en en en en de en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en
During Sunday's Tony Awards, host Kevin Spacey tried on the shoes of the stars of Groundhog Day and Dear Evan Hansen, of Johnny Carson “seer” Carnac the Magnificent and even Bill Clinton.
But Spacey’s show stopper was an unexpected presidential visit — not from Donald Trump, but Frank Underwood, Spacey’s scheming commander-in-chief from House of Cards, accompanied by his small-screen wife, Robin Wright.
It was just moments after Bette Midler had accepted her award for best actress in a musical for Hello, Dolly!, delivering a long speech thanking many, many people. Spacey returned to the microphone as Underwood and joked he wanted to get off the stage before Bette Midler thanked anyone else.
The evening came full circle from the 2016 Tonys as Lin Manuel-Miranda, creator of the hip-hop phenom, Hamilton, presented the award for best musical to Dear Evan Hansen. The early favorite faced a late challenge from Come From Away, an upbeat show from Canada about a town that takes in plane passengers stranded by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
But the night belonged to Evan Hansen, an aching musical about teen angst and social isolation. The show, featuring a score from Oscar winners and musical theater darlings Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, took home six awards, including best actor (for Ben Platt), best featured actress in a musical, best score and best book. Come From Away almost got shut out, but won best direction of a musical.
As for the Divine Miss Midler, her win for best actress in a musical was pretty much written in stone, as was the show’s win for best revival of a musical. The audience until the last minute kept its fingers crossed the star would perform her signature song from Dolly. Instead, Midler complimented her co-star, David Hyde Pierce, and gave a profanity-laced acceptance speech to great applause.
After last year’s production, where Hamilton won 11 awards, Tony voters seemed to want to spread the love. Jitney, a 1982 play by August Wilson just making its Broadway debut, won best play revival. Kevin Kline took home best actor in a play, for his turn as an aging matinee star in the revival of Present Laughter.
Oslo, a drama about secret peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, won best play. In one of the few upsets, Oslo won for best featured actor. Michael Aronov, who played an Israeli negotiator, beat out the heavily favored Danny DeVito for The Price. Aronov acknowledged the upset. “I”ve always been the one who has been championing Danny DeVito, so this is a little bit of a surprise.”
The evening was notably unpolitical, unlike the 2016 awards, which celebrated diversity. Even when Jill Biden, wife of former Vice President Joe Biden, took the stage, she celebrated veterans. In picking up his award, Kline mentioned the support the theater gets from the National Endowment of the Arts, an organization that could see its funding cut by the Trump Administration.
Cynthia Nixon, who, after accepting her award for best featured actress in a play for Lillian Hellman's Little Foxes, told reporters how impressed she’s been with the women’s marches, which she said “were astonishing in their scope and humor and numbers."
Winners: Who took home Tony Awards?
The big question at the end of the Tony Awards, of course, is: How did the host do? Spacey started the night with a string of jokes mostly about how none of the A-list veterans (think Billy Crystal, James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris) were available to host and continued the gag with assists from Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Stephen Colbert.
Note to Tony organizers: next year, try Colbert or Midler.
Careers Staff Directory Accessibility Site Map Legals Our Ethical Principles Terms of Service Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy PolicyDo Not Sell My Info / Cookie Policy
Contact Us Support Local Business Advertise Your Business Advertising Terms and Conditions Licensing & Reprints Help Center Subscriber Guide My Account Give Feedback