The true MVP of the Tony Awards red carpet last night at NYC‘s Radio City Music Hall was this goat in a bow-tie:
Image source: Getty Images / Jenny Anderson.
Sparky the Goat was accompanied on the red carpet by his Broadway producer Ken Davenport: yes, this isn’t just a twee animal moment, this is a star of the stage having his time in the spotlight on American theatre’s night of nights.
Sparky featured in musical Once on this Island, which actually took out the award for Best Revival of a Musical on the night. The story, first staged in 1990, follows Ti Moune (Hailey Kilgore) a peasant girl in the French Antilles trying to reunite with an upper class boy she fancies, Daniel Beauxhomme (Isaac Powell). It’s a Romeo and Juliet-style story, but with more singing and a Caribbean score, negotiating issues of class and race. And also it has this goat in it, remember:
Image source: Getty Images / Larry Busacca.
I fucking love this goat. And so too did the viewers at home.
Are we just going to slide past the fact that there was a GOAT ON THE RED CARPET AT THE #TONYAWARDS ???? #onlyatthetonys
— Mary-Anne Willets (@maryannewillets) June 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/JessHSun/status/1005951595639689216
Sparky is walking the red carpet and he has already won the tony awards. game over. pic.twitter.com/V9BP7enDOO
— kɑte (@ohhkaate) June 10, 2018
the only red carpet stars i care about are the ooti goats absolute legends
— jess ⚢ (@finalgirlcomplx) June 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/JessHSun/status/1005952637924184069
the ooti goats pooping on the red carpet is all the tony content i need this morning pic.twitter.com/RiEDDemVq2
— fran 🐸 (@bwayfalsettos) June 10, 2018
wow i can’t believe that the tony award for leading actor in a musical goes to both of the goats in once on this island
— Liv (@jaggedbway) June 11, 2018
Not everyone was super impressed with the goat however – Twitter blew up with people commenting on Angels in America star/Best Featured Actor in a Play, Nathan Lane saying ‘NOPEEEE‘ to feeding the goat.
That performance was the GOAT. #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/mtoU92HipQ
— CBS (@CBS) June 11, 2018
NATHAN LANE NOT HAVING IT WITH THE GOAT IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TONY AWARDS #tonyawards
— kay 💀 (@bcimtrash) June 11, 2018
Nathan Lane declining to meet a goat is an iconic moment in Tony’s history
— abi is tired (@AbiSneathen) June 11, 2018
The look on Nathan Lane’s face just says “Please remove the goat I just won a Tony”
— Amy Elizabeth (@the8relover) June 11, 2018
Man with goat to Nathan Lane, “Want to pet this goat?”, Nathan Lane to man with goat, “Please go away” #TonyAwards #ThatGoatWasTonyDreamingToo 🐐
— Michael J Moritz Jr (@MichaelJMoritz) June 11, 2018
In other Tonys news, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child picked up Best Play, Scenic Design, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design, and Best Direction of a Play, making us incredibly keen to see the two-part show when it arrives for an exclusive season in Melbourne early next year.
And Robert De Niro, while introducing living legend Bruce Springsteen, was bleeped on the TV broadcast – but also nabbed a standing ovation – when he, according to reports from the room, said, “I just want to say one thing: fuck Trump. It’s no longer down with Trump. It’s fuck Trump.”
Meanwhile Andrew Garfield took out Best Leading Actor in a Play for Angels in America, dedicating the award to “the countless LGBTQ people who have fought and died to protect that spirit, to protect that message, for the right to live and love as we are created to“.
He described playing the role of Prior Walter as the “profound privilege” of his life, because of what the character represents: “the purest spirit of humanity and especially that of the LGBTQ community“: “We are all sacred and we all belong, so let’s just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked.”
The speech was widely praised as “powerful“.
We could end this story here, but for one last time, we must remind you of our friend Sparky:
Image source: Getty Images / Steven Ferdman.
