For some actors, the first time’s the charm.
Maleah Joi Moon won Best Actress in a Musical at the 77th Tony Awards®, joining 100 other actors who took home a Tony® for their first Broadway role.
Maleah, who starred in Hell’s Kitchen, is in excellent company as a debut winner. Others who won Tonys® for their first Broadway performances include Liza Minelli, Al Pacino, Harvey Fierstein, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Matthew Broderick and Robert Alda.
The number 101 should hold special significance for Maleah. It’s significant to others for a variety of reasons.
It will be assumed here that the first response to a mention of 101 is “Dalmatians!” If it’s not, why isn’t it? They’re adorable! Disney’s 101 Dalmatians continues charming and emotionally scarring each new generation with its winning combination of cuddly puppy cuteness and Cruela DeVil’s blood-chilling, puppy-murdering savagery.
What was with her? Maybe her moon wasn’t in its seventh house or something. Adherents of astrology consider 101 an angel number, a sequence of numbers that can be used as a guide for spiritual exploration. The number 101 is thought to be a sign to listen to your heart and follow your emotions. Probably the last thing you’d want to tell Cruela.
Astrology is the sort of alternative spiritual practice that some non-Californians often ascribe to Californians. However, the number 101 is significant in the Golden State for something that’s as solid as the road beneath your wheels, because it IS the road beneath your wheels.
U.S. 101 stretches from Los Angeles all the way to just outside Olympia, Wash., 1,500-plus miles that takes you parallel to the Pacific Ocean, through charming seaside locales, north through forests dense with ancient, majestic Redwood trees.
Country quartet Highway 101 took its name from the famous road. The group scored four No. 1s on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in the late 1980s.
The number has more ominous implications in George Orwell’s 1984. In the novel, Room 101 is where citizens are tortured into pledging themselves to the state.
That reference is not where 1970s rockers the 101ers took their name. The London foursome took that name from the address of property on which they were squatting, 101 Walterton Road. The band released only one single in its lifespan, 1976’s “Keys to Your Heart” and is best remembered as singer Joe Strummer’s band before he joined The Clash.
In education, 101 is synonymous with courses the titles of which begin with “Introduction to ….” These classes can provide freshmen a foundation from which to begin a field of study. They can also help seniors graduate on schedule when they miscalculate their credit hours and need an easy B-. True story.
Finally, 101 is, well, it’s one better, isn’t it? Just as the volume knobs on the mighty amplifiers of Spın̈al Tap went past 10 to 11, 101 bests the more familiar standard 100.
Sure 100 gets all the glory, what with centennials and 100% and all. But if 100 is the maximum percentage, 101 is still one more than 100 and therefore – because might makes right and quantity IS quality – one better than 100.
One-oh-one. Don’t settle for less.