Cheers for the star, too, a major comic performer, according to the critics. Lines formed at the box office every day. There wasn't a ticket to be had for months and months. And when Tony Award time came around, it received a record number of prizes. Nothing is better than sitting under blue Kansas sky while listening to one of America's best musical artforms played by skilled jazz musicians.
Jazz is all-American.
The improvisational nature of the music is a reflection of our democracy as we reinvent ourselves moment to moment. The 2000 Tony Awards show on CBS was the lowest rated ever, with an audience of 8.5 million, down from the 13 million who watched the Tonys in 1997, the first year O'Donnell took over as host of the theater's premier awards ceremony. This year, things are a little different. The creation of artist David Rogers, the Big Bug sculptures are there through Aug. 19 to fascinate and entertain, not nibble and gnaw. An 18-foot praying mantis created from black locust wood greets visitors to the botanical garden's Visitor Center.