I just browsed some Theatre Chat Boards and found the expected wailing about how last night's Tony Awards Ceremony was dreadful: Nobody who sang could sing, everyone's gown was ghastly, most of the speeches sucked, the winners shouldn't be so rushed, yadda yadda yadda. Such remarks were expected because (a) most everyone says, of every awards show, "this was the worst ever" and (b) no one can be as bitchy about theatre people as other theatre people. They all seem to be out tonight, bashing last night's event, which I thought was okay: Not wonderful but certainly watchable. I liked most of the singing, the gowns, the speeches, etc. I thought the main problem with it was that it's an awards show. That's what awards shows are…and they usually only rise to memorable status if memorable people win or memorable unpredictable events occur.
Yes, the presenters and winners shouldn't be cut off after 20 or 30 seconds but, unfortunately, the deal with CBS requires that the show not spill a moment over its allotted two hours. The broadcast does so poorly in the ratings, it doesn't have the clout to get that changed. So they do the first hour on PBS and the last two on CBS, and theatre buffs moan that it should all be on PBS where — presumably — it could run a bit longer. (But only a bit. I can't believe even the greatest lover of theatre would sit through a 4-hour Tony telecast.) That would make sense except that the Broadway community wants it on CBS where it'll get a larger audience and serve as an infomercial for theatre-going. So there it stays, getting lousy ratings but — theoretically — helping sell a few tickets.
Several folks were upset that Elaine Stritch was cut off in mid-acceptance speech. That kind of thing's regrettable but she knew how long she was supposed to go and chose to prattle on as if the rules didn't apply to her. The reason for the rule is that they only have so much time and they want to get all the awards and musical numbers in. (Three years ago, an overage of thank-you orations forced them to decide, in the middle of the telecast, to eliminate a planned/rehearsed musical number from a show called Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, which closed soon after. Being bumped might not have been fatal to the musical but it was sure rude.)
I don't think there's a real solution to this. You have X number of awards to present and, even with presenter chatter and entrances cut to the bone, it takes Y minutes per award. You also want to have the numbers from the shows and, if you do the math, it just makes for a cramped two hours. I can't see any way to make it go faster and, for all the kvetching everyone does every year about how awful they thought the show was, I don't see any workable suggestions. We may have to face the fact that the show is what it is, and if it's dull…well, so are some sporting events. That's not the fault of the folks who produce the broadcast, either.