One more awkward moment at the Tonys was the segment devoted to the deceased. Pressed for time, they had to rush through a very incomplete list…which may be worse than doing nothing at all. Did they really leave out Jerry Orbach? That's a pretty big Broadway star to omit in favor of a couple of agents. Christopher Reeve was there but they cut to his picture so late that most people probably didn't see him.
Then came the "Razzle Dazzle" musical number which might have made sense if someone had reminded us that its lyrics were by the departed Fred Ebb (or even that it was introduced on Broadway by Mr. Orbach) and if the director hadn't opted to cut to a camera located in upstate New York. The long shot may have been because one of the dancers was showing a bit too much dorsal cleavage…but if so, that's like the silly need to bleep words in a pre-recorded musical number. Weren't the Standards and Practices people at rehearsals?