The 71st Annual Tony Awards were held on June 11th at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Kevin Spacey. Here is a recap of the night! Kevin Spacey, as most hosts typically do, spoofed some of the musical nominees of the night, which were Dear Evan Hansen, Groundhog Day, Come from Away, and The Great Comet. Most of the opening number was centered around Dear Evan Hansen, as Spacey was dressed as the lead character, Evan Hansen, and the opening song was a spoof of the song “You Will Be Found” From Dear Evan Hansen. Watch it here.
Best Featured Actor in a Play
Michael Aronov – Oslo
The first musical performance of the night came from one of the Best Musical nominees, Come from Away. The cast performed their opening number “Welcome to the Rock”. Watch their performance here.
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Gavin Creel – Hello, Dolly
Best Featured Actress in a Play
Cynthia Nixon – The Little Foxes
The revival of Miss Siagon, which was nominated for Best Musical Revival, performed second, with a melody of songs from the musical. Watch their performance here. The next musical nominee to perform was another revival, Falsettos. The cast of this production, which included Andrew Rannells, performed “A Day in Falsettoland”. Watch their performance here. At the halfway point of the night, the fourth musical was showcased. The cast of Dear Evan Hansen performed the ever popular “Waving Through a Window”, led by Best Actor in a Musical nominee Ben Platt. Watch their performance here.
Lifetime Achievement Award in Theatre
James Earl Jones
Best Actor in a Play
Kevin Kline – Present Laughter
The fifth musical performance of the night came from Best Musical nominee Groundhog Day. This is of course the musical version of the movie starring Bill Murray, but this rendition of it starred Broadway vet and Best Actor nominee, Andy Karl. The cast performed the song “Seeing You”, which comes at the end of the musical. Watch their performance here. The following performance was a little different from the previous five. This one was a solo performance from the Broadway Revival Hello, Dolly. The song “Penny in my Pocket” was performed by David Hyde Pierce, watch the performance here.
Best Actress in a Play
Laurie Metcalf – Doll’s House Pt. 2
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Rachel Bay Jones – Dear Evan Hansen
This next performance was a very special one, and it was more of a welcome back. This was the Radio City Rockettes first performance at the Tony Awards in thirteen years. They danced across the stage to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”, performed by last year’s Best Actor and Actress in a Musical, Leslie Odom, Jr and Cynthia Erivo. From Hamilton: An American Musical and The Color Purple, respectively. Watch here.
Best Direction of a Play
Rebecca Taichman – Indecent
Best Direction of a Musical
Christopher Ashley – Come from Away
Nearing the last three performances, the next was a duet from the musical War Paint, which was not nominated in the Best Musical category. The song “Face to Face” can be watched here. The next performance of the night came from a musical that was not nominated in the Best Musical Category. This was Bandstand: A New Musical. The cast performed “Nobody”, see their performance here. The last performance of the nigtht was performed by the cast of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812. The cast, one of which is Josh Groban, performed a very pleasent melody of “Dust and Ashes” and “The Abduction”. Watch it here.
Of course, this being the Tony Awards, there were many notable moments and prominent actors throughout. One of the more touching moments came from the “In Memoriam”, which featured individuals who had a significant impact to the theatre community. On a lighter note, just before the final musical performance, several stars from current running shows decided to hand out delicious food items, Sara Bareilles, currently starring in her musical Waitress, handed out pies, as Waitress involves a bakery. The understudy for Willy Wonka, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, handed out golden tickets and candy bars. Chazz Palminteri, from the play version of A Bronx Tale, presented cannolies. Also like many Tony Award hosts, Kevin Spacey had a number of costume changes, and there was even an appearance of his House of Cards character Francis J. Underwood.
Best Revival of a Play
Jitney
Synopsis: Set in the early 1970s, August Wilson’s play follows a group of men trying to eke out a living by driving unlicensed cabs, or jitneys. When the city threatens to board up the business and the boss’ son returns from prison, tempers flare, potent secrets are revealed, and the fragile threads binding these people together may come undone at last.
Best Play
Oslo
Synopsis: A darkly funny and sweeping new play, Oslo tells the surprising true story of the back-channel talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians. Playwright J.T. Rogers presents a deeply personal story set against a complex historical canvas: a story about the individuals behind world history and their all-too-human ambitions.
Special Tony Award
Sound Design
Best Revival of a Musical
Hello, Dolly
Synopsis: The musical follows the story of Dolly Levi (a strong-willed matchmaker), as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. In doing so she convinces his niece, his niece’s intended, and Horace’s two clerks to travel to New York City.
Best Actor in a Musical
Ben Platt – Dear Evan Hansen
Highlight from acceptance, watch it here: “The things that make you strange, are the things that make you powerful”.
Best Actress in a Musical
Bette Midler – Hello, Dolly
Highlight from acceptance, watch it here: It went past the allotted time music.
Finally, the night of beautiful and hard-working people comes to an end. The Best Musical award is presented by last year’s Best Musical, Hamilton’s own Lin-Manuel Miranda.
And the winner for the 71st Annual Tony Award for Best Musical went to…
Dear Evan Hansen
Synopsis: All his life, Evan Hansen has felt invisible. But when a tragedy thrusts him into the center of a rapidly evolving controversy, he is given the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to be somebody else.
And that was the recap of the 71st Annual Tony Awards. I hope this gave you the chance to be interested in theatre, or at least check some of it out!