Surely many in the audience were thinking it, but âCompanyâ director Marianne Elliott said it most directly at Sunday's Tony awards: In the devastating two years since the pandemic hit, it âfelt at times that live theater was endangered.â
As in, the industry might never recover.
The exuberant ceremony Sunday night was designed to answer that unthinkable possibility with an emphatic âNoâ â to make clear that whatever the ongoing difficulties, Broadway is back, with verve and creativity, and it's here to stay. It just needs even more people filling the seats.
But if the ceremony was meant to recapture the razzle-dazzle of Broadway seasons past, marking the 75th anniversary of the Tonys with a dollop of nostalgia, it was also a celebration of groundbreaking work by a hugely diverse group of artists. The marquee award, best new musical, went to the highly innovative âA Strange Loop,â Michael R. Jacksonâs 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner about a Black gay man writing a show about a Black gay man. âA Strange Loopâ beat out crowd-pleasing fare like âSix: The Musical,â a pop reimagining of the six wives of Henry VIII, and âMJ,â about the king of pop, Michael Jackson.
The night was hosted by a supremely confident and versatile (and recent Oscar winner) Ariana DeBose, who declared at the beginning that Broadway had gotten its groove back. But a quick glance around the room at Radio City Music Hall showed that challenges remain. While nominees and guests in the orchestra were maskless (having submitted COVID-19 tests), those in the balconies were all masked â including a group of COVID-19 safety managers being honored â as Broadway theater audiences are still required to be. The somewhat jarring juxtaposition showed this is still by far not a ânormalâ Broadway season.
Some key moments:
UNDERSTUDIES GET SOME LOVE
With Broadway casts sometimes decimated by virus cases, hardworking understudies and swings have been recognized all season as saviors, and heralded by stars like Hugh Jackman, who has praised them as âsuperheroes.â Host DeBose noted that she herself was an understudy early in her career, and some winners also made sure to pay respect: "I bow to you,â said âMJâ director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. Later in the show after a number from âSix,â DeBose made sure to mention that Mallory Maedke, the showâs dance captain and alternate, âwas put into this number 12 hours ago,â drawing cheers from the crowd.
THE âGREAT WHITE WAY?' â JUST A NICKNAME
Broaching the subject of diversity and representation, DeBose hailed the fact that Broadway was becoming âmore reflective of the community that adores it.â She noted the season was full of Black creative voices both on and offstage, and that two Broadway theaters were being renamed for the great Black performers James Earl Jones and Lena Horne. And she quipped that she saw the phrase âThe Great White Way,â as Broadway has long been called, as a nickname â âas opposed to a how-to guide.â
JACKSONâS LIFE RAFT
Jackson, cutting a striking figure with his hot pink coat over a tuxedo, explained how he took 18 years to complete âA Strange Loop,â which he wrote as he was feeling âunseen, unheard, misunderstood.â He added: âI just wanted to create a little bit of a life raft for myself as a Black gay man to get through the day.â And he noted that while representation is crucial, also crucial was doing one's best possible work. "Iâm all about representation but letâs make sure we are staying on our grind,â he said. âNever settle for anything less than the best you can do.â His cast seemed as overjoyed as he was; when they finished their Tony number, they jumped up and down wildly with joy.
NO TONYS, BUT THEY GOT TROMBONES
âThe Music Manâ revival is one of the biggest current hits on Broadway, regularly pulling in more than $3 million a week, in no small part due to its beloved and charismatic leads, Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. Despite six nominations, it failed to win any Tonys on Sunday. But the crowd seemed to love it when Jackman started crooning the famous âSeventy-Six Trombonesâ number with smiling young cast members marching through the audience and then Foster arriving to tap up a storm with her costar â two of the best triple threats in any Broadway season.
AWARD FOR MOST THANKED? DUH, MOM AND DAD
Everyone thanks Mom and their Dad at awards shows â well, almost everyone â but some are more specific than others. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, winning featured actor in a play for âTake Me Out,â made sure to thank the ârents for letting him find his dreams in the Big Apple. âMom, Dad, thank you for letting me move to New York when I was 17 years old. I told you it would be OK!â said the âModern Familyâ star. As for Gareth Owen, who won in sound design for âMJ,â he thanked his parents âfor not pushing me too hard to get a proper job.â
... AND SISTER
Joaquina Kalukango, too, thanked âthe best parents in the worldâ when she won the Tony for best actress in a musical for her towering performance in âParadise Square,â a show about Irish immigrants and Black Americans in Civil War-era New York. But she also thanked her sister, for designing her glistening dress with a lime green train. Kalukango won the rare double standing ovation â first for her scorching performance of the musicalâs âLet It Burn,â and then for her speech.
AND MOM AGAIN!
It was a huge moment for Myles Frost, winning best actor in a musical for his Broadway debut role as Michael Jackson in âMJ.â He chose to spotlight his mother for her teaching-by-showing approach. âWithout you there would be no me,â said Frost, 22, whose dancing is a standout in the show. âYou showed me what a strong Black woman is and what it means to raise a strong Black man.â Frost became the youngest solo winner in the category, beating out Jaquel Spivey, 23, of âA Strange Loop,â not to mention Billy Crystal, Hugh Jackman and Rob McClure.
LOTS OF âCOMPANYâ INDEED
It was a night to mourn revered composer Stephen Sondheim, who died in November at 91, and his influence was nowhere more apparent than in the five wins for the gender-bending revival of his âCompany.â Elliot, who as director changed the commitment-phobe male role to a female, made Tony history by becoming the only woman to win three Tonys for directing, She dedicated her award to everyone fighting to keep theaters open. The beloved Patti LuPone won best featured actress, thanking COVID-19 safety officers among many others in her acceptance speech, and Matt Doyle won for best featured actor.
THEY LISTENED
A moving tribute to Sondheim was introduced by an emotional Lin-Manuel Miranda, who described the generosity of the late composer in writing letters to countless admirers, especially young writers hoping to learn from him, as Miranda once was. The floor then went to Bernadette Peters, one of the most renowned interpreters of Sondheimâs songs, who performed the moving âChildren Will Listenâ from âInto the Woods,â his mashup of fairytales. âCareful the things you say,â the song goes. âChildren will listen.â
At Radio City and beyond, they were listening, and not just the children.