The 70th Annual Tony Awards have just taken place, so let’s talk about some of the winners, shall we? It was certainly a BIG night for Hamilton (as we all predicted). It may not have beaten the all time record of 12 (which is still held by The Producers), but it came awfully close with 11 Tonys (including Best Musical), beating out Billy Elliot and Hello, Dolly! which both won 10. I don’t know if any of you noticed, but when Barbra Streisand announced Hamilton as the winner, she didn’t even open the envelope (a similar thing Meryl Streep did at the Oscars three years ago when she announced Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for Lincoln). The two categories where Hamilton was nominated, but did not win were Best Lead Actress in a Musical (that very deservingly went to Cynthia Erivo for her incredible Broadway debut in The Color Purple) and Best Scenic Design of a Musical (that went to veteran set designer David Rockwell for the Roundabout’s revival of She Loves Me). There were two other categories I predicted Hamilton would not win, but was wrong on both of them. They were Best Choreography and Best Costume Design of a Musical. I predicted Shuffle Along… would win both of those awards, and that show went home empty handed (so did other fellow Best Musical nominees Bright Star, School of Rock, and Waitress, but at least all the musicals should be proud of the great performances they did on the telecast).
I should also point out that after stating in a previous blog that Danny Burstein was my prediction to win Best Lead Actor in a Musical, I ended up switching to Leslie Odom, Jr. at the last minute based on the New York Times voter poll, and I’m glad I did. Sure, I was a little bummed that Six-Time nominee Danny Burstein now has the most Tony nominations without a win, but I think he should still feel really proud of his incredible performance as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Plus, it’s still very exciting to have four performers of color sweeping the musical acting awards for the first time ever (the featured acting awards were won by Daveed Diggs and Renee Elise Goldsberry as predicted). After having the ‘Oscars So White’ two years in a row, ‘Tonys So Diverse’ should hopefully send a message to Hollywood!
On the play side, I did very well with my predictions there as well. Like the musical categories, I still got two of my predictions wrong. I ended up predicting Mark Strong would win Best Lead Actor in a Play for A View From the Bridge, thinking he was going to go along with that production winning Best Revival of a Play (which I did predict correctly), but Frank Langella won his fourth Tony Award for The Father. I also ended up predicting Justin Townsend to win Best Lighting Design of a Play for The Humans, but Natasha Katz won her sixth Tony Award for the Roundabout’s production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Overall, I had a GREAT time watching the Tonys this year! I’m also very glad to see that this was the highest rated telecast since 2001 (when The Producers dominated). We have to owe it all to how big of a cultural phenomenon Hamilton has become. I wouldn’t be surprised if James Corden ends up being invited to host again next year. I’m already looking forward to next season as nothing seems to be set in stone for next year’s Tony Awards (yet).
Here’s a complete list of this year’s winners:
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/185131/hamilton-dominates-2016-tony-awards-but-just-short-of-record-complete-list-of-winners/
I should also point out that after stating in a previous blog that Danny Burstein was my prediction to win Best Lead Actor in a Musical, I ended up switching to Leslie Odom, Jr. at the last minute based on the New York Times voter poll, and I’m glad I did. Sure, I was a little bummed that Six-Time nominee Danny Burstein now has the most Tony nominations without a win, but I think he should still feel really proud of his incredible performance as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Plus, it’s still very exciting to have four performers of color sweeping the musical acting awards for the first time ever (the featured acting awards were won by Daveed Diggs and Renee Elise Goldsberry as predicted). After having the ‘Oscars So White’ two years in a row, ‘Tonys So Diverse’ should hopefully send a message to Hollywood!
On the play side, I did very well with my predictions there as well. Like the musical categories, I still got two of my predictions wrong. I ended up predicting Mark Strong would win Best Lead Actor in a Play for A View From the Bridge, thinking he was going to go along with that production winning Best Revival of a Play (which I did predict correctly), but Frank Langella won his fourth Tony Award for The Father. I also ended up predicting Justin Townsend to win Best Lighting Design of a Play for The Humans, but Natasha Katz won her sixth Tony Award for the Roundabout’s production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Overall, I had a GREAT time watching the Tonys this year! I’m also very glad to see that this was the highest rated telecast since 2001 (when The Producers dominated). We have to owe it all to how big of a cultural phenomenon Hamilton has become. I wouldn’t be surprised if James Corden ends up being invited to host again next year. I’m already looking forward to next season as nothing seems to be set in stone for next year’s Tony Awards (yet).
Here’s a complete list of this year’s winners:
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/185131/hamilton-dominates-2016-tony-awards-but-just-short-of-record-complete-list-of-winners/