Little Green Soldiers in a Pageant

When I was a little kid, of about oh 6 or 7, I used to love playing with those little green soldiers- you know the ones. Except that I've never enjoyed violence, so instead of having them fight, I would make pageant formations and parades with them.

Now settle down my gays and gay-friendlies! I didn't dress them in drag and make them win a crown, or anything of the kind. I just enjoyed switching them from straight lines into circles or feeding them in between diagonal lines into new formations. They were still soldiers but sometimes they were marching in a parade while other times they were in training and I was their commander ordering new positions.

A couple years later, when I discovered my "leadership" skills, i.e. became a bossy child, I would do this with my neighbors and cousins. I would've done the same at school but that was Mr. Garcia's territory for Spring Festivals, and the HAM (Humanities, Art, and Music) department's for our seasonal assemblies. Around that same time I started loving beauty pageants, for the glamour, sure- but these girls got to strut around a stage from formation to formation with their only intention being getting to their next spot. I LOVED IT!! They were my own little army of little green soldiers, except prettier, and in standing without a rifle, and in fierce sparkly outfits with big hair and lots of rhinestones. (Okay gays and gay-friendlies- have that one.)

Soon enough I found a place that allowed for formations and formation changes...actually that encouraged them and existed because of them...THE MUSICAL! Besides the fact that I finally understood what singers were singing (yeah, I don't understand most pop/rock singers so I make up my own version of the lyrics), they actually broke into song and dance to express their feelings and, you guessed it, formation into formation into formation. It was my own little heaven; cause in heaven angels move about in perfectly choreographed routines!

Sitting at my desk today and working through the overall movement of a choreography (formation to formation), I found myself wanting a set of little green soldiers so I could work it out. And I caught myself thinking: "gee, among all the stress and uncertainty of this career, the constant financial hiccups and the wondering how it's gonna work out, I get to do exactly what I always wanted to do."

This is Tony...and gratefulness is what's going on!

Courage. Faith. Love.

Give the Tonys Back to Broadway- My suggestions on how to help

A letter to Hunter Foster based on his request to the group- "Give the Tonys Back to Broadway"

Quick note to non-theater folk: The Broadway community and aficionados were, for the most part, upset with the results of the Tony Awards given on June 13th 2010, where many Hollywood stars who were "guest"-ing on Broadway were bestowed with the awards we felt were deserved by actors who primarily work on the stage.

Thanks for getting this campaign going and for emphasizing the positive side of it. Frustration more than anything brought about a lot of griping after last Sunday night but on the flip side it opened up the dialogue and this is a fantastic step toward improving the cause of said frustrations.
My 5 suggestions:

1. Gypsy of the Year, Easter Bonnet, and all those Broadway community events that take place throughout the year should be featured in the telecast so more people can learn about them.

2. Playbill recently reported that there was talk about an Ensemble award. There are obviously pros and cons to it but something should be figured out in favor of it. It’s financially understandable that producers feel the need to cast stars; this would be a great way to honor those people who work primarily on Broadway.

3. A Special Guest Star Award for Hollywood actors with limited engagements on Broadway could be a way to still honor the work they put in, and let the Best Actor/ Actress award be given to those who are in it for the long run.

4. This next one would require extra work for AEA and some serious logistics to figure out: Somehow including Equity members who are active in the audition circuit (putting in the work before they book a job and sometimes not book any) in the telecast would not only encourage us all, but also show the general public what really goes into making it on the Great White Way.

5. Feature segments during the telecast showing: up and coming composers, how a show is workshopped, the journey that productions go through (regional, out of town try outs) etc… This would help to educate the general public as to how actors develop a role that sometimes ends up being played by somebody else.

Again thanks for offering this platform,
Tony Vargas