The Tony Awards celebrate the strongest Broadway season in recent memory

From Oh, Mary! to Sunset Boulevard, the Tonys largely focused on turning first-time nominees into first-time winners.

The Tony Awards celebrate the strongest Broadway season in recent memory

Broadway is back and better than ever. That seemed to be the main message from last night’s Tony Award ceremony, capping off one of the strongest Broadway seasons in recent memory, and certainly the strongest since the 2020 lockdowns closed Broadway for over a year. The recovery was slow and took years, but it finally feels safe to say that the theaters have recovered. As host Cynthia Erivo said during the ceremony, this was the highest-grossing season in Broadway history. 

Some of that financial success can certainly be attributed to the A-list Hollywood talent who came to Broadway this season and drove up ticket prices. (The Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal-starring Othello was perhaps this season’s worst offender, with ticket prices reaching almost $1000. The production didn’t receive any Tony nominations.) But the season’s breakout hits were more often original works by artists who have been grinding it out for years. Oh, Mary! is arguably the season’s biggest success story, opening in early 2024 off-Broadway and becoming not only the first show of the season to recoup its investment, but the rare Broadway show that attracts major fandom outside of New York. The expectation that Cole Escola would win Best Actor for their performance didn’t dull the room’s excitement or pride as they literally ran up to the stage, dressed as Bernadette Peters, to accept their first Tony. Though it didn’t win Best Play (that went to this year’s Pulitzer-winning Purpose), watching both Escola and director Sam Pinkleton get their moments on stage was thrilling. As Pinkleton accepted the award, he thanked Escola for teaching him to “do what you love, not what you think people want to see.” 

All four of the night’s big acting awards were handed to not just first-time winners, but first-time nominees. Darren Criss, an actor who seemed destined for a Tony since his Glee days, won Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Maybe Happy Ending, and was also honored as a producer when the show won Best Musical. Sarah Snook’s win for Best Actress in a Play felt pretty in-the-bag going into the night (her performance in The Picture Of Dorian Gray was crazy in a great way) but the award for Best Actress in a Musical was always going to be a tossup between Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard and Audra McDonald in Gypsy. McDonald is the performer with the most Tony Awards in history, playing the role that has netted its stars three Tonys since its inception in 1959. Her performance of “Rose’s Turn” on the Tony stage was hair-raising and startling, but the award ultimately went to Scherzinger. The former Pussycat Doll has been establishing her theater bona fides for years, and her performance in Sunset Boulevard was another talk of New York before the show had even transferred from London. It was certainly the category to watch this year, but one that would have resulted in a deserved win no matter what. 

Other highlights from the show included a very energetic reunion from the original cast of Hamilton, which celebrates the ten-year anniversary of its Broadway debut this year, and a performance of Death Becomes Her‘s very fun opening number “For The Gaze.” Another highlight: the telecast only went over its allotted three hours by about ten minutes! Take note, Grammys.

You can check out the full list of winners below.


Best Musical

Maybe Happy Ending

Buena Vista Social Club

Dead Outlaw

Death Becomes Her

Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical

Best Play

Purpose

English

The Hills of California

John Proctor is the Villain

Oh, Mary!

Best Revival of a Musical

Sunset Blvd.

Floyd Collins

Gypsy

Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Best Revival of a Play

Eureka Day

Romeo + Juliet

Thornton Wilder’s Our Town

Yellow Face

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.

Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her

Audra McDonald, Gypsy

Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical

Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending

Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw

Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.

Jonathan Groff, Just in Time

James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical

Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California

Mia Farrow, The Roommate

LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose

Sadie Sink, John Proctor is the Villain

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!

George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck

Jon Michael Hill, Purpose

Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face

Harry Lennix, Purpose

Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash

Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw

Danny Burstein, Gypsy

Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club

Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw

Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time

Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical

Joy Woods, Gypsy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Francis Jue, Yellow Face

Glenn Davis, Purpose

Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor is the Villain

Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross

Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Kara Young, Purpose

Tala Ashe, English

Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day

Marjan Neshat, English

Fina Strazza, John Proctor is the Villain

Best Book of a Musical

Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson and Hue Park

Buena Vista Social Club, Marco Ramirez

Dead Outlaw, Itamar Moses

Death Becomes Her, Marco Pennette

Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Maybe Happy Ending, Music: Will Aronson; Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park

Dead Outlaw, Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna

Death Becomes Her, Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey

Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Music & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts

Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, Music & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Marsha Ginsberg, English

Rob Howell, The Hills of California

Marg Horwell and David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Scott Pask, Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending

Rachel Hauck, Swept Away

Arnulfo Maldonado, Buena Vista Social Club

Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her

Derek McLane, Just in Time

Best Costume Design of a Play

Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good Luck

Rob Howell, The Hills of California

Holly Pierson, Oh, Mary!

Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her

Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club

Gregg Barnes, Boop! The Musical

Clint Ramos, Maybe Happy Ending

Catherine Zuber, Just in Time

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California

Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, Good Night, and Good Luck

Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, John Proctor is the Villain

Nick Schlieper, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.

Tyler Micoleau, Buena Vista Social Club

Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, Floyd Collins

Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending

Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her

Best Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Palmer Hefferan, John Proctor is the Villain

Daniel Kluger, Good Night, and Good Luck

Nick Powell, The Hills of California

Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club

Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.

Peter Hylenski, Just in Time

Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending

Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins

Best Direction of a Play

Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!

Knud Adams, English

Sam Mendes, The Hills of California

Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain

Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending

Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club

David Cromer, Dead Outlaw

Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her

Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.

Best Choreography

Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club

Joshua Bergasse, Smash

Camille A. Brown, Gypsy

Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her

Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical

Best Orchestrations

Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club

Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time

Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending

Bruce Coughlin, Floyd Collins

David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Blvd.

 
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