Lauren Patten arrives at the 74th annual Tony Awards at Winter Garden Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Republished September 26, 2021 - 8:08 PM
Original Publication Date September 26, 2021 - 3:46 PM
The Latest on the Tony Awards (all times local):
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10:45 p.m.
âMoulin Rouge! The Musical,â a jukebox adaptation of Baz Luhrmannâs hyperactive 2001 movie, has danced away with the best new musical Tony Award.
It beat âJagged Little Pillâ and âTina â The Tina Turner Musicalâ for the coveted title during the pandemic-shortened Broadway season.
The show is about the goings-on in a turn-of-the-century Parisian nightclub, updated with tunes like âSingle Ladiesâ and âFireworkâ alongside the big hit âLady Marmalade.â
The show also earned wins for Aaron Tveit as best actor in a leading role, Danny Burstein as best actor in a featured role, scenic design, costume design, lighting design, sound design, orchestrations and best director Alex Timbers and Sonya Tayeh for choreography.
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MORE ON THE TONYS
â âMoulin Rouge!â leads Tonys haul, but 3 big trophies to come
â Select list of winners at Sunday's Tony Awards
â Tonys: Broadway hopes to razzle-dazzle its way out pandemic
â Tonywatch: Aaron Tveit rides a roller coaster of a year
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HEREâS WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
9:50 p.m.
âThe Inheritanceâ by Matthew Lopez has been named the best new play at the Tony Awards.
The two-part, seven-hour epic uses âHowards Endâ as a starting point for a play that looks at gay life in the early 21st century. It also yielded wins for Andrew Burnap as best actor in a play, Stephen Daldry as best director and Lois Smith as best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play.
A winner of multiple best play awards in London, where it premiered in 2018, the acclaimed work was directed by now-three-time Tony Award winner Daldry.
Lopez has argued that the closeted Forster in âHowards Endâ was telling a queer story using straight characters so he decided to retell it in a contemporary setting using gay male characters in place of the heterosexual characters in the book.
âThe Inheritanceâ beat âGrand Horizons,â âSea Wall/A Life,â âSlave Playâ and âThe Sound Inside.â
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9:30 p.m.
Charles Fullerâs âA Soldierâs Playâ has won the Tony Award for best play revival.
âA Soldierâs Playâ dissects entrenched Black-white racism as well as internal divisions in the Black military community during World War II, wrapping it in a military murder mystery.
The play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1982 and two years later was made into the Oscar-nominated best picture âA Soldierâs Story,â for which Fuller wrote the screenplay and earned an Oscar nomination.
The work has attracted a whoâs-who of male African American acting talent. The film version starred a young Denzel Washington, who had appeared in its first stage incarnation in New York alongside Samuel L. Jackson. A 2005 revival off-Broadway lured Taye Diggs, Anthony Mackie and Steven Pasquale.
It made its Broadway debut in the pandemic shortened season of 2019-2020 with David Alan Grier and Blair Underwood and earned seven Tony nominations, yielding a win for Grier.
For best revival, it beat out âBetrayalâ and âFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.â
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9:10 p.m.
Leslie Odom Jr. has kicked off a nationally televised tribute to Broadway with a musical number that mingled Broadway stars with the strangeness of the pandemic conditions.
Broadway dancers performed behind Odom during the energetic number, which saw performers from âThe Lion Kingâ and âWickedâ make brief appearances. The song mixed tributes to live theater with pleas to the audience to keep their masks on and those watching at home to get vaccinated.
Odom walked into the audience, giving shoutouts to Broadway nominee Tom Hiddleston, legendary performer Chita Rivera and his âHamiltonâ co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The actor then tossed to David Byrne, who performed âBurning Down the Houseâ with performers from his âAmerican Utopiaâ stage production.
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8:50 p.m.
Adrienne Warren has won the Tony Award for best leading actress in a musical for her electric turn as Tina Turner.
Warren was considered the front-runner for the award thanks to becoming a one-woman fireball of energy and exhilaration. She beat out Karen Olivo of âMoulin Rouge! The Musicalâ and Elizabeth Stanley from âJagged Little Pill.â
Warren, who was nominated for an Olivier Award for her turn as Turner in âTina: The Tina Turner Musicalâ in the West End, wins her first Tony.
Her other credits include âBring It Onâ â the loose stage adaptation of the hit cheerleading movie â and received a Tony nomination for featured actress in a musical for her role in âShuffle Along.â
Warren, a co-founder of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, recently wrapped filming of the ABC limited series âWomen of the Movement.â
Mary-Louise Parker won best actress in a play for âThe Sound Inside.â
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8:38 p.m.
In a surprise to no one, Aaron Tveit has won the Tony Award for best leading actor in a musical. Thatâs because he was the only person nominated in the category.
The win caps a remarkable year for the Broadway star. He was wowing fans in âMoulin Rouge! The Musicalâ when it was suddenly shuttered by the coronavirus. Then he contracted COVID-19 himself. He recovered to lend his voice to relief efforts, got a few high-profile acting gigs â including âSchmigadoon!â â and then landed his first Tony nomination. Now heâs won, needing 60% of Tony voters voted for him in the category.
Tveitâs first big gig was in a âRentâ tour and he made his Broadway debut as a replacement in âHairsprayâ and then âWicked.â
He then had three starring roles in âNext to Normal,â âCatch Me If You Canâ and now âMoulin Rouge!â His film work includes the adaptation of âLes MisĂ©rablesâ and on TV he was in âGraceland,â âBrainDeadâ and âGrease Live!â
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8:35 p.m.
Andrew Burnap has won the Tony for best lead actor in a play on his Broadway debut.
Burnap starred in âThe Inheritance,â Matthew Lopezâs two-part, seven-hour epic that uses âHowards Endâ as a starting point for a play that looks at gay life in the early 21st century. Burnap played Toby Darling â a vivacious, talented, and deeply troubled playwright who unearths childhood demons.
Burnap grew up in Rhode Island, where during the summer he would work at his local ice cream shop. He graduated from Yale School of Drama, and acted in regional theaters and off-Broadway.
He and Lopez actually met each other before âThe Inheritanceâ when Burnap did Lopezâs play âThe Legend of George McBrideâ in Los Angeles, a happier story about a straight man who learns how to be a drag queen.
For the Tony, Burnap beat out Blair Underwood from âA Soldierâs Play,â Ian Barford from âLinda Vista,â Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge both from âSea Wall/A Lifeâ and Tom Hiddleston of âBetrayal.â
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8:20 p.m.
Alex Timbers has won the trophy for best direction of a musical for âMoulin Rouge! The Musical.â
It is Timbersâ first Tony. The show is about the goings-on in a turn-of-the-century Parisian nightclub, updated with tunes like âSingle Ladiesâ and âFireworkâ alongside the big hit âLady Marmalade.â
Timbers has been nominated twice before, for directing âPeter and the Starcatcherâ in 2012 and directing and writing âBloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.â He has been a production consultant on David Byrneâs âAmerican Utopia,â directed âRockyâ and âThe Pee-wee Herman Showâ and is directing âBeetlejuiceâ for the second time next spring.
He picked up a Lucille Lortel Award for directing the off-Broadway production of âHere Lies Loveâ and went on to direct the show at Londonâs National Theatre. Other notable off-Broadway credits include the âLoveâs Labourâs Lostâ in Central Park and the Roundabout Theatre Companyâs 2016 revival of âThe Robber Bridegroom.â
For the Tony, he beat Phyllida Lloyd of âTina â The Tina Turner Musicalâ and Diane Paulus of âJagged Little Pill.â
8:15 p.m.
Stephen Daldry now has a trio of Tony Awards for directing.
He won Sunday for helming âThe Inheritance,â playwright Matthew Lopezâs two-part, seven-hour epic that uses âHowards Endâ as a starting point for a play that looks at gay life in the early 21st century.
Daldry had previously won for âBilly Elliot: The Musicalâ and âAn Inspector Calls.â He also was a nominee in 2015 for âSkylightâ and directed Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in âThe Audience.
Daldry directs and executive produces the Netflix series âThe Crownâ and was creative executive producer of the opening and closing ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
For the Tony, he beat David Cromer from âThe Sound Inside,â Kenny Leon from âA Soldierâs Play,â Jamie Lloyd and âBetrayalâ and Robert OâHara with âSlave Play.â
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7:20 p.m.
Lauren Patten has edged out her co-stars from âJagged Little Pillâ to win the award for best featured actress in a musical.
The show plumbs Alanis Morissetteâs 1995 breakthrough album to tell a fictional story of a family spiraling out of control. Patten plays teenage lesbian Jo in the show and gets to belt out the song âYou Oughta Know.â
After opening in New York, âJagged Little Pillâ producers have apologized to fans for changing Jo from gender-nonconforming to cisgender female after the show moved from Boston to Broadway.
Growing up in Downers Grove, Illinois, Patten was drawn to the performing arts early on, and by age 4, had begun appearing in commercials and community theater productions. Patten, who has been on Broadway before in âFun Home,â has a recurring role on the CBS crime drama âBlue Bloods.â
For the Tony, she beat out Kathryn Gallagher and Celia Rose Gooding from âJagged Little Pill,â Robyn Hurder from âMoulin Rouge! The Musicalâ and Myra Lucretia Taylor of âTina â The Tina Turner Musical.â
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7:18 p.m.
Broadway favorite Danny Burstein has won his first Tony Award after seven nominations.
The actor won for best actor in a featured role in a musical for playing the ingratiating nightclub host Harold Zidler in âMoulin Rouge! The Musical.â
He said he shared the award with his fellow nominees and thanked his son. He also thanks the Broadway community for supporting him when his wife died. âI love being an actor on Broadway.â
Broadway audiences have cheered Burstein for his soulful showmanship in such musicals as âSouth Pacific,â âGolden Boy,â âFollies,â âThe Drowsy Chaperone,â âCabaretâ and âFiddler on the Roof.â
He made his Broadway debut in 1992 in âA Little Hotel on the Sideâ and went on to star in dramas like âThe Seagullâ to musical comedies like âWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.â
Shortly after the Broadway shutdown in March 2020, he was hospitalized with a near-fatal case of COVID-19. And in that December, his wife of 20 years, Broadway leading lady Rebecca Luker, died from ALS.
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7:15 p.m.
Theater veteran Lois Smith has won her first Tony for âThe Inheritance.â
She won for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play. Smith previously earned nominations for âThe Grapes of Wrathâ in 1990 and âBuried Childâ in 1996.
In âThe Inheritance,â Smith plays a major featured role that doesnât appear onstage until late in the playâs two-show, seven-hour running time. Matthew Lopezâs epic uses âHowards Endâ as a starting point for a play that looks at gay life in the early 21st century.
Smith has acted in such movies as âEast of Eden,â âFive Easy Piecesâ and âLady Bird.â TV audiences will recognize her from appearances on âRoute 66,â âERâ or âTrue Blood.â She made her Broadway debut in 1952 in âTime Out for Ginger.â
Other films credits include âBlack Widow,â âFalling Down,â âFried Green Tomatoes,â âTwister,â âHow to Make an American Quilt,â âDead Man Walking,â âMinority Report,â âMarjorie Primeâ and âLadybird.â
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7:10 p.m.
David Alan Grier has won his first Tony for âA Soldierâs Play.â
Grier played a stern Army sergeant in Charles Fullerâs play, set on an Army base in Louisiana during World War II. A Black investigator has been called to find out who murdered the black sergeant of an all-Black company.
He thanked his director, Kenny Leon. âAnd to my other nominees: Tough bananas, I won.â
One of Grierâs earliest roles was in a small part in the off-Broadway debut of âA Soldierâs Playâ when he was in his 20s. He revisited the work when it was turned into a 1984 movie. This is his third bite of the apple and it has yielded the Tony for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play.
Grier studied acting at Yale and has had a career on stage (âDreamgirlsâ), on TV (âIn Living Colorâ and âDAGâ) and film (âJumanjiâ and âNative Sonâ). He previously earned Tony nominations for âThe Gershwinsâ Porgy and Bess,â âThe Firstâ and âRace.â
For the Tony, Grier beat Ato Blankson-Wood and James Cusati-Moyer from âSlave Playâ and John Benjamin Hickey and Paul Hilton of âThe Inheritance.â
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7:05 p.m.
The pandemic-delayed Tony Awards kicked off Sunday with an energetic performance of âYou Canât Stop The Beatâ from the original Broadway cast of âHairspray!â
The optimistic number was performed for masked and appreciative audience at a packed Winter Garden Theatre. Host Audra McDonald got a standing ovation. âYou canât stop the beat. The heart of New York City!â she said.
She called it less than a prom and more like a homecoming and that it was wonderful to see half everyoneâs faces. She said Broadway had been knocked out by COVID-19 for 560 nights. She also hoped to see actions that could make it a more equitable place.
David Alan Grier was the nightâs first winner, taking home the featured actor in a play Tony for âA Soldierâs Play.â
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6:35 p.m.
The red carpet for the Tony Awards is underway and stars are praising the return of live theater.
David Byrne, the Talking Heads frontman whose musical âAmerican Utopiaâ is among Sundayâs honorees, says heâs started going to shows as a spectator and itâs âamazing feeling.
âThe audiences are overjoyed,â Byrne says. âTheyâre happy to see the shows, but theyâre happy to just see one another, to be in the same room with other people. Itâs really exciting.â
Leslie Odom Jr., who became a household name playing Aaron Burr in the original âHamiltonâ run, is hosting a special tribute to Broadway thatâs airing on CBS Sunday night. He says heâs confident that people will appreciate theater and its performers more now that the theyâve returned.
âI think weâre going to return with a new sense of gratitude,â Odom says.
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5 p.m.
âJagged Little Pillâ goes into the Tony Awards telecast on the defensive, dogged by two controversies.
A former cast member, Nora Schell, a Black nonbinary actor who made their Broadway debut in the chorus in 2019, posted a statement this week on social media describing repeated instances early in the run of the show in which they were âintimidated, coerced, and forced by multiple higher ups to put off critical and necessary surgery to remove growths from my vagina that were making me anemic.â
âJagged Little Pillâ producers â saying they are âdeeply troubledâ by the claims â have hired an independent investigator and the union Actors Equity Association said Sunday it was also commissioning âa thorough, independent investigationâ of the showâs workplace.
In another controversy, the showâs producers have apologized to fans for changing a character from gender-nonconforming to cisgender female after the show moved from Boston to Broadway.
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3 a.m.
The Oscars, Grammys, Emmys and Golden Globes have all held their ceremonies during the pandemic. Now itâs time for the Tony Awards, celebrating an art form that really needs the boost â live theater.
Sundayâs show has been expanded from its typical three hours to four, with Audra McDonald handing out Tonys for the first two hours and Leslie Odom Jr. hosting a âBroadwayâs Back!â celebration for the second half, including the awarding of the top three trophies â best play revival, best play and best musical.
The sobering musical âJagged Little Pill,â which plumbs Alanis Morissetteâs 1995 breakthrough album to tell a story of an American family spiraling out of control, goes into the night with a leading 15 Tony nominations.
Nipping on its heels is âMoulin Rouge!,â a jukebox adaptation of Baz Luhrmannâs hyperactive 2001 movie about the goings-on in a turn-of-the-century Parisian nightclub that has 14 nods.
âSlave Play,â Jeremy O. Harrisâ ground-breaking, bracing work that mixes race, sex, taboo desires and class, earned a dozen nominations, making it the most nominated play in Tony history.
News from © The Associated Press, 2021