Bette Midler – Best Actress in a Musical

Ben Platt – Best Actor in a Musical

 

by Sandi Durell

 

Who knew Kevin Spacey was a song and dance man? Well, he apparently brushed off his hoofer shoes, put on his top hat and, although he made a big deal of being the 15th person to be asked to host (and finally accepted) was all fun and games in a thematic Groundhog Day opener introducing  many of the evening’s nominated shows.

From there we saw Scarlett Johannson introduce Best Featured Actor in a Play, with the award going to Michael Aronox for Oslo; Sutton Foster and Scott Bacula presented Best Featured Actor in a Musical award to Gavin Creel for his role in Hello,Dolly; the Best Featured Actress in a Play went to Cynthia Nixon for The Little Foxes.  Between awards, the musical presentations included the casts from Come From Away (Welcome to the Rock) (7 nominations, 1 award); Lea Salonga and Jon Jon Briones welcomed Eva Noblezada and the company of Miss Saigon (I’d Give My Life for You) and Whoopie Goldberg introduced the cast of Falsettos (Everything Will be Alright).

No surprise that Benj Pasek and Justin Paul won Best Score for Dear Evan Hansen (9 nominations, 6 awards), followed by Ben Platt and company performing “Through a Window.” Laurie Metcalf took the Best Actress in a Play for Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House – Part 2, while Kevin Kline, as suspected, received Best Actor in a Revival of a Play for Present Laughter.

Rachel Bay Jones -Dear Evan Hansen (Photo by Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)

Gavin Creel – Hello, Dolly!(Photo by Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)

Andy Karl performed with the company of Groundhog Day as did Josh Groban, with the cast of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. (12 nominations, 2 awards)

Bette Midler presented Laurie Metcalf the award for Best Actress in a Play (A Doll’s House-Part 2) (8 nominations, 1 award); and Rachel Bay Jones was awarded Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Dear Evan Hansen and, as expected, Ben Platt received the Best Actor in a Musical award (Dear Evan Hansen) presented by Tina Fey; Best Book of a Musical went to Steven Levinson for Dear Evan Hansen as well.  Rebecca Taichman walked away with the award for Best Director of a Play (Indecent) while Christopher Ashley won Best Director of a Musical (Come From Away) and J. T. Rogers took the Best Author for a Play for Oslo.

Benj Pasek (R) and Justin Paul (L),  Best Score for Dear Evan Hansen, and Steven Levenson (C), Best Book of a Musical for Dear Evan Hansen, (Photo by Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)

August Wilson’s Jitney was awarded Best Revival of a Play and Stephen Colbert presented Hello, Dolly! with the award for Best Revival of a Musical (10 nominations, 4 awards).  No surprise that Bette Midler won Best Actress in a Musical as Dolly, the award presented to her by Glenn Close. Bette’s speech thanked everyone she ever knew or will know in her own endearing manner.

 

Many theatrical forces in the industry passed away this past season and they were given a touching memorial.

Jill Biden gave an impassioned speech about our American Vets introducing the cast of Broadway’s Bandstand, followed by a performance by the company of that show (Corey Cott and Laura Osnes) “You Know Who Tells Me ‘No?’ Nobody!” (choreographed by this year’s Tony Winner Andy Blankenbuehler).

Kevin Spacey was a charmer throughout.  And, you, the audience will let us know what you thought of this year’s Tony Awards! From our point of view – uneven!!

COMPLETE LIST:

Best Musical

WINNER: Dear Evan Hansen
Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
Groundhog Day The Musical
Come From Away

Best Play

WINNER: Oslo
Sweat
Indecent
A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Revival of a Musical

WINNER: Hello, Dolly!
Falsettos
Miss Saigon

Best Revival of a Play

WINNER: August Wilson’s Jitney
Present Laughter
Six Degrees of Separation
Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes

Best Actress in a Musical

WINNER: Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!
Patti LuPone, War Paint
Christine Ebersole, War Paint
Denee Benton, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
Eva Noblezada, Miss Saigon

Best Actor in a Musical

WINNER: Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
Andy Karl, Groundhog Day The Musical
David Hyde Pierce, Hello, Dolly!
Christian Borle, Falsettos
Josh Groban, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Best Actress in a Play

WINNER: Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Jennifer Ehle, Oslo
Cate Blanchett, The Present
Sally Field, The Glass Menagerie
Laura Linney, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes

Best Actor in a Play

WINNER: Kevin Kline, Present Laughter
Jefferson Mays, Oslo
Denis Arndt, Heisenberg
Chris Cooper, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Corey Hawkins, Six Degrees of Separation

Best Book of a Musical

Come From Away, Irene Sankoff and David Hein
WINNER: Dear Evan Hansen, Steven Levenson
Groundhog Day The Musical, Danny Rubin
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Dave Malloy

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Come From Away, Irene Sankoff and David Hein
WINNER: Dear Evan Hansen, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
Groundhog Day The Musical, Tim Minchin
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Dave Malloy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

WINNER: Michael Aronov, Oslo
Danny DeVito, Arthur Miller’s The Price
Nathan Lane, The Front Page
Richard Thomas, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
John Douglas Thompson, August Wilson’s Jitney

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Johanna Day, Sweat
Jayne Houdyshell, A Doll’s House, Part 2
WINNER: Cynthia Nixon, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Condola Rashad, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Michelle Wilson, Sweat

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

WINNER: Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!
Mike Faist, Dear Evan Hansen
Andrew Rannells, Falsettos
Lucas Steele, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Brandon Uranowitz, Falsettos

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Kate Baldwin, Hello, Dolly!
Stephanie J. Block, Falsettos
Jenn Colella, Come From Away
WINNER: Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen
Mary Beth Peil, Anastasia

Best Scenic Design of a Play

David Gallo, August Wilson’s Jitney
WINNER: Nigel Hook, The Play That Goes Wrong
Douglas W. Schmidt, The Front Page
Michael Yeargan, Oslo

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Rob Howell, Groundhog Day The Musical
David Korins, War Paint
WINNER: Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!

Best Costume Design of a Play

WINNER: Jane Greenwood, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Susan Hilferty, Present Laughter
Toni-Leslie James, August Wilson’s Jitney
David Zinn, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Linda Cho, Anastasia
WINNER: Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!
Paloma Young, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Catherine Zuber, War Paint

Best Lighting Design of a Play

WINNER: Christopher Akerlind, Indecent
Jane Cox, August Wilson’s Jitney
Donald Holder, Oslo
Jennifer Tipton, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Howell Binkley, Come From Away
Natasha Katz, Hello, Dolly!
WINNER: Bradley King, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Japhy Weideman, Dear Evan Hansen

Best Direction of a Play

Sam Gold, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Jitney
Bartlett Sher, Oslo
Daniel Sullivan, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
WINNER: Rebecca Taichman, Indecent

Best Direction of a Musical

WINNER: Christopher Ashley, Come From Away
Rachel Chavkin, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen
Matthew Warchus, Groundhog Day The Musical
Jerry Zaks, Hello, Dolly!

Best Choreography

WINNER: Andy Blankenbuehler, Bandstand
Peter Darling and Ellen Kane, Groundhog Day The Musical
Kelly Devine, Come From Away
Denis Jones, Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical
Sam Pinkleton, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Best Orchestrations

Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen, Bandstand
Larry Hochman, Hello, Dolly!
WINNER: Alex Lacamoire, Dear Evan Hansen
Dave Malloy, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

* * *

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: James Earl Jones

Special Tony Award: Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin, Sound Designers for The Encounter

Regional Theatre Tony Award: Dallas Theater Center, Dallas, TX

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Baayork Lee

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre: Nina Lannan, Alan Wasser