Winners and Losers of the 77th Tony Awards
My favorite holiday returns
Happy post-Tony Awards Monday! I hope you all enjoyed watching the Tony Awards last night - I know I did. Winners of the night included Stereophonic, Merrily We Roll Along, The Outsiders, Appropriate, Hell’s Kitchen and Suffs.
This was a weird year for musical theater - so so many new musicals, so few great new musicals. I actually only saw one of the best musical nominees (although I saw all of the revival noms), and I’m not sure that I feel any urgency to see the others. That said, I was very nearly CRYING through a lot of this CBS live event. For example: When Daniel Radcliffe won, when Illinoise performed, when Appropriate won, when Jeremy Strong thanked house managers and ushers, etc. I am sorry I am just passionate about theater and these moments made me emotional! But enough about Emotions! Here are my personal winners and losers from the night!
HONORABLE MENTION: Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
I’d be wrong to not highlight the valuable work of this group! Not only did they hold a protest down the street during the show, they’ve offered teach ins to help theater workers develop talking points to share on the red carpet, encouraged artists to wear pins sharing their support, and have a nice page of resources and readings on their website.
WINNER: Mothers
The category of Best Actress in a Play was utterly stacked full of mother characters! Sarah Paulson was Anxious (Racist?) Mom, Rachel McAdams was Trying Really Hard Mom, Jessica Lange was Not Trying Enough/Homophobic Mom, Betsey Aidem was A Mom but I don’t know much about her show, and Amy Ryan was Reverend Mother Mom (aka a nun). Notably, this was about acting, and not about Most Titular Mother, so the award went to Paulson, not to Mother Play’s Lange.
LOSER: Fathers
On Father’s day, no less!! Although noted father and Eldest Boy Jeremy Strong did take home the award for Best Actor in a Play, Corey Stoll, who actually plays a father in Appropriate, went home empty handed, losing to Stereophonic’s Will Brill! I am sorry Corey Stoll! You seemed quite nice and quite fatherly during our brief interactions! But go Will Brill, good for you Will Brill1!
WINNER: Cicadas2
In a terrible press year for cicadas (I hear the 13 year AND the 17 year cicadas are back), they had a bit of a moment at the Tonys! Both Appropriate lighting designer Jane Cox and playwright Branden Jacobs Jenkins wore cicada jewelry, and Cox even wore a cicada themed dress (I should note the play features a cicada soundscape). This bug girl who did her first science fair project on the 17 year cicadas was very pleased.
LOSER: Ariana Debose’s mic
Does anyone know what Ariana Debose said during the opening number? Because I certainly do not! Ariana, please speak from your diaphragm and ask the sound tech to check your mic level!
WINNER: Spitty Kings
I have never seen 2 men spit more while singing than Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe. So much so that seeing Merrily We Roll Along at New York Theater Workshop was actually a 4D experience. I adore both of these actors! They are proof that two people can come wildly different backgrounds (rural goat farm, British film set), spit on stage together 8 shows a week, and end up best friends!
LOSER: First Ladies
Hillary Clinton for some unknown reason decided to try her hand at being a Broadway producer, with Suffs the musical. Decked out in a pope-like caftan, she came onstage to introduce the show, but unfortunately it did not win, leaving her Tony-less. Also tragically without a Tony? Mary Todd Lincoln. Despite being the talk of the town, Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! doesn’t open on Broadway for a few more weeks, and therefore was not eligible. To add insult to injury, Illinoise the musical doesn’t even feature the Sufjan Stevens song, ‘A short reprise for Mary Todd, who went insane, but for very good reasons.’
WINNER: Whitney from The Sex Lives of College Girls
Speaking of producers, Alyah Chanelle Scott is on a ROLL. The 26 year old has 1 cute dress, 1 cute film bro boyfriend who is obsessed with her, and now 2 Tony awards for producing (for Parade and Appropriate). I so deeply wish that were me!
LOSER: The passionate Vulture live-tweeter3 who was obsessed with Here Lies Love
Here Lies Love was by far my favorite new musical of the year. Here Lies Love fans, I’m so sorry we lost!
WINNER: Nepotism
Maria Friedman I am sorry I was not your Tony voter4. I really did expect the award for Best Direction of a Musical to go to Friedman, for her wonderful work reinvigorating Merrily, but I’m not mad that it went to Danya Taymor (Julie Taymor’s niece). Taymor has done consistently really excellent work - I loved Jonah and thought Pass Over was very well done - and I’m happy to see her get recognition for her work on The Outsiders. Other beneficiaries of nepotism at the Tony Awards included Ben Platt and Kara Young’s father (who got a lovely shout out in her speech).
LOSER: Eddie Redmayne’s scary scary smile
Cue the sleep paralysis demon jokes! While I technically understand why Cabaret’s producers chose to showcase the show’s opening number, the camera close ups on Eddie Redmayne contorting his face and moving like a marionette were objectively terrifying and earned the show lots of ire Online. It is ok, Cabaret I will continue to preach your over-priced gospel and spread the word!
WINNER: God
I will be quoting the way Best Featured Actress winner Kecia Lewis said “I would like to thank…YOUGOD.” For a while. Thank…YOUKECIA for this lovely new catch phrase.
LOSER: Complex Lyricism
I’m sorry, but Suffs writer Shaina Taub is really carrying the future of interesting musical theater lyrics on her back. I’ve developed this habit of making a face when I hear a particularly bad rhyme in a song, and I cannot lie, I made that face more than once last night. There’s a reason that I primarily saw musical revivals this year! I’m pleased that Taub won Tonys for both music and book - I’ve been a fan of hers since I saw her Twelfth Night adaptation. When one woman wins, we all win (is this the message of Suffs? I honestly don’t think so but tbh I haven’t seen the show).
WINNER: Mayzie La Bird
I’m Mayzie la Bird and I live in That tree. Enough about the Tonys, let’s talk about ME. So many actors were in outfits that can only be described as Mayzie inspired. Kecia Lewis, Jocelyn Bioh, , and Will Bulter all had outfits that felt a bit like they went to the doctor, the doctor named Dake (whose office was high on a hill by a lake) and ended up with ruffly extravagance, to varying levels of success (to be clear I really liked Bioh’s). As a former Gertrude McFuzz I do not know if I admire or resent this trend.
LOSER: ‘Bright (Fast)’
Although I was happy to see the cast of Stereophonic perform on the Tonys (bullying works!), I honestly thought their performance felt a little static and a little too short. I knew they’d do ‘Masquerade,’ but I wish they had performed ‘Bright (Fast)’.
WINNER 13-year-old Emily
Not to loop back to Daniel Radcliffe, but 13-year-old Emily was very displeased that he didn’t get a Tony nomination for How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Suffice to say, 13-year-old Emily would be feeling elated today. 25-year-old Emily is too.
That’s all! Stay tuned for more, and please text me your hottest Tonys takes and your best memes. Thanks for reading!
Can u tell I just like saying this man’s name?
Thank you Zoë for this suggestion.
Specifically I think it was Rebecca Alter.
Side note - Maria Friedman’s show was produced by her sister, could one say nepotism here too?