While COVID-19 brought the 2019-2020 Broadway season to a halt, that hasn’t stopped tonight’s long-awaited 74e annual Tony Award and their recognition of excellence in theater. Presented by the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing, the recipients, in 22 categories, selected from a limited number of eighteen eligible shows that opened before the pandemic closed on March 12, 2020, were announced in a livestream. exclusive on Paramount +, hosted by Audra McDonald at Broadway’s Winter garden theater.
Following the live awards ceremony, Leslie Odom, Jr. hosted the The Back of Broadway live concert on SCS television network, featuring songs from the nominated shows and culminating in the presentation of the Three Tonys for Best Musical, Best Play and Best Cover of a Play. The show also featured hit numbers from David Byrne and the cast of American Utopia; John Legend and the cast of Is not too proud; and a final recap by Supreme Love Freestyleby Lin-Manuel Miranda, James Monroe Iglehart, Christopher Jackson, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Wayne Brady, Anthony Veneziale, Chris Sullivan, Kiala Mullady, Aneesa Folds, Bill Sherman, Arthur Lewis, Tarik Davis, Andrew Bancroft, Ashley P. Flanagan and Ian Weinberger .
Other notable performers and presenters for the two-part celebration included luminaries Annaleigh Ashford, Kristin Chenoweth, André De Shields, Jake Gyllenhaal, Idina Menzel, Ruthie Ann Miles, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelli O’Hara, Ben Platt, Jeremy Pope, Chita Rivera, Daphne Rubin-Vega and BD Wong, as well as Jon Batiste, Stephanie J. Block, Broadway Inspirational Voices, Tituss Burgess, Darren Criss, Robin de Jesús, Robbie Fairchild, Beanie Feldstein, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jordan Fisher, Santino Fontana , Andrew Garfield, Mandy Gonzalez, Jared Grimes, Josh Groban, Jennifer Holliday, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, LaChanze, Cyndi Lauper, Norm Lewis, John Lithgow, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jennifer Nettles, Lynn Nottage, Adam Pascal, Bernadette Peters , Sheryl Lee Ralph, Andrew Rannells, Anthony Rapp, Anika Noni Rose, Lea Salonga, Ali Stroker, Black Thought, Courtney B. Vance, Daniel J. Watts and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Leading the Tonys with a total of ten awards was Red Mill! Musical comedy, one of three nominated musicals. As expected, Aaron Tveit, the only nominee in his category, took home the honors for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. A Christmas Carol received the most awards for a play, winning top honors in five categories.
And the winners are:
Best Musical: Small jagged pill; Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER); Tina – The Musical Tina Turner
Best game: Great Horizons by Beth Wohl; Heritage by Matthew López (WINNER); Sea wall / A life by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne; slave game by Jeremy O. Harris; The sound inside by Adam Rapp
Best cover of a piece: Treason by Harold Pinter; Frankie and Johnny in Moonlight by Terrence McNally; A soldier’s game by Charles Fuller (WINNER)
Best staging of a play: David Cromer, The sound inside; Stéphane Daldry, Heritage (WINNER); Kenny Leon, A soldier’s game; Jamie Lloyd, Treason; Robert O’Hara, slave game
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play: Ian Barford, Linda vista; André Burnap, Heritage (WINNER); Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea wall / A life; Tom Hiddleston, Treason; Tom Sturridge, Sea wall / A life; Blair Underwood, A soldier’s game
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play: Joaquina Kalukango, slave game; Laura Linney, My name is Lucy Barton; Audra McDonald, Frankie and Johnny in Moonlight; Marie-Louise Parker, The sound inside (WINNER)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Ato Blankson-Wood, slave game; James Cusati-Moyer, slave game; David Alain Grier, A soldier’s game (WINNER); John Benjamin Hickey, Heritage; Paul Hilton, Heritage
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Jeanne Alexandre, Great Horizons; Chalia La Tour, slave game; Annie McNamara, slave game; Lois Smith, Heritage (WINNER); Cora Vander Broek, Linda vista
Best Stage Design of a Room: Bob Crowley, Heritage; Gilmour Sutra, Treason; Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol (WINNER); Derek McLane, A soldier’s game; Clint Ramos, slave game
Best One-Piece Costume Design: Dede Ayite, slave game; Dede Ayite, A soldier’s game; Bob Crowley, Heritage; Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol (WINNER); Clint Ramos, The rose tattoo
Best sound design in a room: Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid, Heritage; Simon Boulanger, A Christmas Carol (WINNER); Lindsay Jones, slave game; Daniel Kluger, Sea wall / A life; Daniel Kluger, The sound inside
Best Room Lighting Design: Jiyoun Chang, slave game; Jon Clark, Heritage; Heather Gilbert, The sound inside; Allen Lee Hughes, A soldier’s game; Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol (WINNER)
Best Musical Director: Phyllida Lloyd, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical; Diane Paulus, Small jagged pill; Alex Bois, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER)
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical: Aaron Tveit, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER)
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical: Karen Olivo, Red Mill! Musical comedy; Elizabeth Stanley, Small jagged pill; Adrienne Warren, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner (WINNER)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Danny Burstein, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER); Derek Kléna, Small jagged pill; Sean Allan Krill, Small jagged pill; Sahr Ngaujah, Red Mill! Musical comedy; Daniel J. Watts, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Catherine Gallagher, Small jagged pill; Celia Rose Gooding, Small jagged pill; Robyn Hurder, Red Mill! Musical comedy; Lauren Patten, Small jagged pill (WINNER); Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Best Book of a Musical: Small jagged pill by Diablo Cody (WINNER); Red Mill! Musical comedy by John Logan; Tina – The Musical Tina Turner by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins
Best Stage Design in a Musical: Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, Small jagged pill; Derek McLane, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER); Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner
Best Costume Design from a Musical: Emilie Rebholz, Small jagged pill; Marc Thompson, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner; Catherine Zuber, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER)
Best Lighting Design from a Musical: Bruno Poet, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner; Justin Townsend, Small jagged pill; Justin Townsend, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER)
Best Sound Design in a Musical: Jonathan Deans, Small jagged pill; Peter Hylenski, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER); Nevin Steinberg, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner
Best choreography: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Small jagged pill; Sonya Tayeh, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER);Antoine Van Laast, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner
Best Original Music: A Christmas Carol by Christopher Nightingale (WINNER); Heritage by Paul Englishby; The rose tattoo by Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb; slave game by Lindsay Jones; The sound inside by Daniel Kluger
Best orchestration: Tom Kitt, Small jagged pill; Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, Red Mill! Musical comedy (WINNER); Ethan Popp, Tina – The Musical Tina Turner.
In addition to the awards presented tonight, special accolades have already been announced in the following categories:
A lifetime’s work in the theater: Graciela Daniele
Special Tony Award: The Broadway Advocacy Coalition; that of David Byrne American Utopia; and Supreme Love Freestyle
Tony Isabelle Stevenson Prize: Julie halston
Excellence in theater: Fred Gallo; Irene Gandy; Beverly jenkins; and New Federal Theater, Woodie King Jr., Founder.
Congratulations to the winners and to all of the nominees!
