by Nathaniel R
Last night the American theater community, and a boat load of adjacent stars (hello Tina Fey & Scarlett Johansson) celebrated Broadway triumphs at the 71st Annual Tony Awards. As expected the revival of Hello Dolly and Dear Evan Hansen owned the evening with 4 and 6 wins respectively. Composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are now halfway to the EGOT in less than half a year having picked up the Oscar for Best Original song for La La Land back in February. But the peak of the evening was Bette Midler's very funny, quite enthusiastic and extremely long acceptance for Best Actress in a Musical (the biggest lock of the evening going in). It's the first time I can recall a performer ignoring the orchestra trying to play her off so insistently that they finally gave up. Her speech had a whole and even better second act as if the orchestra's interruption was just a particularly noisy intermission!
Kevin Spacey began his hosting job with a very strange and anxiety ridden number about competing with the memories of Tony hosts like Neil Patrick Harris, James Corden, and Hugh Jackman...
Whoopi Goldberg made a cameo with an "in the closet" joke, which played very strangely given that she was standing right next to a man who's famously been inside one his whole career. For his part, Spacey relied heavily on his rather amazing if also dated impersonation skills trotting out his super Johnny Carson and Bill Clinton mimicry for mini-skits within the show. He also leaned into his past and present personal career peaks with American Beauty, Usual Suspects, and House of Cards jokes and cast reunions. But, alas, not a host for the ages even though he seemed like a smart choice on paper.
Glenn Close presented Bette Midler her Best Actress prize
Backstage before commercial breaks Crazy Ex Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom brought the theater nerd funny and maybe she should host in the future! More after the jump including a complete list of winners...
My favorite show of the season The Little Foxes won only two of its six nominations with Cynthia Nixon winning her second Tony (the first was for Rabbit Hole) for the verbally abused sad drunk auntie Birdie Hubbard so here's an interesting trivia note: Both of her Tony wins are for roles which other actresses were Oscar nominated but lost for! Though the Tony Awards do that awful thing where they no longer broadcast the craft winners The Little Foxes managed an unseen historic victory there; the costume designer Jane Greenwood won her very first competitive Tony on her 23rd nomination! Congrats to her. That was a long loooong time coming having already received a Lifetime Achievement Tony. Her first nomination was way back in 1965 for Tartuffe.
Though Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 was expected to win a small handful of Tonys if not Best Musical it managed only two for its wildly acclaimed and very showy scenic design and lighting. Six Degrees of Separation, The Glass Menagerie, and Sweat (the other shows we managed to review here at TFE) went home empty-handed as did other musicals of the season including Groundhog Day, War Paint, Miss Saigon, and Falsettos. The most pleasant surprise for me was Paula Vogel's new play Indecent winning for Lighting and Best Direction. The play itself had some issues I'd say but there were a number of times throughout where I absolutely caught my breath because both the staging and lighting were working with complete inspiration. Well earned Tonys, those!
The Winners (and a few stats)
First "La La Land". Now "Dear Evan Hansen". How soon till Pasek & Paul EGOT?
- Musical Dear Evan Hansen
- Play Oslo
- Revival of a Musical Hello, Dolly!
- Revival of a Play August Wilson's Jitney
- Actress in a Musical Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!
- Actor in a Musical Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
- Actress in a Play Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House, Part 2
This was Metcalf's fourth nomination and she bested another fourth-timer, The Lovely Laura Linney who has yet to win. The most nominated living actress at the Tonys without a win is, I believe, the great Jan Maxwell (recently seen on TV's shortlived but kinda weird and wonderful BrainDead) who has five nominations and has been nominated in every Actress category at the Tonys. (Audra McDonald is, I believe, the only actress who has actually won all four separate actress categories) - Actor in a Play Kevin Kline, Present Laughter
This was his fourth nomination and third win (the other two wins were for leading and featured roles in musicals decades ago). He's now won in 3 of the 4 male acting categories. He's never been nominated for Featured Actor in a Play but if he ever is that would complete the set. 
Long time marrieds Phoebe Cates & Kevin Kline at the Tonys- Book of a Musical Dear Evan Hansen, Steven Levenson
- Original Score Dear Evan Hansen, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
- Featured Actor in a Play Michael Aronov, Oslo
- Featured Actress in a Play Cynthia Nixon, Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes
- Featured Actor in a Musical Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!
This is his sixth Broadway show but he's been waiting for a win since his first show, Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2002... so it was sweet to see that show's instant superstar Sutton Foster being the one to give him the award he's long sought last night. - Featured Actress in a Musical Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen
- Scenic Design of a Play Nigel Hook, The Play That Goes Wrong
- Scenic Design of a Musical Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
- Costume Design of a Play Jane Greenwood, Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes
- Costume Design of a Musical Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!
(You'll know his work from the filmography of Woody Allen where he's been Oscar nominated three times, twice in Production Design once for Costume Design. At the Tonys he has been nominated for both of those categories often for a total of 21 nominations. This marks his fourth career win) - Lighting Design of a Play Christopher Akerlind, Indecent
- Lighting Design of a Musical Bradley King, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
- Direction of a Play Rebecca Taichman, Indecent
Rebecca Taichman. Possibly a genius. We shall see with further shows...(This is the fifth win for a female director in this category in the new century! So there's a lot more gender balance at the Tonys than the Oscars thus far) - Direction of a Musical Christopher Ashley, Come From Away
- Choreography Andy Blankenbuehler, Bandstand
- Orchestrations Alex Lacamoire, Dear Evan Hansen
Non-competitive Categories
- Lifetime Achievement: James Earl Jones
- Special Tony: Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin, Sound Designers for The Encounter
- Regional Theatre: Dallas Theater Center, Dallas, TX
- Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Baayork Lee
- Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre: Nina Lannan, Alan Wasser
OUR OWN PRIZES FOR THE EVENING
Best Speech Bette Midler, Hello Dolly
Runner Up Cynthia Nixon, The Little Foxes
Most Confusing Haircut Tom Sturridge, Presenter
Most Conspicuous Crotch Padding: Andrew Rannells, Falsettos performance
Most Conspicuous Hat Wearing: Rachel Bloom, Backstage Antics
Most Forgot to Add Spoiler Alert Tony Performance: Miss Saigon
Most Overcompensating What Were They Thinking Performance: David Hyde Pierce, Hello Dolly!
He was trying so hard to keep the crowd enthused against just a curtain and all by himself for a "spectacle" show. I thought he might burst a vessel and bless him but that was a stupid, mega-stingy, and arguably petty move on the producers part to keep Bette Midler from performing on the show. She's in Hello Dolly for a very limited time and it's selling out so it's not like letting global viewers see her on the Tonys would hurt ticket sales. It's basically the only way that 99.9% of people will ever get to see her do it!
Most Visibly Excited About Winning: Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
Runner Up: [TIE] Gavin Creel, Hello Dolly and/or Pasek & Paul Dear Evan Hansen
Most Visibly Disappointed By Losing: :(... Danny DeVito, Featured Actor in a Play
Tony Performance Most Likely to Sell Tickets: Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
Runner Up: The super sexy company of Bandstand
Exit Photo: Anna Kendrick and flowers.
She was Tony nominated at just 12 years of age. When can we get Anna Kendrick back on Broadway?
DID YOU WATCH? DID YOUR FAVORITES WIN?