The American Theatre Wing's 70th Annual Tony Awards, held at the Beacon Theatre and broadcast live on CBS, were hosted by James Corden. In light of the horrific events in Orlando earlier in the day, the show was dedicated to those affected by said events.
The cast of Hamilton opened the show in the best way possible: with a song about the night's host, James Corden in a spoof of their opening number. James Corden made a few jokes and then had his own musical number about his love of the theatre that did last for quite some time. It concluded with all of the musical acting nominees on stage with the message "this could be where you belong."
Hamilton was the night's biggest winner taking home 11 awards including Best Musical, Best Costumes, Lighting, Choreography to Andy Blankenbuehler, Orchestrations to Alex Lacamoire, Direction to Thomas Kail, Featured Actress in a Musical to Renee Elise Goldsberry, Featured Actor in a play to Daveed Diggs, Score and Book to Lin-Manuel Miranda whose his speech, in the form of a sonnet, was inspiring, and Leslie Odom Jr for Best Lead Actor. The Color Purple won best Revival of a Musical and Cynthia Erivo took home Best Leading Actress for her role in the show.
At the age of 62, Jayne Houdyshell won her first Tony Award for The Humans. The show also won Best Featured Actor for Reed Birney, Best Scenic Design of a Play for David Zinn and Best Play. Frank Langella won Best Lead Actor in a Play for The Father.
Arthur Miller's The View from the Bridge won Best Revival of a Play and Best Direction of a Play to Ivo van Hove. Lead Actress in a Play went to Jessica Lange for her role in Long Day's Journey Into Night. The show was also awarded best Lighting Design to Natasha Katz. David Rockwell took home the award for Scenic Design of a Play for She Loves Me.
Alex Brightman and the kids of School of Rock performed "You're in the Band." Those kids really do rock and they play those instruments live 8 times a week. The cast of Shuffle along showed off the exquisite tapping showcased in the show and made me realize I need to see it! The cast of She Loves Me performed a medley of "Ilona," "She Loves Me" and "Vanilla Ice Cream." James Corden showed a priceless video of Josh Groban in his high school production of The Fiddler on the Roof followed by the cast of Fiddler on the Roof sang "Sunrise, Sunset" followed by an excellent dance number!
Steve Martin, Edie Brickell introduced the cast of Bright Star performing "If You Knew My Story." Cynthia Erivo and the cast of The Color Purple sang a medley of "Mysterious Ways" and "I'm Here." The cast of On Your Feet performed a medley from the show with Gloria Estefan. Deaf West's Spring Awakening Broadway cast performed a medley of "Momma Who Bore Me," "Bitch of Living". The company of Hamilton sang "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)." The cast of Waitress sang "Opening Up" then Sara Bareilles started "She Used to be Mine" and Jessie Mueller finished it once she changed costumes. Bebe Neuwirth performed a tribute to Chicago for its twentieth anniversary. The cast of Hamilton closed the show, after winning Best Musical, with "The Schuyler Sisters."
Throughout the night, some of the nominees performed bumpers outside during the broadcast. The first performance was Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sara Bareilles, Edie Brickell, Steve Martin and Lin-Manuel Miranda singing "Tomorrow" from Annie, with ALW on tambourine. Other performances included: the cast of Shuffle Along sang "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" from Guys and Dolls, Alex Brightman and the kids of School of Rock singing "The Phantom of the Opera," the cast of Fiddler on the Roof singing "No Business Like Show Business" from Annie Get Your Gun, the cast of She Loves Me performed "Cabaret" and the cast of Hamilton singing "No Day But Today."
A full list of tonight's winners can be found here.
