Possibly Completely satisfied Ending, a musical about two robots falling in love, was the large winner on the Tony Awards Sunday, because the ceremony additionally awarded numerous firsts.
The musical took dwelling the highest prize of finest musical, with Darren Criss successful his first Tony Award for main the present, in addition to 4 different Tonys, together with finest director of a musical. Nicole Scherzinger received her first Tony Award for her function as Norma Desmond in Sundown Blvd. in probably the most hotly contested classes, beating out six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald.
“Rising up, I at all times felt like I didn’t belong. However you all have made me really feel like I belong, and I’ve come dwelling, finally,” Scherzinger stated throughout her emotional acceptance speech.
Sundown Blvd. additionally received the Tony for finest revival of a musical, for Jamie Lloyd’s stripped-down reinterpretation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber traditional.
Lots of the races have been significantly shut this yr, together with finest play, with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ household drama Goal taking dwelling the trophy over Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! and John Proctor Is the Villain, starring Sadie Sink.
However Cole Escola received the Tony Award for finest finest efficiency by an actor in a number one function in a play, and the play’s director Sam Pinkleton additionally took dwelling a Tony.
Operating to the stage in an outfit that paid homage to Bernadette Peters, Escola, who portrays Mary Todd Lincoln as a wannabe cabaret star, thanked the opposite nominees that they had beat out within the class, together with George Clooney.
“It’s an honor to be in your organization. And greater than that, it’s been a honest pleasure spending time with you over these heat salads in any respect these luncheons,” Escola stated.
In a star stuffed season, Sarah Snook received the Tony for finest efficiency by an actress in a number one function in a play for one-woman manufacturing of The Image of Dorian Grey, during which she performs all 26 roles. The Succession star made her Broadway debut with the function, after performing the function within the West Finish.
“This implies a lot for somewhat Australian lady to be right here on Broadway,” Snook stated. “It’s billed as a one-person present, and I don’t really feel alone any evening that I do that present.”
Eureka Day, a darkish comedy about vaccinations, took dwelling the Tony for finest revival of a play.
Kara Younger additionally made historical past as the primary Black performer to win two Tonys in a row, successful finest featured actress in a play for her function as Aziza, a wayward buddy thrown into the household drama of the Pulitzer-prize successful play Goal. She has additionally been nominated 4 years in a row.
Natalia Venetia Belcon received finest featured actress in a musical for her function as famed singer Omara Portuondo in Buena Vista Social Membership, marking considered one of 4 wins the present, which was additionally up for finest musical, took dwelling.
Cynthia Erivo, who was this yr’s host, opened the ceremony with a backstage homage to Sundown Blvd., main right into a sung gospel quantity alongside the Broadway Inspirational Voices choir. Erivo, who received a Tony Award in 2016 for her function as Celie in A Shade Purple, then took turns poking enjoyable on the nominees within the viewers, together with Clooney, who she talked about as a first-time nominee who was going locations, after which herself.
“As they apparently say in a really fertile piece of mental property: ‘There’s no place like dwelling.’ And Broadway has at all times been mine,” Erivo stated.
Erivo later greeted Oprah Winfrey within the viewers and advised her to look below her chair, below which she had positioned a present bag and objects together with sweet and a mannequin automobile. “You get a automobile,” she quipped. Winners who went too lengthy of their speeches have been performed off by Erivo’s singing.
Different starry names on Broadway, together with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, starring in Othello, and Kieran Culkin in Glengarry Glen Ross, weren’t nominated for Tony Awards and weren’t a part of the ceremony.
Bryan Cranston, Allison Janney, Glenn Shut, Jesse Eisenberg, Sara Bareilles, Jean Good and Sarah Paulson have been among the many Tony Awards presenters.
Jak Malone received a Tony Award for finest actor in a featured function in a musical for his roles in Operation Mincemeat, which features a feminine secretary named Hester, a feat he accomplishes solely with “easy changes to posture, voice and vitality.” He was considered one of a number of nominees to trace on the present political atmosphere in his speech.
“Should you watched our present and located your self believing Hester, then I’m so glad to let you know that deliberately or in any other case, you may need simply bid farewell to cynicism, to outdated concepts about that outdated binary and opened your self as much as a world that’s already up there in superb technical and isn’t going away any time quickly,” Malone stated in his acceptance speech.
Michael Arden, who received a Tony for his course of Possibly Completely satisfied Ending, additionally pointed to how “dwell theater confirms that irrespective of how completely different we could also be from each other, we’re all related” and referred to as on viewers to “Assist the humanities. Assist artists. We’d like you now greater than ever.”
The published featured musical performances by Loss of life Turns into Her, Buena Vista Social Membership, Simply In Time, Sundown Blvd, Pirates! The Penzance, Possibly Completely satisfied Ending, Useless Outlaw, Flloyd Collins, Operation Mincemeat, Gypsy, Actual Ladies Have Curves and a reunion of the unique Hamilton forged, together with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr and Ariana DeBose and Jonathan Groff doing double obligation performing with them and with Simply In Time.
Within the first half of the Tonys telecast, Stranger Issues: The First Shadow largely swept the artistic awards, taking dwelling three design awards, whereas Possibly Completely satisfied Ending picked up two large musical awards, with writers Will Aronson and Hue Park successful finest guide of a musical and finest unique rating.
Paul Tazewell received a Tony for finest costume design of a musical for his designs on Loss of life Turns into Her, within the musical’s solely win, after successful an Oscar for his costume designs on Depraved earlier this yr.
Tony Award-winning actor Celia Keenan-Bolger obtained the Isabelle Stevenson Award for her advocacy work, together with LGBTQ+ activism, and promoted Gavin Creel Fellowship, named after her late buddy and beloved Broadway actor, which can present $25,000 grants to 5 rising theater actors yearly.
Harvey Fierstein, a four-time Tony Award winner, obtained the lifetime achievement in theater award, for his work together with Torch Track Trilogy, the 1982 play he wrote and starred in, which broke floor for its portrayal of homosexual tradition, in addition to writing the guide for La Cage Aux Folles, Kinky Boots, Newsies and extra. He obtained a standing ovation as he walked up and teared up earlier than saying, “Don’t make Mommy cry.”
“What I discover most humbling is the thought that someway my journey means one thing to you,” Fierstein stated.