The 2019 Tony Awards didn't feel celebratory, and it didn't make good use of James Corden

The New York Times

"The tight, tinny, careful show broadcast by CBS on Sunday night didn’t feel celebratory — it seemed alternately self-satisfied and insecure, as if it felt it had to keep making excuses for itself," says Mike Hale. "It was reflected in the use, or the lack thereof, of the usually riotous James Corden, hosting the Tonys for the second time. The charm, endless energy and physical grace that make him an ideal awards host were all evident. But he was saddled throughout the night with bad ideas based on the notion of the Tonys’ inadequacy compared to television, or to streaming video, or to hip-hop music." Hale says the material continually failed Corden, especially the audience-participation gags. "More Corden would have given the show more life, and a more unfettered Corden might have been able to cut through some of the gauze of earnest sanctimony that enveloped the ceremony to an even greater extent than in recent years," says Hale.

ALSO:

• James Corden spent too much time warming over material practically as old as the televised awards ceremony itself
• Corden started strong, but too often delivered strained comedy bits that felt familiar, safe and thematically generic
• The highs and lows of the 2019 Tonys: Corden singing inside a bathroom stall was definitely a low
• Watch Corden try to take a dig at television in the Tonys opening number
• Why are the Tony Awards still tape delayed to the West Coast?
• Glee alum Ali Stroker becomes the first wheelchair-bound Tony winner