Last night’s 70th annual Tony Awards were the best yet, despite directly following the terror attack that shocked the world on Saturday evening. There were incredible acceptance speeches, beautiful performances, and most of all, an incredibly diverse group of people. Last night, for the first time in history, all four musical acting awards went to black performers: Daveed Diggs (Hamilton), Cynthia Ervio (The Color Purple), Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton), and Renée Elise Goldberry (Hamilton).
Considering the controversy surrounding the lack of diversity at the Oscars this year, this is an incredible win for members of the black community. Although this isn’t the first time that four black actors took home Tony awards, the last time being in 2013 and the first time being in 1982, according to IndieWire, this is still amazing.
In 2013, those winners were Patina Miller and Billy Porter when they won for their lead performances in musicals (Pippin and Kinky Boots) and Cicely Tyson and Courtney B. Vance when they won for their roles in plays (A Trip to Bountiful and Lucky Guy), according to Bustle. And before that, in 1982, Jennifer Holliday, Ben Harney and Cleavant Derricks all won for their performances in Dreamgirls, as well as Zakes Moake for his part in Master Harold… And the Boys. Overall, this was an incredible year at the Tony’s and we can only hope that the industry steps it up even more in the years to come.