The 77th Annual Tony Awards marked the first wins for Stereophonics, Merrily We Roll Along and The Outsiders, as well as actors Jeremy Strong and Daniel Radcliffe’s productions.
The most nominated play games in Tony history with 13 awards, Stereophonics received five awards, including Best Possible Play Game. It tells the story of a British-American rock band of the seventies who wants to make a copy.
Playwright David Adjmi tells how it took him 11 years to achieve this degree. “It’s really hard to have a career in the arts, we need to fund the arts in America,” he said of the degree. Gloria Oladipo of The Parent called it “a winning example of what happens when art is given time to evolve” in a five-star rating.
The revival of Stephen Sondheim’s one-time flop musical Merrily We Roll Alongside won 4 awards. The show, which initially took off quickly and then closed in 1981, received a musical revival, with Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff winning awards for their performances in the second half.
Radcliffe thanked his parents for allowing him to enjoy Sondheim in the car, and paid tribute to his cast and crew, calling the play “the best experience of my life”. “I’ll never get it this good again,” he said.
Groff, who has been nominated twice before, said in an emotional tone that “musical theater is still saving my soul” and paid tribute to her parents for allowing her to be herself.
The Outsiders, produced by SE Hinton’s magazine and produced by Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, was awarded Best Musical and received three other awards. Danya Taymor, niece of famed director Julie Taymor, received the award for best possible route at a time when almost all of the directing nominees were girls.
Emmy-winning Succession superstar Jeremy Robest won the top actor in a game award for his performance in An Enemy of the Community, winning against Liev Schreiber and William Jackson Harper. He called Henrik Ibsen’s cautionary environmental play The Game “a cry from the heart” about “the hard truths that are staring us in the face right now”.
Hell’s Kitchen, based on the occasion by Alicia Keys and which includes her song, won two awards for actors Maleeha Joi Moon and Keshia Lewis. Keys also performed Empire’s Climate of Minds on Jay-Z’s stage.
The dark comedy crowd drama deservedly won the award for best potential revival of Play Games, and Sarah Paulson took home the best actress award at the top ceremony, beating out Jessica Lange and Rachel McAdams. He thanked playwright Brandon Jacobs Jenkins for giving him a personality that “hoped to be seen” and noted that theater is a remarkable way to learn how to be human. This also benefited the design of the game’s lighting equipment.
Host Ariana DeBose paid tribute to the “ambitious Broadway season” with 36 unused productions. “Obviously the headlines are scary most of the time but theater is a safe place for all of us,” she said. She then created a humorous story about her viral Bafta rap to Terminating Presence and claimed she was writing three hours of music to go along with it.
The evening was once filled with A-listers who have been at the helm this season, with Oscar winner Jolie, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson and Hillary Clinton among others. Clinton, who won a standing ovation, spoke about the usefulness of voting, from her composition to the music of the suffragette musical Suffrage.
Led by Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald and Bebe Neuwirth, there was also a special tribute to Chita Rivera, who died in January at the age of 91. “The air lit up when she went on stage,” said Neuwirth, with McDonald describing her as one of the “quintessential” voices on Broadway.
Nominated productions that came up empty-handed included The Pocket Book, Mary Jane, Days of Wine and Roses, Lempicka and Mom Plays Games.
The 2023 ceremony leveled the playing field during writers’ conflicts, which meant DeBose, who also hosted the finale, was left without a script for the night. Big winners to end the preseason included Tom Stoppard’s crowd drama Leopoldstadt and Jodie Comer.
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