Catch Up Dance Party: Call Me Daddy

I've fallen a bit behind on the weekly Dance Parties lately, and here is the perfect opportunity to play a little catch up.  It's been an active week, with three happy occasions all worth celebration.

Last year, NPH picked up double Emmys,
including one for hosting the Tonys. Look
for him to repeat that win next year.

Of course, tomorrow is Fathers Day (is there an apostrophe needed there?  If so, where does it go?  Is it ONE father's day, ie: your own, or is it ALL fathers' day?  Grammar and punctuation used to be so easy...).  In honor of that hallowed day when we honor our paters, I'd love to post a clip of my own father singing a little dittie.  There are a couple of problems with that, but the biggest one is, I don't have such a clip.  Sorry, Dad.

Ah, if only I had picked up my video camera on this particular Christmas.  My father has always displayed an attraction to the ukulele;  I can recall receiving one of the small ones in my childhood.  I never had the patience to learn to play the thing, but Dear Ol' Dad never forgot how to strum a few chords and warble a tune or two.  It would be the perfect Dance Party clip, if it existed.

But we do have another father to celebrate, and by coincidence, it is also his 40th birthday today.  And as if that weren't enough, our Dad Of The Week is celebrating yet another stellar hosting job on the annual Tony Awards. 

In a tribute to last year's Best Musical, Once, Harris began his opening number small and acoustic. But that didn't last long. NPH makes regular appearances in these pages, including this rundown of his various award appearances, this discussion of the 2011 Tonys,, this clip of his appearance in Company, and this one of his appearance in Sweeney Todd.  Oh, and for good measure, Harris appeared in this clip from the ill-fated Broadway production of Assassins. Do you think this is overkill?

Yes, my secret best friend Neil Patrick Harris (NPH to his posse) has once again proven that he is his generation's best (and possibly only) true song-and-dance man.  Last Sunday, he continued his tradition of topping himself as the best Award Show Host in the business.  CBS surely thinks so, as he has already been tapped to host the Emmys this year as well.

In this hilarious sequence, NPH explains the joys of theatre to three Broadway stars who left the stage for the glories of television.  Laura Benanti was a supporting player on the Matthew Perry sitcom Go On, which was paired by NBC with Andrew Rennells's sitcom The New Normal.  Both were cancelled after one season.  Megan Hilty was a highlight of Smash, which barely survived into a second season before crashing and burning.  NPH, on the other hand, will complete his 9th season in the ensemble of How I Met Your Mother.

As most people know, NPH is in a long time relationship with David Burtka;  the two announced their engagement quite a while ago, but have yet to legally tie the knot. 

Harris is on the phone, while Burtka handles
the kids. This dynamic is about to change.
All Manhattan is abuzz with anticipation:
The family is moving to NYC
to allow Burtka to resume his theatrical
career.

Perhaps their parenthood got in the way, as they are now raising a set of twins which they conceived via a surrogate.  So this weekend, let's celebrate our hero's birthday, his fatherhood, and his Tony triumph all at once.

How much fun must it be to have Neil Patrick Harris as a dad?

Naturally, we turn to the Tony Awards themselves for this special Dance Party.  For the first time in my memory, I watched the ceremony with others.  My best bud Judy was visiting my New York Branch, and we had a small chip-and-dip and chocolate-chip get-together, attended by our old college friend, Greg. 

The awards were great fun this year, as we had seen some of the contenders. 

Pippin is one of Judy's favorite musicals. I
wrote about seeing it here; we were thrilled
when it won the Tony.

And our hero provided several numbers from which to choose this special Dance Party.  But there can really be only one choice:  Harris's opening number, which, in addition to celebrating all of Broadway also paid tribute to the Tonys returning to the vast Radio City Music Hall, will win NPH his next Emmy Award.  It is the first time I can recall that an opening number received a standing ovation.  Happy Birthday, Happy Fathers Day, and Congratulations on your Tony performance, NPH!