Hosting for the first time was Alan Cumming and Kristen Chenoweth. I knew from the start they would be great, because both are Broadway actors. They have trained to entertain and know how to captivate an audience. The introduced the night by singing a medely of "Wilkomen" (from Cabaret), "It Takes Two" (from Into the Woods), "Popular" (from Wicked), "Nothing Like a Dame" (from South Pacific), and one or two others that I was unable to write down because they happened so quick.
Following that, they introduced the first Best Musical performance. The cast of Something Rotten! performed the song, "A Musical". Within the song, there are musical references. I can recall the following: Annie, A Chorus Line, Les Miserables, Rent, and others. It had a tap break in it. Usually, musicals that do so have a long run. If that's the case, then I'm thrilled! I don't only want to see this show, but I want to be IN this show!
The next performance was The King and I. They performed a medley. The first song was "Getting to Know You", sung by the King's children and Anna (portrayed by Kelli O'Hara). Following that, Ruthie Ann Miles (in her Broadway Debut) sang her character's heartbreaking song. After that, Anna and the King sang "Shall We Dance", as we get a glimpse of the beautiful and iconic ball gown.
The third musical performance was On the Town. I only had one word... Wow. At the time of it's performance, I thought it would win Best Choreography and Best Revival. It's also the longest running revival of the musical. Following the Tommy Tune medley, Gigi took the stage. It was enjoyable to watch, but I would have loved to see more of the nominee, Victoria Clark, than Vanessa Hudgens.
After winning Best Book and Best Original Score, Fun Home tore the house down. It just broke records, being the first all-female writing team to win the Tony for Best Book and Best Score. Their performance was simple, which made it all the more effective.
An American in Paris performed next. In the first two minutes, it was all dance. I was afraid that there would be no singing. Then, they sang the song all "new Gershwin musicals" have: "I Got Rhythm". Seriously... They team wrote so many other songs. Pick a one. I understand that the song was in the film, but it's the probably the third Gershwin musical to have it.
Next was On the 20th Century. I didn't think that this show would win big, but it did have some pretty cool moments. One of them was that the 4 main tap dancers tapped out the train on track sound. The final collaboration between Kander and Ebb, The Visit performed. This is a show that finally made it to Broadway after many years. It was weird, and I wanted to learn more about it.
Finding Neverland performed. Though it had no Tony Nominations, it is still raking in over $1 million a week (that's on the same level as the Disney musicals). I thought it was weak compared to the live show. Maybe that's due to the camera angles. The last performance was from It Shoulda Been You, the other original musical. It received only a couple nominations, but the performance was strong.
Some special performances of the evening was Josh Groban, with the cast of each company on Broadway, performing "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel, and The cast of Jersey Boys performing in honor of their 10th year on Broadway.
Here are the Winners from the evening!
Best Leading Actress in a Play: Helen Mirren, The Audience
Best Featured Actor in a Play: Richard McCabe, The Audience
Best Lighting Design of a Play: Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Best Featured Actress in a Play: Annaleigh Ashfrod, You Can't Take It With You
Best Direction of a Musical: Same Gold, Fun Home
Best Book of a Musical: Lisa Kron, Fun Home
Best Original Score: Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, Fun Home
Best Direction of a Play: Marianne Elliot, The Curious Incident
Best Featured Actress in a Musical: Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Best Orchestration: An American in Paris
Best Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best Play: The Curious Incident
Best Scenic Design of a Play: The Curious Incident
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: An American in Paris
Best Revival of a Play: Skylight
Best Costume Design of a Play: Wolf Hall
Best Costume Design of a Musical: The King and I
Best Revival of a Musical: The King and I
Best Lead Actor in a Play: Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident
Best Lead Actor in a Musical: Michael Ceveres, Fun Home
Best Lead Actress in a Musical: Kelli O'Hara, The King and I
Best Musical: Fun Home
-Nathan Clift, 18, Trumbull High School
President of the NPT Youth Board
FUN FACT: This was the highest grossing season in Broadway history! That means that attendance is up and we can afford to bring wonderful new musicals to the stage!
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