”The theater is filled with total badasses.”
From lavish performances to pointed politically-tinged speeches, Broadway’s biggest
night delivered it all Sunday on CBS, as the 72nd Tony Awards recognized
the best from this season in theater at Radio City Music Hall.
The big winners on the night: 'The Band’s Visit,' which took home 10 awards,
including Best Musical -- and 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,'
which conjured six wins, including Best Play.
Awards show winners and presenters rarely shy away from political comments,
and there was no exception at the Sunday broadcast.
Robert De Niro earned a standing ovation from the audience when he
walked onstage toward the end of the show and stated, “F--- Trump.”
Well, he didn’t say “F,” uh, which was bleeped out of the telecast.
After thrusting his fists in the air and declaring “F--- Trump” one more time,
the actor introduced Bruce Springsteen onto the stage for a performance
of “My Hometown.” “Bruce, you can rock the house like nobody else," said De Niro.
"Even more important in these perilous times, you rock the vote."
“Always fighting for, in your own words, truth, transparency, and integrity in government.
Boy, do we need that now.”
'Angels in America' star Andrew Garfield, meanwhile, began the night by
dedicating his win for best actor in a play to the LGBTQ community.
Garfield said: “At a moment in time where maybe the most important thing
that we remember now is the sanctity of the human spirit, it is the profound privilege
of my life to play Prior Walter in 'Angels in America,' because he represents
the purest spirit of humanity and especially that of the LGBTQ community.”
“So I dedicate this award to the countless LGBTQ people who have fought and died...
for the right to live and love as we are created to.”
He concluded by saying, “Let’s just bake a cake for everyone who
wants a cake to be baked,” referencing a recent Supreme Court case
upholding a Colorado baker’s decision to not make a
wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
When Nathan Lane accepted his award for Featured Actor in a Play
for 'Angels in America,' he noted that we live in the “midst of such political insanity.”
Meanwhile, Ari'el Stachel of 'The Band's Visit' admitted during his acceptance speech
for Featured Actor in a Musical that he used to avoid making public appearances
because of his Middle Eastern background. And Amy Schumer described
'My Fair Lady' as a show about “class and sexism”
while introducing that show’s performance.
“It tells the story of a scruffy flower girl, Liza Doolittle,
who is transformed by Henry Higgins, a mansplaining expert on dialect.”
The Tonys took time out of the ceremony to honor the students and teachers
who survived the Parkland, Florida high school shooting in February
and remember the tragedy. Drama students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School took the stage to perform “Seasons of Love” from 'Rent.'
This came after their drama teacher, Melody Herzfeld, was honored with the
Excellence in Theatre Education Award. During the shooting, Herzfeld stayed locked
in a classroom protecting her students.
Sunday, she saw them earn a Tonys standing ovation.
Other big winners on the night included Lifetime Achievement Award recipients
Chita Rivera and Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as Special Tony Award winners
John Leguizamo and Bruce Springsteen. The Boss, whose 'Springsteen on Broadway'
was the highest-grossing new show of the season with 55 million dollars,
also performed a monologue from his show,
which included a brief portion of his song "My Hometown."
In addition to Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane, a slew of other Hollywood faces
took home top honors during the night, including 'Three Tall Women’s'
Glenda Jackson and Laurie Metcalf for Best Actress in a Play and Best
Featured Actress in a Play, respectively; and Tony Shaloub,
who took home Best Actor in a Musical for 'The Band’s Visit.'
Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban hosted the show, a year after they each made
their Broadway acting debuts. Performing a number of original songs
throughout the night, the two kicked off the show saluting all the losers
at the Tonys, a group that included themselves...
“Neither one of us has ever won anything.”
And we can now add a historic new member to the group.
'Mean Girls' came into the night with 12 nominations!
And came away with...zero wins.
That equals the record set by 'The Scottsboro Boys' in 2011
for most Tony nominations without a trophy.
But don’t expect 'Mean Girls' creator Tina Fey to lose too much sleep over it.
First, the show’s cast gave a killer performance during the broadcast,
and second...well, there’s this...
“All four of tonight's best musical nominees are based on movies,
but only one of these movies paid for my boat.”
This year’s Tony Awards came at the end of yet another record-breaking Broadway
season, with grosses up more than 17 percent from last year
to total just under 1.7 billion dollars.
Did you agree with the this year’s Tony winners?
What was your favorite performance or moment from the show?
And who got snubbed?! Let us know in the comments.
And make sure to check out THR.com and THR across all social media for
complete Tonys coverage. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I’m Mike Janela.