By Service or Practice

Tony Awards need to get beyond the street where they live

I’m a big fan of Broadway shows. So I should enjoy the Tony Awards show. And I do — last night’s show had particularly good performances from La Cage, Memphis and Million-Dollar Quartet. But something always bothers me about the Tonys. More than any of the other award ceremonies – the Oscar, the Emmy, the Grammy, even the MTV Awards  – the Tony is an “insider” occasion. The speeches of presenters and award winners both are laced with inside references, and even more with insider “emotions” — a frequent assumption that everyone listening to them understands their cultural references, and maybe even that those who don’t understand don’t count.

It’s easy to understand the homogeneous nature of the Broadway community. They work hard to get to the top — usually a lot harder than in the other popular entertainment forms — and the financial rewards and recognition generally don’t match movies, TV etc.

‘Family values’ triumph at Cannes

A Thai man dying of kidney failure is visited by his late wife and lost son in ghostly form (Uncle Boonmee Who Can recall His Past Lives.) Two Italian men struggle with the challenges of single fatherhood in La Nostra Vita (Our Life.) A man and a woman are either complete strangers or husband and wife — or both — in Certified Copy. These were three of the big winners at this year’s Cannes Festival, where the jury seemed to be taken by films with some kind of family theme.

In a sense, family themes were also popular at last year’s festival.  The winner of the 2009 Regards Jeunes prize went to Quebecer Xavier Dolan for J’ai tue ma mere (I Killed My Mother.) It isn’t a spoiler to tell you the lead character didn’t literally kill his mother.

Energy Company

Launched a message campaign that freed a global energy firm from unreliable foreign partners.

Car Company

Gave the legal team of a major automotive manufacturer the confidence to aggressively respond to the threat of antitrust action by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hoover Institution

Raised the Washington, D.C., profile of one of the world’s great centers of independent thinking.

CSX Transportation 2

Saved a client from a “death penalty verdict” by assembling a team of legal experts to expose the unreasonableness of a runaway jury. 

CSX Transportation 1

Secured the regulatory approval of a major railroad merger by working with customers to organize a grassroots campaign.

Northrop Grumman

Orchestrated a thought-leadership campaign that effectively countered a policy proposal to virtually eliminate America’s ICBM deterrent.

Verizon Communications

The White House Writers Group has consulted to the Washington and General Counsel’s offices at Verizon since 2001.

Mining Company

Crafted a satisfactory response to an EU inquiry for a global mining company that was in the crosshairs of a well-funded NGO attack.