‘A Strange Loop’ and ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ Win Top Tony Awards
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The 75th Tony Awards kept its depth charges until late in the evening, and ended with joy, emotion, one or two surprises, and the terribly timed cutting of a mic.
Michael R. Jackson, the creator of the Pulitzer-winning A Strange Loop, was about to speak after the show—about a Black writer’s self-doubt, demons, and battle to find himself—won Best Musical. But after producer Barbara Whitman had finished speaking, Jackson’s mic was cut and it was suddenly on with the show.
Jackson had given a moving speech earlier in the evening when he accepted the Best Book of a Musical award, but given that this is a “big, black queer-ass American Broadway show,” the evening should have ended with the words of the Black queer man whose deeply personal work had just won the evening’s final, centerpiece award. As one of the show’s producers, Jennifer Hudson became an EGOT winner.
The awards were framed as a celebration of the return of Broadway, post-pandemic—heralding the work of all those on-stage and off, ensuring the safe opening of theaters again to actors, crew, and audiences.
‘A Strange Loop’ Triumphs, Uncompromisingly, on Broadway
A Strange Loop had started the evening as the frontrunner with 11 Tony nominations—it ended up winning two (and two of the most prestigious). The Lehman Trilogy was the biggest play winner with five Tonys, and the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company won the same number to make it the most awarded musical.
The Tonys host, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, won many plaudits from viewers online for her opening number, and assured anchoring of the evening—including underlining the diversity on stage that has become a concerted mission of Broadway in the wake of George Floyd’s death. “‘The Great White Way’ is becoming more of a nickname as opposed to a how-to guide,” DeBose said.
In one of the evening’s biggest surprises, Jaquel Spivey, who plays A Strange Loop’s lead character, had been expected to win Best Lead Actor (Musical), but he did not. The award went to Myles Frost for playing Michael Jackson in MJ, the Musical, a production dedicated to dance and dazzle, if not digging into Jackson’s darker side and demons. Christopher Wheeldon, MJ’s director, won for Best Choreography; the musical won four Tonys in all, beating in number at least A Strange Loop.
Joaquina Kalukango gave one of the most passionate speeches of the evening, winning Best Lead Actress (Musical) for her role in Paradise Square. The musical was not critically loved, but—as the Tony audience saw—Kalukango’s electrifying rendition of her 11 o’clock number, “Let It Burn” sealed her victory.
Deirdre O’Connell in “Dana H.” photographed at Lyceum Theatre in Manhattan.
The evening featured the first ever non-binary Tony winner, Toby Marlow, a co-winner for Best Original Score for SIX: The Musical. L Morgan Lee, the first ever openly trans nominee for A Strange Loop in the Best Featured Actress (Musical) category, lost out to Broadway diva Patti LuPone for her role as Joanne in Company, which won Best Revival of a Musical. The production’s victory was expected—as was LuPone’s co-star Matt Doyle’s win as Best Featured Actor (Musical), for his frenzied and much-praised rendition of “Getting Married Today,” in Marianne Elliott’s gender-switching production. Elliott herself won Best Direction for a Musical.
The Broadway cast of “Company.”
Best Play, as expected, went to The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes (who also won Best Director, Play), the play charting in a deeply involving production the history of the famous bank, its three lead actors playing multiple characters in a revolving glass cube. All three were nominated for Best Actor in a Play, with Simon Russell Beale emerging victorious, confessing to feeling “sheepish” at having beaten castmates Adrian Lester and Adam Godley, and vowing to share the gong with them.
Adam Godley, Simon Russell Beale, and Adrian Lester in “The Lehman Trilogy.”
Deirdre O’Connell emerged victorious in the intensely competitive Best Actress (Play) category for her astonishing inhabitation of Dana H., the mother of playwright Lucas Hnath, who was kidnapped and raped by a man. She later recited her ordeal in interviews, which O’Connell then lip-synched in a mesmerizing tour de force first performed, off-Broadway, before the pandemic. In her winner’s speech, O’Connell beseeched that theater creators remained dedicated to the pursuit of “weird art.” Phylicia Rashad won the Tony in the featured actress (Play) category, for her role as Faye, the leader of a group of Detroit workers in Skeleton Crew.
Myles Frost and cast in “MJ, the Musical.”
Best Revival of a Play went to gay baseball drama Take Me Out, with Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson winning his first Tony award in the featured actor (Play) category—again, against two other castmates in the category—for his role as a besuited business manager growingly bewitched by the game. He thanked his parents for letting him to come to New York at 17: “I told you it was going to be OK.”
75th Tony Awards: the nominees and winners by category
Best Play
The Lehman Trilogy WINNER
Best Musical
A Strange Loop WINNER
Best Revival of a Play
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Take Me Out WINNER
Best Revival of a Musical
Company WINNER
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy WINNER
Adam Godley, The Lehman Trilogy
Adrian Lester, The Lehman Trilogy
David Morse, How I Learned to Drive
Sam Rockwell, American Buffalo
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues
David Threlfall, Hangmen
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Gabby Beans, The Skin of Our Teeth
LaChanze, Trouble in Mind
Ruth Negga, Macbeth
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H. WINNER
Mary-Louise Parker, How I Learned to Drive
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night
Myles Frost, MJ WINNER
Hugh Jackman, The Music Man
Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire
Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sharon D Clarke, Caroline, or Change
Carmen Cusack, Flying Over Sunset
Sutton Foster, The Music Man
Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square WINNER
Mare Winningham, Girl from The North Country
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Alfie Allen, Hangmen
Chuck Cooper, Trouble in Mind
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out WINNER
Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde’s
Michael Oberholtzer, Take Me Out
Jesse Williams, Take Me Out
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s
Rachel Dratch, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Kenita R. Miller, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew WINNER
Julie White, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Kara Young, Clyde’s
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Matt Doyle, Company WINNER
Sidney DuPont, Paradise Square
Jared Grimes, Funny Girl
John-Andrew Morrison, A Strange Loop
A.J. Shively, Paradise Square
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Jeannette Bayardelle, Girl from The North Country
Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night
Jayne Houdyshell, The Music Man
L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop
Patti LuPone, Company WINNER
Jennifer Simard, Company
Best Direction of a Play
Lileana Blain-Cruz, The Skin of Our Teeth
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy WINNER
Neil Pepe, American Buffalo
Les Waters, Dana H.
Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
Marianne Elliott, Company WINNER
Conor McPherson, Girl from The North Country
Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage, SIX: The Musical
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ
Best Choreography
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Warren Carlyle, The Music Man
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, SIX: The Musical
Bill T. Jones, Paradise Square
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ WINNER
Best Orchestrations
David Cullen, Company
Tom Curran, SIX: The Musical
Simon Hale, Girl from The North Country WINNER
Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, MJ
Charlie Rosen, A Strange Loop
Best Book of a Musical
Girl From The North Country, Conor McPherson
MJ, Lynn Nottage
Mr. Saturday Night, Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
Paradise Square, Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan
A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson WINNER
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Flying Over Sunset Music: Tom Kitt Lyrics: Michael Korie
Mr. Saturday Night Music: Jason Robert Brown Lyrics: Amanda Green
Paradise Square Music: Jason Howland; Lyrics: Nathan Tysen & Masi Asare
SIX: The Musical Music and Lyrics: Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss WINNER
A Strange Loop Music & Lyrics: Michael R. Jackson
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, Skeleton Crew
Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy WINNER
Anna Fleischle, Hangmen
Scott Pask, American Buffalo
Adam Rigg, The Skin of Our Teeth
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset
Bunny Christie, Company WINNER
Arnulfo Maldonado, A Strange Loop
Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, MJ
Allen Moyer, Paradise Square
Best Costume Design of a Play
Montana Levi Blanco, The Skin of Our Teeth WINNER
Sarafina Bush, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Emilio Sosa, Trouble in Mind
Jane Greenwood, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite
Jennifer Moeller, Clyde’s
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Fly Davis, Caroline, or Change
Toni-Leslie James, Paradise Square
William Ivey Long, Diana the Musical
Santo Loquasto, The Music Man
Gabriella Slade, SIX: The Musical WINNER
Paul Tazewell, MJ
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Joshua Carr, Hangmen
Jiyoun Chang, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy WINNER
Jane Cox, Macbeth
Yi Zhao, The Skin of Our Teeth
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Neil Austin, Company
Tim Deiling, SIX: The Musical
Donald Holder, Paradise Square
Natasha Katz, MJ WINNER
Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset
Jen Schriever, A Strange Loop
Best Sound Design of a Play
Justin Ellington, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H. WINNER
Palmer Hefferan, The Skin of Our Teeth
Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, The Lehman Trilogy
Mikaal Sulaiman, Macbeth
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Simon Baker, Girl from The North Country
Paul Gatehouse, SIX: The Musical
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Company
Drew Levy, A Strange Loop
Gareth Owen, MJ WINNER
Lifetime achievement award: Angela Lansbury
75th Tony Awards—the awards by production
The Lehman Trilogy - 5
Company – 5
MJ - 4
A Strange Loop – 2
Dana H. – 2
Take Me Out – 2
SIX: The Musical - 2
Paradise Square – 1
Skeleton Crew - 1
The Skin of Our Teeth - 1
Girl from The North Country - 1
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