The 78th Tony Awards, celebrating the best of Broadway, lit up Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night, capping an usually strong year for new musicals and plays. The three-hour ceremony, hosted for the first time by Hollywood and Broadway star Cynthia Erivo had a bit of everything: dazzling musical performances, moving speeches and an exhilarating reunion of the original company of “Hamilton.”
Here are the snubs, surprises and top moments from Broadway’s biggest night.
“Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo is the host with the most
Nearly a decade after she blasted onto the stage in 2016, winning a Tony for her Broadway debut in the most recent revival of “The Color Purple,” Erivo is back where she belongs. The “Wicked” star was a sensational first-time host of the Tonys — charming, self-effacing and armed with the just right amount of humour. Her opening number, written by Tony winners Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, played right to her strengths: her powerhouse vocals. She didn’t try to be a comedian, nor did she try to recreate those larger-than-life Tony opening numbers from the Neil Patrick Harris era. And that was for the best. She concluded the night with an equally roof-raising rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from “Dreamgirls,” with fresh lyrics recapping the major winners from the evening.
“Maybe Happy Ending” finds its way into the hearts of Tony voters
“Maybe Happy Ending” was this season’s little show that could. When the four-person musical opened on Broadway last fall, its prospects were grim. Despite receiving near universal critical acclaim, it struggled for weeks at the box office. And many expected that come awards season, the arthouse-style musical, which originated in South Korea, would be overshadowed by the far splashier productions opening later in the spring. But the show, a heart-rendering romantic comedy about a pair of humanoid robots in the near future, ended up dominating the Tonys, winning six awards, including best actor (Darren Criss), best score, best book, best director and the highly coveted best musical, beating out four other productions, including a musical adaptation of “Death Becomes Her” and “Buena Vista Social Club,” featuring music by the iconic Cuban ensemble of the same name.
Actors from the original Broadway company of “Hamilton” reunited for an electrifying performance to mark the musical’s 10-year anniversary. Led by past Tony winners Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr., the cast sung a mixtape mash-up of songs from the hit show. Truly, it was as if no time had passed. The actors still had every bit of that je ne sais quoi that catapulted them into the cultural zeitgeist all those years ago. It’s thrilling to reflect on how far some of them have come since “Hamilton.” Original ensemble member Ariana DeBose is now a Hollywood star, having won an Oscar for 2021’s “West Side Story.” Jonathan Groff, who originated the role of King George on Broadway, picked up his first Tony last season and was nominated for his fourth this year.
Sara Bareilles and Erivo delivered a deeply emotional performance for the “In Memoriam” segment, singing a duet of “Tomorrow” from “Annie.” Bareilles, an acclaimed American singer-songwriter, was not only the perfect choice for this year’s tribute, but really the only choice. Among the biggest losses for the Broadway community this past season was the death of Gavin Creel, the former Tony- and Olivier-winning actor who died from cancer in September at age 48. Creel and Bareilles were close friends, and co-starred in the most recent revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Other notable artists who were recognized in the segment included “Annie” composer Charles Strouse, Tony-winning actor Linda Lavin and EGOT winner James Earl Jones.
Screen stars have an uneven night
“Succession” actor Sarah Snook earned a Tony for her tour-de-force performance in “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” in which she plays 26 characters in this stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel. But other screen stars didn’t fare so well. George Clooney, who’s making his Broadway debut as journalist Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” walked away empty-handed. So did 18-time Emmy nominee Bob Odenkirk, from the revival of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Other A-list celebrities on Broadway this season, including Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal (both in the “Othello” revival), didn’t even earn a nomination.
The first performance of the evening, the cheeky number “For the Gaze” from “Death Becomes Her,” was one of the ceremony’s best. Featuring Tony nominee Megan Hilty, it was jam-packed with colourful costumes, quick changes and Hilty impersonating every gay icon — from Liza Minnelli to Judy Garland. Other standouts: Broadway legend Audra McDonald’s guttural and terrifying “Rose’s Turn” from “Gypsy,” and Nicole Scherzinger’s spine-tingling “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from the revival of “Sunset Blvd.,” in which she plays the fading screen star Norma Desmond. But other productions didn’t make the most of their stage time. The cast of the reimagined revival of “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” relocated to New Orleans, delivered a performance that could only be described as a weirdly flat head-scratcher (with costumes that look straight out of “Pirates of the Caribbean”). Best-musical winner “Maybe Happy Ending” was represented by an intimate number that simply could not fill the enormous Radio City Music Hall stage.
“Operation Mincemeat” is nearly shut out
“Operation Mincemeat,” an irreverent musical comedy about the Second World War deception mission of the same name, has been a gangbusters hit on the West End, picking up the Olivier Award for best musical last year. It’s widely considered the most acclaimed show in West End history, earning a slew of five-star notices from critics. But the show’s Broadway transfer this season, with its original cast, has been met with a surprisingly more muted response, from both audiences and critics. Though nominated for four Tonys, it ultimately won with just one. Jak Malone — who plays MI5 secretary Hester Leggatt among many other characters — won for best performance by a supporting actor in a musical, following up on his Olivier win.
Nicole Scherzinger topples a Broadway giant
This year’s award for best performance by a leading actress in a musical will likely go down as one of the most competitive in Tony history. The battle was between “Gypsy” star McDonald, a six-time Tony winner considered by many to be the greatest stage actor of all time, and Scherzinger, a former member of the Pussycat Dolls, whose mesmerizing Broadway debut in “Sunset Blvd.” shook up the Broadway season. McDonald had beaten Scherzinger for the Drama Desk Award, a precursor to the Tonys, earlier this month, but in the end, it was the newcomer who toppled the giant to win her first Tony.
“Purpose” comes out on top, beating “Oh, Mary!” and “English”
Another competitive category was the race for best play, which included two Pulitzer Prize winners — “English” by Sanaz Toossi and “Purpose” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins — up against Cole Escola’s gut-splitting, historical revisionist comedy “Oh, Mary!” In the run-up to the ceremony, there was no daylight between the three shows, but Tony voters ultimately broke in favour of “Purpose,” about members of a politically prominent Black family who must reckon with their legacies. The play took two Tonys on Sunday, including one for Kara Young, who won for best performance by a supporting actress. She’s been nominated in that category for four consecutive years, also winning last year for the revival of “Purlie Victorious.”
