The American Theatre Wing's 69th Annual Tony Awards, held at Radio City Music hall and broadcast live on CBS, were hosted by On the Twentieth Century star Kristin Cheonweth and The Emcee himself, Alan Cumming. These two phenoms brought not only wit and humor to their hosting, but also an amazing chemistry within their banter. This year was also the first year the awards hosted a live-stream of the Red Carpet which was hosted by Laura Osnes, Darren Criss and Sierra Boggess. They were fantastic Red Carpet hosts, and here's hoping they host many more Red Carpet events in the future!
Every year, the Tony nominees seem to be somehow more impressive than in previous years. This year's nominees are exceptional! Broadway legend (even though she doesn't want to be quantified as a legend) Chita Rivera returned to Broadway at the age of 82 in Kander and Ebb's The Visit, An American in Paris is the perfect combination of ballet and musical theatre that tells a beautiful love story, Fun Home has taken what is possible on the contemporary Broadway stage to a new level with a powerful story told by incredibly talented leading ladies, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime brought to life what it is like to experience the world on the Autism spectrum, and anyone who has seen Something Rotten! and Hand to God can attest to the quality and compelling nature they bring to the stage. There are so many amazing shows and everyone in the industry has been scrambling to see them all!
Kristin and Alan's opening monologue involved Alan as The Emcee, talk of Wicked, and Dame Helen Mirren. Something Rotten! was the first performance of the night with an excellent performance of "A Musical!" Immediately following the performance Tony nominee Bradley Cooper awarded Best Actress in a Play to Dame Helen Mirren for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. Anna Chlumsky and Debra Messing awarded Best Actor to Richard McCabe for his role as British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in The Audience.
Kelli O'Hara, Ken Watanabe and Ruthie Ann Miles lead the company of The King and I in a brilliant medley of songs from the show. Followed by Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth reenacting the performance, at least in terms of attire. Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale presented the award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical to Christian Borle for his role in Something Rotten!. Jim Parsons and Taylor Schilling presented the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play to Annaleigh Ashford for her role in You Can't Take it With You.
The cast of On the Town performed a medley which highlighted the spectacular dance numbers from the show. Alan and Kristin led a performance in honor of Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and 10 time Tony winner, Tommy Tune. Tommy Tune then announced the award for Best Direction of a Musical to Sam Gold for Fun Home. The company of Gigi performed "The Night They Invented Champagne" from the show.
Sydney Lucas stole the whole show with an incredible performance of "Ring of Keys!" If that didn't convince you that you need to see Fun Home, I don't know what will. The company of Am American in Paris performed a wonderful song and dance medley from the show; the choreography in that show is spectacular!
Corey Stoll and Sutton Foster presented the award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical to Ruthie Ann Miles for her Broadway debut in The King and I. Kristin Chenoweth led the company of On the Twentieth Century in a medley from the show.
The incomparable Chita Rivera led the company of The Visit in a performance "Love and Love Alone" and "I Would Never Leave You." Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski presented the award for Best Revival of a Play to Skylight. The cast of Finding Neverland took to the stage to sing "Stronger." Harry Conick Jr. presented the award for Best Revival of a Musical to The King and I.
Lisa Howard sang "Jenny's Blues" from It Shoulda Been You. Judith Light presented Alex Sharp, who gave a moving acceptance speech, with the Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
Josh Groban sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the In Memoriam and he was joined by the casts of all of the season's new musicals on Broadway to finish out the song. This moment made history as the largest amount of performer's on the Tony's stage at one time. Bernadette Peters presented the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical to Michael Cerveris for Fun Home. Neil Patrick Harris presented the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical to Kelli O'Hara for her role in The King and I with her first win in the category and her 6th nomination.
Fun Home took home the top award of the night presented by Larry David and Jason Alexander!
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| Credit: Fun Home Twitter |
A full list of tonight's winners can be found here.
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