Friday, June 16, 2006
Loose Lips: Christian Hoff recalls his winning Tony night for TheaterMania.com
OH, WHAT A NIGHT
By: Brian Scott Lipton
If there was an award for Most Dramatic Moment on the Tony Awards, it would go to Christian Hoff's win as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Jersey Boys. (The show itself also took home the Best Musical trophy.) "It was a great surprise," says Hoff. "We had just performed and they got me back to my seat just in time for the announcement of my category. In fact, I didn't even know the real Four Seasons had been on stage to introduce us since I wasn't watching the monitor; I thought it was just Joe Pesci, like at the dress rehearsal." After the show, he met up with his real-life counterpart Tommy DeVito. "He said all that he wanted all night was for me to win, and his daughter told me she's so grateful we've re-introduced the world to her father and their music."
Adding icing to the cake was that the award was presented by former Tony winner Christine Ebersole. "She came and saw the show about a week beforehand, and we visited for 20 minutes afterwards and she was in tears the whole time," he says. "The fact that I could move a colleague, especially one I so trust and respect, was a win for me right there." Hoff adds that the reaction of audiences this week have been a little different than pre-June 11. "My first entrance is a little more charged than before," he admits.
Hoff is contracted with the show through October and is weighing all his options. "I think about staying on every day. It's a great role, but there is some interest in me doing other work on Broadway or in film." And does Hoff have a role he'd really like to play? "I'd love to do Richard III. That's always been a dream of mine."
# posted by Jann Hoff @ 3:28 PM 
