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      Theater

      ‘A Strange Loop’ and ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ Win Top Tony Awards

      CUE APPLAUSE

      “A Strange Loop” won two out of its 11 Tony nominations, including Best Musical, while “The Lehman Trilogy,” “Company,” “MJ, the Musical,” and “Dana H.,” also won impressively.

      Tim Teeman

      Senior Editor and Writer

      Updated Jun. 13, 2022 11:40AM ET / Published Jun. 13, 2022 12:58AM ET 

      Marc J. Franklin

      The 75th Tony Awards kept its depth charges until late in the evening, and ended with joy, emotion, one or two surprises, and the terribly timed cutting of a mic.

      Michael R. Jackson, the creator of the Pulitzer-winning A Strange Loop, was about to speak after the show—about a Black writer’s self-doubt, demons, and battle to find himself—won Best Musical. But after producer Barbara Whitman had finished speaking, Jackson’s mic was cut and it was suddenly on with the show.

      Jackson had given a moving speech earlier in the evening when he accepted the Best Book of a Musical award, but given that this is a “big, black queer-ass American Broadway show,” the evening should have ended with the words of the Black queer man whose deeply personal work had just won the evening’s final, centerpiece award. As one of the show’s producers, Jennifer Hudson became an EGOT winner.

      The awards were framed as a celebration of the return of Broadway, post-pandemic—heralding the work of all those on-stage and off, ensuring the safe opening of theaters again to actors, crew, and audiences.

        A Strange Loop had started the evening as the frontrunner with 11 Tony nominations—it ended up winning two (and two of the most prestigious). The Lehman Trilogy was the biggest play winner with five Tonys, and the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company won the same number to make it the most awarded musical.

        The Tonys host, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, won many plaudits from viewers online for her opening number, and assured anchoring of the evening—including underlining the diversity on stage that has become a concerted mission of Broadway in the wake of George Floyd’s death. “‘The Great White Way’ is becoming more of a nickname as opposed to a how-to guide,” DeBose said.

        In one of the evening’s biggest surprises, Jaquel Spivey, who plays A Strange Loop’s lead character, had been expected to win Best Lead Actor (Musical), but he did not. The award went to Myles Frost for playing Michael Jackson in MJ, the Musical, a production dedicated to dance and dazzle, if not digging into Jackson’s darker side and demons. Christopher Wheeldon, MJ’s director, won for Best Choreography; the musical won four Tonys in all, beating in number at least A Strange Loop.

        Joaquina Kalukango gave one of the most passionate speeches of the evening, winning Best Lead Actress (Musical) for her role in Paradise Square. The musical was not critically loved, but—as the Tony audience saw—Kalukango’s electrifying rendition of her 11 o’clock number, “Let It Burn” sealed her victory.

        Deirdre O’Connell in “Dana H.” photographed at Lyceum Theatre in Manhattan.

        Chad Batka

        The evening featured the first ever non-binary Tony winner, Toby Marlow, a co-winner for Best Original Score for SIX: The Musical. L Morgan Lee, the first ever openly trans nominee for A Strange Loop in the Best Featured Actress (Musical) category, lost out to Broadway diva Patti LuPone for her role as Joanne in Company, which won Best Revival of a Musical. The production’s victory was expected—as was LuPone’s co-star Matt Doyle’s win as Best Featured Actor (Musical), for his frenzied and much-praised rendition of “Getting Married Today,” in Marianne Elliott’s gender-switching production. Elliott herself won Best Direction for a Musical.

        The Broadway cast of “Company.”

        Matthew Murphy

        Best Play, as expected, went to The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes (who also won Best Director, Play), the play charting in a deeply involving production the history of the famous bank, its three lead actors playing multiple characters in a revolving glass cube. All three were nominated for Best Actor in a Play, with Simon Russell Beale emerging victorious, confessing to feeling “sheepish” at having beaten castmates Adrian Lester and Adam Godley, and vowing to share the gong with them.

        Adam Godley, Simon Russell Beale, and Adrian Lester in “The Lehman Trilogy.”

        Julieta Cervantes

        Deirdre O’Connell emerged victorious in the intensely competitive Best Actress (Play) category for her astonishing inhabitation of Dana H., the mother of playwright Lucas Hnath, who was kidnapped and raped by a man. She later recited her ordeal in interviews, which O’Connell then lip-synched in a mesmerizing tour de force first performed, off-Broadway, before the pandemic. In her winner’s speech, O’Connell beseeched that theater creators remained dedicated to the pursuit of “weird art.” Phylicia Rashad won the Tony in the featured actress (Play) category, for her role as Faye, the leader of a group of Detroit workers in Skeleton Crew.

        Myles Frost and cast in “MJ, the Musical.”

        Matthew Murphy

        Best Revival of a Play went to gay baseball drama Take Me Out, with Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson winning his first Tony award in the featured actor (Play) category—again, against two other castmates in the category—for his role as a besuited business manager growingly bewitched by the game. He thanked his parents for letting him to come to New York at 17: “I told you it was going to be OK.”

        75th Tony Awards: the nominees and winners by category

        Best Play

        Clyde’s

        Hangmen

        The Lehman Trilogy WINNER

        The Minutes

        Skeleton Crew

        Best Musical

        Girl from the North Country

        MJ the Musical

        Mr. Saturday Night

        Paradise Square

        SIX: The Musical

        A Strange Loop WINNER

        Best Revival of a Play

        American Buffalo

        for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

        How I Learned to Drive

        Take Me Out WINNER

        Trouble in Mind

        Best Revival of a Musical

        Caroline, or Change

        Company WINNER

        The Music Man

        Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role 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 Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

        Gabby Beans, The Skin of Our Teeth

        LaChanze, Trouble in Mind

        Ruth Negga, Macbeth

        Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H. WINNER

        Mary-Louise Parker, How I Learned to Drive

        Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

        Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night

        Myles Frost, MJ WINNER

        Hugh Jackman, The Music Man

        Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire

        Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop

        Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

        Sharon D Clarke, Caroline, or Change

        Carmen Cusack, Flying Over Sunset

        Sutton Foster, The Music Man

        Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square WINNER

        Mare Winningham, Girl from The North Country

        Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

        Alfie Allen, Hangmen

        Chuck Cooper, Trouble in Mind

        Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out WINNER

        Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde’s

        Michael Oberholtzer, Take Me Out

        Jesse Williams, Take Me Out

        Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

        Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s

        Rachel Dratch, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive

        Kenita R. Miller, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

        Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew WINNER

        Julie White, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive

        Kara Young, Clyde’s

        Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role 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 Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

        Jeannette Bayardelle, Girl from The North Country

        Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night

        Jayne Houdyshell, The Music Man

        L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop

        Patti LuPone, Company WINNER

        Jennifer Simard, Company

        Best Direction of a Play

        Lileana Blain-Cruz, The Skin of Our Teeth

        Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

        Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy WINNER

        Neil Pepe, American Buffalo

        Les Waters, Dana H.

        Best Direction of a Musical

        Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop

        Marianne Elliott, Company WINNER

        Conor McPherson, Girl from The North Country

        Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage, SIX: The Musical

        Christopher Wheeldon, MJ

        Best Choreography

        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

        Christopher Wheeldon, MJ WINNER

        Best Orchestrations

        David Cullen, Company

        Tom Curran, SIX: The Musical

        Simon Hale, Girl from The North Country WINNER

        Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, MJ

        Charlie Rosen, A Strange Loop

        Best Book of a Musical

        Girl From The North Country, Conor McPherson

        MJ, Lynn Nottage

        Mr. Saturday Night, Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel

        Paradise Square, Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan

        A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson WINNER

        Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

        Flying Over Sunset Music: Tom Kitt Lyrics: Michael Korie

        Mr. Saturday Night Music: Jason Robert Brown Lyrics: Amanda Green

        Paradise Square Music: Jason Howland; Lyrics: Nathan Tysen & Masi Asare

        SIX: The Musical Music and Lyrics: Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss WINNER

        A Strange Loop Music & Lyrics: Michael R. Jackson

        Best Scenic Design of a Play

        Beowulf Boritt, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive

        Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, Skeleton Crew

        Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy WINNER

        Anna Fleischle, Hangmen

        Scott Pask, American Buffalo

        Adam Rigg, The Skin of Our Teeth

        Best Scenic Design of a Musical

        Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset

        Bunny Christie, Company WINNER

        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

        Emilio Sosa, Trouble in Mind

        Jane Greenwood, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite

        Jennifer Moeller, Clyde’s

        Best Costume Design of a Musical

        Fly Davis, Caroline, or Change

        Toni-Leslie James, Paradise Square

        William Ivey Long, Diana the Musical

        Santo Loquasto, The Music Man

        Gabriella Slade, SIX: The Musical WINNER

        Paul Tazewell, MJ

        Best Lighting Design of a Play

        Joshua Carr, Hangmen

        Jiyoun Chang, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

        Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy WINNER

        Jane Cox, Macbeth

        Yi Zhao, The Skin of Our Teeth

        Best Lighting Design of a Musical

        Neil Austin, Company

        Tim Deiling, SIX: The Musical

        Donald Holder, Paradise Square

        Natasha Katz, MJ WINNER

        Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset

        Jen Schriever, A Strange Loop

        Best Sound Design of a Play

        Justin Ellington, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

        Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H. WINNER

        Palmer Hefferan, The Skin of Our Teeth

        Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, The Lehman Trilogy

        Mikaal Sulaiman, Macbeth

        Best Sound Design of a Musical

        Simon Baker, Girl from The North Country

        Paul Gatehouse, SIX: The Musical

        Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Company

        Drew Levy, A Strange Loop

        Gareth Owen, MJ WINNER

        Lifetime achievement award: Angela Lansbury

        75th Tony Awards—the awards by production

        The Lehman Trilogy - 5

        Company – 5

        MJ - 4

        A Strange Loop – 2

        Dana H. – 2

        Take Me Out – 2

        SIX: The Musical - 2

        Paradise Square – 1

        Skeleton Crew - 1

        The Skin of Our Teeth - 1

        Girl from The North Country - 1

        Tim Teeman

        Senior Editor and Writer

        @TimTeemantim.teeman@thedailybeast.com

        Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.

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