“ A Strange Loop ” was named stylish musical comedy at the 75th Tony Awards 2022 on Sunday, while “ The Lehman Trilogy ” captured the prize for stylish play. “ Company ” won stylish musical reanimation and “ Take Me Out ” nabbed the award for stylish reanimation of a play.
“ Company, ” which flipped the gender of the promoter of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical to tell a more womanish-focused story, earned five prizes. Its palm was bittersweet, coming roughly seven months after its creator failed at the age of 91.
“ The Lehman Trilogy, ” an grand drama charting the history of one of the fiscal institutions that helped spark the 2008 recession, also won five Tony Awards, including prizes for Sam Mendes ’ direction and for the lead performance of Simon Russell Beale.
The form, which unfolded with characteristic razzle radiance, caps one of the most tumultuous ages in the history of the theater business. After being closed for nearly two times due to COVID, Broadway began sluggishly continuing at the end of last summer, but its recovery has unfolded in fits and thresholds.
“ What a season it’s been, ” Ariana Debose, the host of the Tonys, said in her opening harangue. “ For numerous of you it’s been a comber coaster – thresholds, stops, dramatic twists and turns. ”
Omicron devastated the assiduity during the height of vacation season and nearly every product has had to cancel performances or had crucial cast members miss shows due to outbreaks of the contagion( “ Six, ” one of the stylish musical appointees, had to calculate on an understudy to pull off its performance on the Tony Awards broadcast). In a sign of the changed times, winners and presenters gave shoutouts to COVID safety fellow. All this query has come with a fiscal cost. Ticket deals for the 2021 to 2022 season outgunned out at$ 845 million, a 54 plunge from the$1.8 billion that Broadway theaters recorded in 2018 to 2019, the last full season previous to the epidemic arrestment of 2020.
Marianne Elliott, recognized for directing “ Company, ” conceded the empirical challenges facing Broadway while accepting her award. “” Our assiduity has been through so much, ” said Elliott. “ It felt at times that live theater was risked. ” She went on to devote her prize to all of those “ … fighting for the survival of this beautiful, transportive and essential art form. ”
Despite the obstacles, some 34 shows premiered on Broadway this season, 29 of which entered at least one Tony nomination. The shows ranged from lavish adaptations to further avant- garde immolations.
Deirdre O’Connell picked up stylish actress in a play for her work as a Florida lodge chaplain who’s held hostage in the hectically experimental drama, “ DanaH. ” It was a show in which O’Connell mouthed her lines to a recording of Dana Higginbotham, the real- life hijacking victim she played on stage.
“ Please let me standing then be a little sign to you from the macrocosm to make the weird art, ” O’Connell said.
Myles Frost won leading actor in a musical for channelizing pop star Michael Jackson in “ MJ, ” while the stylish leading actress in a musical prize went to “ Paradise Square’s ” Joaquina Kalukango, whose performance of the show’s hymn “ Let it Burn ” was an emotional highlight of the form. “ Paradise Square ” examines the conflict between Irish Americans and Black Americans during the Civil War, a piece of history that Kalukango conceded in her speech.
“ I give thanks to the nameless ancestors who have suffered, ” Kalukango said. “ This song, this show gives power to that. ”
Supporting actor in a play went to Jesse Tyler Ferguson for his performance as an accountant turned baseball fanatic in “ Take Me Out, ” while Phylicia Rashad earned stylish supporting actress in a play for her turn as a floundering plant worker in “ Skeleton Crew. ” In 2004, Rashad came the first Black actress to win the Tony Award for stylish actress in a play for “ A Raisin in the Sun. ” This was her alternate prize in three nominations.
Patti LuPone won her third Tony, this bone for supporting actress in a musical, for her performance as a hard- drinking lady who lunches in “ Company. ” She preliminarily was honored for 1981’s “ Evita ” and the 2008 reanimation of “ Gypsy. ” LuPone’sco-star Matt Doyle picked up a stylish supporting actor statue for his show- stopping work in “ Company, ” the culmination of which was his interpretation of the lingo- wringing number, “ Getting Married moment. ”
For “ A Strange Loop, ” the awards love could turbo- charge ticket deals. The show, which was embraced by critics, is the meta tale of a Black gay man writing a musical about a Black gay man writing a musical. It formerly captured a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 after it played Off- Broadway. still, “ The Lehman Trilogy ” wo n’t be suitable to subsidize on its palm. The show ended its limited run in January. And being in the winner’s circle does n’t always represent the difference between failure and success. One of the season’s biggest successes, “ The Music Man, ” which boasts some serious star wattage in Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, was shut out fully despite earning six nominations.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, Broadway, which has historically been dominated by white generators, faced pressure to elevate further different voices. And that was reflected in numerous of the shows that made its way to the stage, as a record number of products from Black playwrights premiered during the season.
“ I feel like the expression ‘ Great White Way ’ is getting further of a surname as opposed to a style- to- companion, ” fooled DeBose.
“ A Strange Loop ” creator MichaelR. Jackson used his acceptance speech for winning stylish book of a musical to admit the significance of the kind of representation achieved this season.
“ I felt unseen, I felt unheard, I felt misknew, and I just wanted to produce a little bit of a life raft for myself as a Black gay man to try to just get through the day, ” he said, explaining the reasons he conducted his life into his art.
New York City was pummeled by the epidemic, bearing the mass of the early days of the contagion. So it was fitting that numerous of the shows recognized on Sunday night unfolded in and around the five megalopolises. “ Company ” tells the deeply particular story of a Manhattanite disaccorded about her need for love and relationship, while “ Take Me Out ” looks at colorful members of the megacity’s vibrant gay community. “ The Lehman Trilogy, ” whichco-writer Ben Powers described in his acceptance speech as “ a hymn ” to New York, memorializes the strivers who have handed the Big Apple with its distinctive chirr for decades. At the same time, “ A Strange Loop, ” a look at an artist floundering to break through, is a memorial of the romanticists whose expedients and bournes have steered the megacity through an period of pest into an uncertain future.
Angela Lansbury, the winner of five statues for shows similar as “ Sweeney Todd ” and “ Mame, ” entered the Tony for continuance achievement. The evening also included a homage to Sondheim, with Bernadette Peters singing “ Children Will hear, ” one of his best- loved songs from “ Into the Woods. ”
Tony Awards 2022 Complete List of Winners and Nominees
Best New Musical
- “A Strange Loop” — Winner
- “Girl From the North Country”
- “MJ”
- “Mr. Saturday Night”
- “Paradise Square”
- “Six: The Musical”
Best Musical Revival
- “Company” — Winner
- “Caroline, or Change”
- “The Music Man”
Best New Play
- “The Lehman Trilogy” — Winner
- “Clyde’s”
- “Hangmen”
- “The Minutes”
- “Skeleton Crew”
Best Play Revival
- “Take Me Out” — Winner
- “American Buffalo”
- “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
- “How I Learned to Drive”
- “Trouble in Mind”
Best Book of a Musical
- Michael R. Jackson, “A Strange Loop” — Winner
- Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas and Larry Kirwan, “Paradise Square”
- Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, “Mr. Saturday Night”
- Conor McPherson, “Girl From the North Country”
- Lynn Nottage, “MJ”
Best Original Score
- “Six: The Musical,” music and lyrics: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss — Winner
- “Flying Over Sunset,” music by Tom Kitt; lyrics by Michael Korie
- “Mr. Saturday Night,” music by Jason Robert Brown; lyrics by Amanda Green
- “Paradise Square,” music by Jason Howland and Larry Kirwan; lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare
- “A Strange Loop,” music and lyrics: Michael R. Jackson
Best Direction of a Play
- Sam Mendes, “The Lehman Trilogy” — Winner
- Lileana Blain-Cruz, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
- Camille A. Brown, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
- Neil Pepe, “American Buffalo”
- Les Waters, “Dana H.”
Best Direction of a Musical
- Marianne Elliott, “Company” — Winner
- Stephen Brackett, “A Strange Loop”
- Conor McPherson, “Girl From the North Country”
- Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, “Six: The Musical”
- Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ”
Best Leading Actor in a Play
- Simon Russell Beale, “The Lehman Trilogy” — Winner
- Adam Godley, “The Lehman Trilogy”
- Adrian Lester, “The Lehman Trilogy”
- David Morse, “How I Learned to Drive”
- Sam Rockwell, “American Buffalo”
- Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “Lackawanna Blues”
- David Threlfall, “Hangmen”
Best Leading Actress in a Play
- Deirdre O’Connell, “Dana. H” — Winner
- Gabby Beans, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
- LaChanze, “Trouble in Mind”
- Ruth Negga, “Macbeth”
- Mary-Louise Parker, “How I Learned to Drive”
Best Leading Actor in a Musical
- Myles Frost, “MJ” — Winner
- Billy Crystal, “Mr. Saturday Night”
- Hugh Jackman, “The Music Man”
- Rob McClure, “Mrs. Doubtfire”
- Jaquel Spivey, “A Strange Loop”
Best Leading Actress in a Musical
- Joaquina Kalukango, “Paradise Square” — Winner
- Sharon D Clarke, “Caroline, or Change”
- Carmen Cusack, “Flying Over Sunset”
- Sutton Foster, “The Music Man”
- Mare Winningham, “Girl From the North Country”
Best Featured Actor in a Play
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Take Me Out” — Winner
- Alfie Allen, “Hangmen”
- Chuck Cooper, “Trouble in Mind”
- Ron Cephas Jones, “Clyde’s”
- Michael Oberholtzer, “Take Me Out”
- Jesse Williams, “Take Me Out”
Best Featured Actress in a Play
- Phylicia Rashad, “Skeleton Crew” — Winner
- Uzo Aduba, “Clyde’s”
- Rachel Dratch, “POTUS”
- Kenita R. Miller, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
- Julie White, “POTUS”
- Kara Young, “Clyde’s”
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
- Matt Doyle, “Company” — Winner
- Sidney DuPont, “Paradise Square”
- Jared Grimes, “Funny Girl”
- John-Andrew Morrison, “A Strange Loop”
- A.J. Shively, “Paradise Square”
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
- Patti LuPone, “Company” — Winner
- Jeannette Bayardelle, “Girl From the North Country”
- Shoshana Bean, “Mr. Saturday Night”
- Jayne Houdyshell, “The Music Man”
- L Morgan Lee, “A Strange Loop”
- Jennifer Simard, “Company”
Best Scenic Design of a Play
- Es Devlin, “The Lehman Trilogy” — Winner
- Beowulf Boritt, “POTUS”
- Anna Fleischle, “Hangmen”
- Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, “Skeleton Crew”
- Scott Pask, “American Buffalo”
- Adam Rigg, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
- Bunny Christie, “Company” — Winner
- Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, “Flying Over Sunset”
- Arnulfo Maldonado, “A Strange Loop”
- Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, “MJ”
- Allen Moyer, “Paradise Square”
Best Costume Design of a Play
- Montana Levi Blanco, “The Skin of Our Teeth” — Winner
- Sarafina Bush, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
- Jane Greenwood, “Plaza Suite”
- Jennifer Moeller, “Clyde’s”
- Emilio Sosa, “Skeleton Crew”
Best Costume Design of a Musical
- Gabriella Slade, “Six: The Musical” — Winner
- Fly Davis, “Caroline, or Change”
- Toni-Leslie James, “Paradise Square”
- William Ivey Long, “Diana, the Musical”
- Santo Loquasto, “The Music Man”
- Paul Tazewell, “MJ”
Best Lighting Design of a Play
- Jon Clark, “The Lehman Trilogy” — Winner
- Joshua Carr, “Hangmen”
- Jiyoun Chang, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
- Jane Cox, “Macbeth”
- Yi Zhao, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
- Natasha Katz, “MJ” — Winner
- Neil Austin, “Company”
- Tim Deiling, “Six: The Musical”
- Donald Holder, “Paradise Square”
- Bradley King, “Flying Over Sunset”
- Jen Schriever, “A Strange Loop”
Best Sound Design of a Play
- Mikhail Fiksel, “Dana H.” — Winner
- Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, “The Lehman Trilogy”
- Justin Ellington, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
- Palmer Hefferan, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
- Mikaal Sulaiman, “Macbeth”
Best Sound Design of a Musical
- Gareth Owen, “MJ” — Winner
- Simon Baker, “Girl From the North Country”
- Ian Dickinson for Autograph, “Company”
- Paul Gatehouse, “Six: The Musical”
- Drew Levy, “A Strange Loop”
Best Choreography
- Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ” — Winner
- Camille A. Brown, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
- Warren Carlyle, “The Music Man”
- Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, “Six: The Musical”
- Bill T. Jones, “Paradise Square”
Best Orchestrations
- Simon Hale, “Girl From the North Country” — Winner
- David Cullen, “Company”
- Tom Curran, “Six: The Musical”
- Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, “MJ”
- Charlie Rosen, “A Strange Loop”