Judy: Broadway attempted to
stage a big comeback at last
night's 75th annual Tony awards.
There were some very familiar
works being honored as well as
innovations showcasing
inclusion.
Nicole Ellis has a look for our
arts and culture series, canvas.
>> The Tony goes to --
Nicole: Taking home the coveted
best musical award was "A
strange loop," Michael R.
Jackson's 2020 pulitzer-prize
winning musical spotlighting the
societal judgment and self-doubt
of a black gay writer creating
his own musical.
Other leading musicals also took
home awards, "Six: The musical,"
about Henry the eighth's six
wives, won best original score,
while "Mj," about legendary
performer Michael Jackson, won
best actor with Myles frost.
>> Thank you America.
Nicole: Joaquina kalukango won
leading actress for her
performance in "Paradise
square."
Representation seemed to be the
theme of the night.
Host and recent Oscar winner
Ariana Debose, reinforced that
sentiment.
>> I am so proud that the
theater is becoming more
reflective of the community who
adores it.
Nicole: Jesse green is the chief
theater critic at the New York
Times.
>> Broadway has always said it
loved diversity.
But didn't do very much about
it.
In recent years, and especially
this year, there has been a
notable jump, not just in the
number of works by black authors
and other people who formerly
couldn't get to Broadway, but
also in the casting and staffing
and in the naming of new
theaters for great black
performers of the past, James
Earl Jones and Lena Horne.
And that seems to me to be an
actual change, not just lip
service.
Now, will it continue to build
or just stay there as a plateau?
It's going to take several years
to find the answer to that.
Nicole: Broadway is still
reeling from the pandemic, with
attendance at roughly half of
what it was in 2019.
Green says it will be a long
road to recovery.
>> It's way too soon to say
Broadway got its groove back.
Broadway survived a forest fire.
And there are some things that
bizarrely turned out to be
useful about that forest fire,
as there can be in nature, too,
in allowing new things to grow.
And that's part of why we saw
such an unusual array of works
and artists on Broadway this
year that in previous years we
wouldn't have seen.
Whether you can count on that to
continue when there isn't a
forest fire going on.
I'm not so sure, but I'm hoping
that the movements that have
produced these changes will not
relax in their requests and
requirements of Broadway.
And we will continue to see at
least a healthy mix of kinds of
material and a diversity of
artists.
>> Thank you first and foremost
to Stephen sondheim.
Nicole: A special tribute
honored the famed composer,
songwriter and lyricist Stephen
sondheim, who died in November.
His production company won best
revival for a musical.
Other highlights of the night
included a shout out to
understudies, and others not
often recognized publicly.
Angela lansbury received the
lifetime achievement award.
In Jennifer Hudson's win as
producer for "A strange loop,"
propelled her to got status,
having now won an Emmy, grammy,
Oscar and Tony.
But will the spirit of last
night's awards help spur better
times on Broadway?
>> I'm really interested in
maintaining a balance between
traditional shows that are
enjoyable for everybody and that
draw tourists and shows that are
more challenging.
I don't think the business works
if it's only one or only the
other.
In one case, it is stagnant with
old ideas, and in the other
case, it's bankrupt.
So you have to find a way in
between.
But also stylistically, there
were a lot of shows that were
that were seen this season, and
some of them awarded, that were
extremely unusual in terms of
style, and it was stunning to
see them in these beautiful 19th
century theaters and to see them
taken up to some extent with
praise and awards, to a lesser
extent with money.