Entertainment

This Was A... Strange Night

by Keertana Sastry

The Tony Awards are always strange and wonderful — they combine some great moments of live theater with awkward moments of scripted TV, and I don't mean this as an insult. In fact, this is what makes the Tonys, and the genre of the performing arts they honor, so great. Tony winner, all-star host, dancing machine, and Wolverine Hugh Jackman took on hosting duties for the awards on Sunday night, and his performance, like many others Sunday night, was a bit of a mixed bag.

Jackman hosted the Tony's back in 2005 after hosting for three consecutive years. That's right, Wolverine loves the theater just as much as beating people up with his adamantium claws, possibly even more. And the actor also won a Tony in 2004 for the musical The Boy From Oz. Impressive stuff, Jackman.

His hosting performance this time around wasn't the best, but his moments weren't the only ones that had highs and lows. In fact, there were some really fantastic bits from award winners and performances, as well as some surprises that CBS and the Tony producers threw in that were too surreal and uncomfortable to enjoy.

Take a gander at our list of some of the best, worst and weirdest moments from Sunday's Tony telecast.

Hugh Jackman Opened The Show With A Rabbit Influence

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The show began with Hugh Jackman on the red carpet outside of Radio City Music Hall. Jackman got his picture taken and suddenly turned toward the camera and started hopping into the theatre. Strange right? The weirdest part: He kept going throughout the entire opening number. He hopped backstage and checked out different castmembers from most, if not all, of the Tony nominated shows and continued hopping onstage until the very end of the number. But even though it was a weird way to start the telecast, it definitely showed off Jackman's incredible physical strength.

Best Or Worst: Both. And Neither.

The Backstage Snippets Before The Commercial Breaks Were GENIUS

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This year the Tony's decided to cut behind the stage right before commercial breaks to show us what the performers and actors were doing. There were a lot of fun actor selfies being taken, but the best moment came from legendary actor/director Clint Eastwood. Eastwood decided to mock of his surreal speech from GOP National Convention where he spoke to an empty chair. It was pure brilliance.

Best Or Worst: Definitely Best.

Lena Hall Quoted My Little Pony

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When Lena Hall won Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Hedwig And The Angry Inch, she gave a sweet speech thanking the cast, crew and everyone in between. But then she made a genius move by ending her acceptance speech by quoting a line from My Little Pony: "Friendship is everything!" Perfection.

Best Or Worst: Best

The Genie From Aladdin Did A Happy Dance

After a surprising win for James Monroe Iglehart for Best Featured Actor In A Musical, the actor went onstage and gave a dignified speech, which he then purposefully "ruined" by doing an adorable little happy jig. There's no way I wouldn't bust a move onstage if I won any kind of award.

Best Or Worst: Best

The Tonys Went Gangsta... Or Tried To

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In the most uncomfortable moment of the whole night, Hugh Jackman decided to honor The Music Man by trying to rap the lyrics to "Rock Island" from the musical with the help of rappers T.I. and LL Cool J. Why Tony producers? Why?

Best Or Worst: Worst worst worst.

NPH And The Cast Of Hedwig And The Angry Inch Win A Few Awards

Barney Stinson won a Tony on Sunday night folks, and I could not be happier! The actor was a lock for the award for his portrayal of the title character in the controversial musical and the performance from the cast of the show solidified NPH's star-power, as well as the perfection that is the musical in general. There's no question why Hedwig won the Tony for Best Revival Of A Musical.

Best Or Worst: Best best best.

Best Musical Surprise Win

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After a not-so-fantastic Tony performance, A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder took home the Tony for Best Musical. The show was definitely better than the performance it gave and the win feels deserved, but it was quite a surprise considering its competition included Aladdin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and After Midnight.

Best or Worst: Somewhere In Between