“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two” nabbed best play and “Angels in America” was recognized as best play revival in an emotional Tony Awards that mixed Broadway razzle-dazzle with politically-charged calls to arms.
It was also a night of upsets. In one notable bracket-buster, “Once on This Island” was named best revival of a musical over the heavily favored “My Fair Lady” and “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel.”
Ostensibly a celebration of theater, the Tonys were an opportunity for Broadway to talk up the virtues of inclusion and diversity, while also drawing attention to gay rights, gun control, and the challenges facing immigrants. Most of those messages were delivered eloquently, others came festooned with four-letter words. While introducing a performance by Bruce Springsteen, for instance, presenter Robert De Niro said, “fuck Trump” twice, sending CBS censors scrambling to bleep his off-color remarks as the crowd of actors, producers, and directors rose to their feet.
De Niro was largely an anomaly. Most winners and presenters avoided mentioning President Donald Trump or Trump-ism by name, while making it clear that their sympathies are with the resistance. Many wore pins trumpeting movements such as Time’s Up or ribbons highlighting left-leaning organizations such as the ACLU.
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Tony Kushner, the playwright behind “Angels in America,” was most explicit, urging people to get out and vote in the mid-term elections in November. Telling viewers they have “21 weeks to save our democracy and heal our planet.”
Andrew Garfield won the Tony Award for best leading actor in a play for his work as Prior Walter, the AIDS-stricken prophet at the center of “Angels in America.” In a teary speech, Garfield said playing Walter was the biggest honor of his life.
“He represents the purest spirit of humanity and especially that of the LGBTQ community,” he said. “It is a spirit that says no to oppression. It is a spirit that says no to bigotry, no to shame, no to exclusion. It is a spirit that says we are all made perfectly and we all belong.”
Best actress in a play winner Glenda Jackson, recognized for her turn as a senile doyenne in “Three Tall Women,” praised the multi-cultural nature of the theater business.
“There are people in this audience, in this country, in this city from every other country in the world,” said Jackson. And you as always are welcoming and kind and generous, and America has never needed that more, but then America is always great.”
This year’s Tony Awards are pitting several high-profile revivals and new shows against one another. “Mean Girls” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” enter the evening with a leading 12 nominations apiece. They are followed closely behind by “The Band’s Visit” and “Angels in America,” with 11 nominations each, and the two-part play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” with 10 nods. “My Fair Lady,” “Carousel,” and “The Iceman Cometh” are other prominent contenders.
“There are people in this audience, in this country, in this city from every other country in the world,” said Jackson. And you as always are welcoming and kind and generous, and America has never needed that more, but then America is always great.”
Garfield’s co-star Nathan Lane nabbed a best featured actor statue for his performance as Roy Cohn, a venal power-broker who was a mentor to President Trump. Calling “Angels in America” one of the greatest plays of the Twentieth Century, Lane said, “”it is still speaking to us as powerfully as ever in the midst of such political insanity.”
Garfield and Lane weren’t the only performers to sound political notes in their acceptance speeches. Lindsay Mendez, picking up Tony for best featured actress for her work in “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel,” noted that she was told to change her last name to Matthews when she first started working professionally. She refused.
“I want to say how proud I am to be part of a community that celebrates diversity and individuality,” said Mendez.
Choking back tears, best featured actor in a musical winner Ari’el Stachel (“The Band’s Visit”) said he had masked his Middle Eastern heritage after 9/11, even avoiding bringing his parents to events. That changed in part with “The Band’s Visit,” a story of the members of an Arab orchestra who forge friendships with the locals in a tiny Israeli town.
“I’m part of a cast of actors who never believed they’d be able to play their own races and we’re doing that,” said Stachel. He close with a message to younger viewers, telling them “Your biggest obstacle may turn into your purpose.”
Stachel’s director David Cromer was also honored for his work on the play, and used his time to send a message to people suffering from depression. “The Band’s Visit” concerns people who have lost hope, he said, beseeching those who are suffering to “call out.” His speech came days after celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade committed suicide.
“Three Tall Women’s” Laurie Metcalf won her second Tony Award in as many years for best featured actress in a play. She picked up the leading actress statue in 2017 for “A Doll’s House, Part 2.” Lane is also a multiple winner. He earned his third Tony for “Angels in America,” having previously been honored for his work in “The Producers” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
Co-hosts Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban kicked off the ceremony with a spirited opening number that poked fun at their combined lack of awards recognition. Noting that 90% of people in the audience would go home losers, they sang, “in a world that is scary and hard to endure if you make are at all you’re part of the cure.”
Bareilles and Groban are better known for their musical talents than they are celebrated for their wit. In addition to keeping the show moving, they were tasked with banishing all memories of last year’s emcee, Kevin Spacey, whose career has imploded in the wake of sexual harassment allegations.
Though congenitally ratings challenged, the Tony Awards are seen as an important opportunity for Broadway shows, particularly musicals, to goose their ticket sales. “My Fair Lady,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Frozen,” and “Mean Girls” were among the shows that offered up lavish numbers with an eye towards converting viewers at home into future audience members.
The telecast didn’t lack for star power. Denzel Washington, Michael Cera, Tina Fey, and Amy Schumer were all nominated and appeared during the broadcast. Bruce Springsteen, currently packing them in with his intimate show “Springsteen on Broadway,” is expected to perform. He was honored with a special Tony Award at the beginning of the broadcast, presented to him by fellow rocker Billy Joel.
However, one of the emotional highlights of the night came from performers who aren’t household names. Members of the drama department at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,survivors of a school shooting in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of seventeen people, received a thunderous ovation for their rendition of “Seasons of Love” from “Rent.”
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