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The Tony Awards show used to be a grand, serious affair. These days, it ain’t the Tonys without Chris Rock popping off a hooker joke, Brooke Shields dropping an S-bomb, or Neil Patrick Harris singing about how theater “isn’t just for gays anymore.”
It’s doubtful you’ll see such colorful events at the 21st Annual ariZoni Awards, which honors actors and behind-the-scenes contributors to Phoenix-area professional and amateur productions. That’s not to say the event will be a snooze. Local troupes will perform upbeat numbers from The Producers and Pirates of Penzance, and the hosts will likely have a few offbeat jokes in reserve thanks to ceremony director D. Scott Withers, who recently took a cross-dressing turn as big-haired mama Edna Turnblad in Phoenix Theatre’s Hairspray.
The curtain goes up at 5:30 p.m. for the youth awards and 8 p.m. for adults on Monday, September 19, at Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 West Rio Salado Parkway.
Mon., Sept. 19, 5:30 & 8 p.m., 2011
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