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Tonight, The Tony Awards air on OMG DON'T RUN AWAY I KNOW YOU THINK YOU DON'T CARE BUT HANG ON A MINUTE.

Tonight at 8 (7 central), The 2009 Tony Awards air on CBS. Why is this of any interest to you unless you are a die-hard (mostly musical-) theater fan, you ask?

First of all, the evening's host is Neil Patrick Harris.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, PEOPLE.

For them as only know him from Dr. Horrible and/or How I Met Your Mother, NPH is a Broadway veteran (Cabaret, Proof, Assassins), and has performed in plays and musicals all over the country.

Second of all, the nominees are STUPID INSANE this year--Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini, Geoffrey Rush, and Raúl Esparza for best actor in a play, Hope Davis, Jane Fonda, Marcia Gay Harden, Janet McTeer, and Harriet Walter for best actress in a play, and it's C.J. Cregg versus Abby Bartlet when Alison Janney and Stockard Channing vie for best actress in a musical! Two more faves: John Glover is up for supporting actor in a drama, and Angela Lansbury for supporting actress.

Third of all, if you don't watch, you risk missing a performance like this one, because you never know what you might see in any given year.

This is from the 1989 musical adaptation of Grand Hotel. I'm not gonna get into the whole plot, because Jeezy Creezy it's involved, and a summary is unnecessary for this post. But lemme tell you about the two guys in the video below.

Berlin, 1928. Baron Felix Von Gaigern (quadruple-threat Brent Barrett) is young, handsome, dashing, and completely penniless. He has gotten himself into deep debt with people who don't take that lightly, and he sees a chance to pay them off when a wealthy ballerina checks into the hotel with a collection of expensive jewelry.

Otto Kringelein (the astounding Michael Jeter, whom you might recognize as Mr. Noodle from Sesame Street, or from his roles in The Green Mile, The Fisher King, or Evening Shade, among others) is a buttoned-down bookkeeper who, upon discovering that he is fatally ill, decides to truly live his last days by checking in to The Grand Hotel. When the hotel manager tries to toss him out of the "overbooked" hotel, Kringelein gets so upset that, in his weakened state, he passes out. The kind and sympathetic Baron uses his not-inconsiderable charm to get Kringelein a fine room, and a tuxedo for evening festivities at the hotel. The two men bond instantly. You can see where I'm going with this, I'm certain (PLEASE PLACE YOUR YULETIDE VOTES NOW).

In this number, "We'll Take a Glass," the Baron and Kringelein celebrate their new-found friendship.

LOOK AT HOW THESE MEN LOOK AT EACH OTHER. THAT RIGHT THERE IS PURE SHARED JOY AND DEEP LOVING WARMTH AND OTHER THINGS. THERE'S A LOT MORE HAND HOLDING GOING ON HERE THAN IS STRICTLY NECESSARY I TELL YOU WHAT.

For them as what can't see it, it's on YouTube here.

I mean Kringelein is all tipsy and happy--likely for the first time in his small, dreary life, and the Baron finds him sweet and endearing and has taken him under his wing, and right after this scene there are all these other scenes with other people so WHERE DO THEY GO AND WHAT DO THEY DO NEXT I PUT THIS ON THE TABLE FOR YOU TO PONDER.

Also, if you want to see one of the most succinct (40 seconds!) but heartfelt and lovely acceptance speeches in the history of the Tonys, Michael Jeter's moving words have become justly famous among theater types. (For non-Tony-watchers: the nominees don't wander about all night in costume; the supporting actor award was presented directly after "We'll Take A Glass" finished, so instead of changing and going back to his seat, he was stationed backstage in case he won. My educated guess is that they knew Jeter had it in the bag, and wanted the performance right there in front of people when he accepted.)

So there's that. Watch The Tony Awards. NPH says there's a chance he'll sing. ;)

ETA: NPH on Late Night with David Letterman, delivering the Top Ten Signs You've Hired a Bad Tony Awards Host.