Topic: Tony Awards

The Broadway community and the Actors Union have signed a 17-page diversity pledge, including "inclusion riders" for creative contracts. The hosts mock the "Woke Awards" and the increasing focus on racial quotas in theater production.

The 78th Tony Awards featured a heavy emphasis on non-binary identities, with actor Cole Escola winning for a portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln. The ceremony was also notable for its high volume of pharmaceutical advertisements, specifically for AIDS medications and Ozempic. Critics noted that the "rotten old binary" was a recurring theme in acceptance speeches, reflecting the current cultural shift in the Broadway community.

Actress Denée Benton refers to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a "Grand Wizard" during the Tony Awards ceremony. The hosts discuss the decline of Broadway box office numbers and the "unappealing" nature of the Best Musical winner, Kimberly Akimbo, which features a teenage girl with a progeria-like disease. They criticize the "weaponization" of race and theater for political messaging.

The hosts open the program by discussing the six Tony Award nominations for the play "Ain't No Mo," written by Jordan E. Cooper. They compare the safety and atmosphere of New York City to Chicago, noting concerns about subway tracks and general urban decay. One host mentions his wife's upcoming Mother's Day visit to New York and her anxiety regarding the city's current state.

Nine plays by black authors opened on Broadway this season, a move NPR attributes to the 2020 protests. The hosts propose the "Woke Awards" (or "Wokeies") to satirize the industry's focus on representation over traditional storytelling. They note that despite the critical acclaim for these diverse productions, Broadway is struggling with low attendance and discounted ticket sales.

The 2021 Tony Awards saw a massive decline in viewership, pulling in only 2.7 million viewers compared to 5.4 million in 2019. Much of the ceremony was moved to Paramount Plus, allowing the network to keep specific streaming figures secret. The production was criticized for being "too woke" and focusing on awards for a year when Broadway was largely closed.

The hosts discuss the limitations of open-source smart home tools like Mycroft compared to Amazon's "talking tube." They then critique the 2018 Tony Awards, specifically Robert De Niro's "F-Trump" outburst and the subsequent standing ovation. They note that while the U.S. broadcast was censored, the Australian feed remained uncensored, and the incident "ruined" the show for many viewers.

Stephen Colbert delivered a politically charged monologue at the Tony Awards, mocking the Trump administration as a "revival" that might close early. The hosts criticize the Broadway community for attacking the government while simultaneously seeking federal funding through the National Endowment for the Arts. The segment highlights the deep divide between the entertainment industry and the current executive branch.

The hosts review Kevin Spacey’s performance as host of the Tony Awards, noting his impressions of Johnny Carson and Bill Clinton. They also critique Stephen Colbert’s appearance at the awards, where he performed a lengthy anti-Trump segment for a cheering audience.

A Broadway reviewer on PBS mistakenly attributes the novel *The Color Purple* to chef Alice Waters instead of author Alice Walker. The hosts highlight the error and the lack of correction during the broadcast, noting the upcoming Tony Awards.

A review of the Broadway play "It's Only a Play" features praise for the cast, including Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, and F. Murray Abraham. The production is described as a meta-commentary on the theater industry, focusing on the relationships between playwrights, producers, and critics. Actor Micah Stock is noted for his Tony Award-nominated performance in a farce-style role.

Actor Mark Rylance delivered a highly unusual acceptance speech at the Tony Awards after winning Best Actor for his role in *Jerusalem*. Instead of traditional thanks, Rylance recited a prose poem about the mechanics of "walking through walls." Despite the surreal nature of the speech, presenter Catherine Zeta-Jones and the elite audience reacted as if the performance was standard, highlighting a disconnect between the theater elite and the general public.