Knoch grad plays in 'Hair' on Broadway
Gloria and Jack Hollock's son Anthony thought he would have only two tickets to the Tony Awards on June 7 so he asked his mother to be his date.
Anthony Hollock, a Knoch High School graduate, plays the top-hatted member of the tribe in the Broadway cast of "Hair," which was nominated for eight awards.
Then a couple weeks before the awards show, Anthony and the rest of the cast of the musical found out the actors themselves wouldn't need a ticket. So Anthony's mother and father got to be in the audience at Radio City Music Hall last Sunday when their 25-year-old son's show won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. The show was up against classics such as "West Side Story" and "Guys and Dolls."
Days later, the Penn Township couple is still recovering from their experiences in New York City.
During their seven-day trip, they saw stage shows, did a little shopping and partied with the stars.
They saw three shows: "9 to 5: The Musical," "Blythe Spirit" with Angela Lansbury, who won a Tony for her performance, and, of course, "Hair."
"At one point in the show, Anthony goes through the audience and hands out daisies," Gloria said. "Well he came out in the audience when we were at the show and came over to us and just split the daisies in two and gave us each half. It was really nice."
Most of the male members of the cast of "Hair," including Anthony, wore kilts to the Tony Awards.
"They want to be different, outside the establishment, like in the show," his mother said.
Anthony didn't have to go shopping for a kilt. He wore one he had gotten at a thrift store in Pittsburgh a couple years ago, she said.
Mom and dad, though, got dressed up to the nines. Gloria donned a fancy gown in a "bronzy color" from Macy's, she said. The elegant attire featured some beading on top, and she paired it with pretty jewelry.
"But I made sure I wore comfortable shoes," she noted.
Jack rented a tuxedo for the occasion, coordinating the vest with Gloria's dress.
"Yes, we had little prom thing going," Gloria said.
After arriving at their son's apartment June 4, they spent June 5 walking on Eighth Avenue, Gloria said.
"We found a nice pair of dress shoes for Jack, so he didn't have to wear those shiny black patent rental kind," she said.
The awards ceremony was a show in itself, Gloria said.
"During commercials, they still would entertain you," she said. "There were things about new shows coming out, an Elvis impersonator and Neil Patrick Harris (who hosted) did a couple magic tricks.
"If you were watching it on TV, you would see a group singing and then they would go to commercial, but at the theater, the group would go on with the number and do more of the song."
But the cherry on top of the evening's cake was yet to come.
The final award announced would be the one for Best Revival of a Musical. The cast of "Hair," scheduled to perform on stage just beforehand, sang and danced its way through the show's title number and then waited offstage to hear the news. As the show's management accepted the Tony, Anthony was front and center the entire time.At the after-party at the well-known Tavern on the Green in New York, the Hollocks rubbed shoulders with stage and screen actors.Kristin Chenoweth, consummate singer and co-star of the Broadway sensation "Wicked" musical, was "even nicer than she seems," Jack Hollock said.The Hollocks also talked with TV veteran John Stamos, whose shows include "Full House" and "ER," and snapped a photograph with him. Stamos, also a Broadway veteran, had presented an award at the Tonys."I told him we've been watching him on TV for so long we feel like we've followed his career, and like a mom I said, 'We're proud of you,'" Gloria said."You know what. He turned to us later and said that he really appreciated what we had said and that he didn't take it lightly."The Hollocks themselves enjoyed kudos from the producers and directors their son works with."They said, 'Thank you for letting this boy come to New York City,'" Gloria said.There was really never any doubt that's where Anthony would migrate."He just loves it and you can tell the joy he has in acting when you watch him on stage," his mother said.Though parents might worry about the acting lifestyle for their child, the Hollocks learned long ago to accept their son's love of theater."After he was in 'Mame' at Knoch High School (playing young Patrick), I thought, 'You know, I think he really likes this,'" his father said.
