Rocio Mateos
On Sunday, June 11, the 71st edition of the Tony Awards took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The ceremony, broadcast live on CBS, was hosted by Kevin Spacey, who did a spectacular job, worthy of “Broadway’s biggest night.”
The show started with Spacey dressed as Norma Desmond and Stephen Colbert as the groundhog from the production ‘Groundhog Day.’ Spacey attempted joked about how he wasn’t anywhere near the first choice to host the show. He just was the only one who said yes. Then Colbert joined to give – actually, sing – some advice: “Just read the prompter. Hey, even Steve Harvey would be okay. You’re no dope. Never give up hope. Never let yourself be defeated.”
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ was the big winner of the night
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ received nine nominations and took home six of them. The breakout musical is a challenging show about a teenager with social anxiety who insinuates himself into the grieving family of a classmate who committed suicide. It explores loss, lies, and loneliness within the high school community.
The musical didn’t seem like a good idea at the beginning, but it turned out to be a hit. Earning the award for Best Musical, Best Original Score (for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who had just received an Oscar for ‘La La Land’), Best Book of a Musical (for Steven Levenson’s original story), Featured Actress in a Musical (for Rachel Bay Jones), Best Orchestrations (for Alex Lacamoire), and Best Actor in a Musical (for Ben Platt).
The 23-year-old actor gave an adorable – and pretty dorky – speech, beginning with “Holy crap! O.K.—fast! Fast! O.K.! This is a Tony. Hello.” Once he got out of the shock state, he said, “To all young people watching at home, don’t waste any time trying to be like anybody but yourself. Because the things that make you strange are the things that make you powerful.”
Following ‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ ‘Hello, Dolly!’ was the second most awarded show of the night. The nostalgic production won Best Revival of a Musical, and Bette Midler, its beloved star, won Best Actress in a Musical. Her first competitive Tony, 50 years after stepping onto a Broadway stage. Her diva speech is for sure something to remember.
‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ was the most nominated show of the season, competing in 12 different categories. But the musical only won two awards, for Scenic Design for a Musical and Lightning Design for a Musical.
The plays ‘The Little Foxes,’ ‘Indecent,’ and ‘Oslo’ also won two awards each. Christopher Ashley was awarded for Best Direction for ‘Come From Away,’ the Canadian musical about how Newfoundland welcomed diverted air traveler after 9/11.
The best performances of the night
Last year’s show got some awesome performances by the take-it-all ‘Hamilton’ cast. As well as ‘The Color Purple,’ so this year it wasn’t going to be easy to follow that.
The ceremony did fine with numbers from different shows, including ‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ ‘Come From Away,’ ‘Hello, Dolly!’ and the two other nominated revivals, ‘Falsettos’ and ‘Miss Saigon.’ The new musicals ‘War Paint’ and ‘Bandstand’ also showcased their casts.
Probably the most amusing performance was the opening one. A self-deprecating but hilarious number by Spacey and the Rockettes, in which he attempted to honor the nominees, and changed his costume more times that you would expect.
The ceremony production also brought Tony Award winners Cynthia Erivo and Leslie Odom Jr. back to the stage- The couple performed “New York, New York” alongside the Rockettes, in a tribute to the especial city.
Spacey stole the show one last time, as he brought the ceremony to an end, alongside legendary Patti Lupone.
John Legend is one step away from an EGOT
Singer-songwriter John Legend got a Tony Award for serving as co-producer on ‘Jitney,’ winner of Best Revival of a Play.
As soon as he got home, his wife, Chrissy Teigen, took on social media not only to congratulate his beloved husband. But to point out that Legend one step closer to getting his EGOT.
John won a Tony!!! He has a GOT!
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) June 12, 2017
The EGOT is a major awards milestone, earned when any performer has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.
For the moments, Legend has a GOT. Since 2006, he has won 10 Grammy Awards, followed by an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2015, for his track “Glory” from the film ‘Selma.’ On Sunday, he became a proud owner of a Tony Award. So it’s only a matter of time for the star to get into some project that gives him the chance of winning an Emmy.
