Mr. Odom led a parade of people with CMU ties on Tony night, including fellow victor and “Hamilton” co-star Renee Elise Goldsberry, who won for best featured actress in a musical.
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The show, which casts people of color as our nation’s Founding Fathers, needs to win 13 awards to break the record for most Tony wins for a musical. Host James Corden opened with a monologue that declared “hate can never win”.
“It sort of dawns on you … as it slowly dawned on us, we realized that we were in this world together at this important time”. “I stand on this stage tonight and in this theatre surrounded by dreamers”. Miranda previously won the same award for the score to his “In the Heights“.
Thomas Kail won the Tony for directing the smash hit “Hamilton”.
The night illustrated a season when diversity wasn’t just a hope but a reality, from the all-female team behind “Waitress” to “Shuffle Along”, a chapter from Broadway and black history. “Let’s continue to tell stories”, he said.
Frank Langella earned his fourth Tony for best leading actor in a play for “The Father”, while Jessica Lange won her first Tony for best leading actress in a play for “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”.
Despite the celebratory atmosphere, there were nods throughout to the tragedy that shadowed the ceremony: the mass shooting that killed 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning. It was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. In response to the shooting, “Hamilton” dropped its use of muskets in its performance during the awards show.
Some nominees were wearing a silver ribbon to show their solidarity with the victims. Miranda was nominated for leading actor but lost to Odom Jr. “The celebration tonight is tempered by it”. “We are with you every step of the way”, Langella said.
“Hamilton”, with its record-setting 16 nominations, tells the story of ill-fated US founding father Alexander Hamilton with a deft melding of hip-hop and rap, R&B, ballads and traditional Broadway showstoppers.
The show also picked up the prizes for Best Choreography, Orchestrations, Lighting Design of a Musical and Costumes of Musical.
Cynthia Erivo won best actress in a musical for her Broadway debut with an uplifting performance in “The Color Purple”.
The plays and play revivals included a look at Liberian sex slaves in “Eclipsed”, a fractious family’s Thanksgiving get-together in “The Humans”, a tale about what might happen when the current English queen dies in “King Charles III” and two Arthur Miller unconventional revivals of “The Crucible” and “A View from the Bridge”. Under his helm, the barefoot cast warily circled one another under bright lights in a set that resembled a boxing ring.
Deaf performers also shined on Broadway in the revival of the musical “Spring Awakening“, which also featured the first-ever performer in a wheelchair to perform in a Broadway show.
“I’m thrilled the show will be shared with United Kingdom audiences starting in the fall of 2017 at the attractive Victoria Palace Theatre”.
James Corden delivers his opening speech at the 2016 Tony Awards in New York City.
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While many presenters were affiliated with music and the theater, several were household names for different reasons – including Oprah Winfrey.
