walked out there. People in New York are crazy, though. The barricades along the red carpet were already lined with people over an hour early and in a downpour. People were SOAKED, but apparently dedicated. Crazies. Luckily, the weather cleared up in time for the action. It still drizzled a little here and there, but for the most part we could keep our umbrellas down.

Umbrellas of paparazzi and reporters along the red carpet

Once again, we saw a great number of celebrities. I think our final count was 39, although probably six or so were celebrities we have already seen. We had a pretty decent spot at the very start of the red carpet, so we caught everyone as they arrived and stepped out of their cars. The first big name we saw was Aretha Franklin, who arrived with a full-on entourage. Although I would venture to say that if you are Aretha Franklin, you are entitled to an entourage.

Aretha Franklin arriving at the Tony Awards

Another pretty well-known person we saw was Daniel Radcliffe, who was the only celebrity of the night to come over and greet his fans and sign autographs. He signed something for the poor, drenched girl in front of us, and also posed for a picture with her. She was just beside herself. She told him she had met him several times before and he said, "Oh, so sorry to not recognize you!" Isn't that cute? I'm not really a Harry Potter fan, but I now find Daniel Radcliffe adorable.

Daniel Radcliffe greeting the fans

Of course, Broadway stars were everywhere. (Duh.) Some of my favorites that we spotted included Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters (although we didn't get a photo), Jonathan Groff, and the two I most wanted to see - Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison! Somehow, I managed to avoid leaping over the barricades and attacking Matthew Morrison, don't worry. I'm not sure how it happened, but I was the very picture of restraint. And I can now say I have seen every major star of Glee except Jane Lynch. I must go on a Sue Sylvester hunt to complete my collection.

Idina Menzel. The last time we saw her, she was super-casually dressed walking down the street just about a block from our apartment, possibly to/from rehearsal for something? She was dressed much fancier for the Tony Awards, I must say.

Kristin Chenoweth is always adorable. I love her.

Angela Lansbury

Jonathan Groff is clearly waving to me and only me. Also, Lea Michele is right beside him.

Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff again

Matthew Morrison. Swoon.

We saw tons of other well-known folks as well, including Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones (who won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical), Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, Kelsey Grammer, Helen Mirren, Green Day, Christopher Walken, Paula Abdul, Liev Shreiber, Stanley Tucci, Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds. (At one point, I had Matthew Morrison to one side and Ryan Reynolds to the other - where do you look? What do you do? So much eye candy, so little time!)

Kelsey Grammer and his wife Camille in their limo

Green Day

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones (I loved her acceptance speech!)

Paula Abdul

Liev Shreiber
 

Ryan Reynolds, looking handsome even in a super-blurry picture

Eric and I also spotted a couple of people that went unnoticed by those around us. I was pretty excited to see Buddy Valastro, better known as the Cake Boss on his show on TLC. (For those of you who are unfamiliar, he is a baker from New Jersey who makes the most incredible cakes! He made the cake for the Tony Awards last night.)

Cake Boss Buddy with his wife

The other person we saw who went unnoticed was Mark Sanchez, former USC quarterback and current quarterback for the New York Jets. He arrived with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and the crowd stayed quiet as he got out of his car and waved. Eric recognized him immediately and when he asked, "nobody knows Mark Sanchez, quarterback of the Jets?" he was met with blank stares from the crowd around us. Ha! That's a "no." Apparently the Broadway and sports worlds don't usually collide in such ways.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Mark Sanchez

 

Mark Sanchez peeking through the crowd

Of course, we also saw many current Broadway performers that we did not recognize until later on when we watched the show. I am ashamed to admit that, and this whole Tony Awards event made me realize that we need to get back to the theater soon. When we first moved here we saw quite a few in a short amount of time, but it has been quite a while since we've been to a show together. I have three on my list that I am dying to see right now (West Side Story, In the Heights and Promises, Promises with Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes), and there are many more that I would certainly not be sad to see. I'm also keeping my eye on South Pacific, which is set to leave Broadway in August - it is rumored that my beloved Matthew Morrison may return to Broadway to reprise his role as Lt. Cable for the show's final weeks. All I have to say about that is YES, PLEASE. 

Speaking of Matthew Morrison on Broadway, he and Lea Michele also performed two great numbers at the Tony Awards last night that I loved. In case you missed it, check it out:

VIDEO: Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele perform at the 2010 Tony Awards

And that was our latest celebrity-stalking adventure! We have really turned this into a bit of a sport, haven't we?

Usual note: If you want to see the complete list of our sightings at the Tony Awards Red Carpet, please refer to my NYC Celebrity Sightings Page, and/or the album on my photo share site!