2016 Tony Award Winners: Hamilton Takes 11; POC Win All Four Musical Acting Awards

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Hamilton, the biggest Broadway hit in years, dominated the 2016 Tony Awards last night winning 11 of its 16 nominations, including Best Musical and three of the four acting prizes. That total was one shy of tying the win record set by Mel Brooks’ The Producers in 2001. The show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda won two of those awards; Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.

The horror of the mass shooting at a gay Orlando night club the evening prior initially cast a pallor on the night but with many presenters and recipients paying honor and tribute to the LGBTQ community and their importance to the world of theater it became a celebration of art and life that was elevated from simply being an awards show in a way that really only the Tonys could do. Something else that felt that way was the fact that all four musical acting wins went to people of color (Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton; Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple; Daveed Diggs, Hamilton and Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton), making it the polar opposite of this year’s (and last year’s) Oscars where every acting nominee was white. One more thing; all play acting winners went to performers over 60. Take a note, Hollywood.

Jessica Lange won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for Long Day’s Journey Into Night and with that moved closer to the exclusive EGOT club. She now has an Emmy, Oscar and Tony. Someone get her an audiobook to seal the deal.

The 70th annual Tony Awards was hosted by Tony winner and Late Late Show host James Corden and was a light and buoyant affair with Corden proving to be a supremely charming and affable host. With an adventurous and superb opening number and a wonderful tribute to the previous night’s shooting saying: “All we can say is you are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy. Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality, and gender is equal, embraced, and loved,” he said. “Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that. Tonight’s show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle.”

Barbra Streisand made her first Tony Awards appearance since 1970 to give the final award of the evening, Best Musical, to Hamilton. “Looks I dressed appropriately,” she said, wearing a Hamilton-inspired outfit.

Here is the full list of winners of the 70th Tony Awards:

Best Play
Eclipsed
The Father
The Humans – WINNER
King Charles III

Best Musical
Bright Star
Hamilton – WINNER
School of Rock—The Musical
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Waitress

Best Revival of a Play
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge – WINNER
Blackbird
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Noises Off

Best Revival of a Musical
The Color Purple – WINNER
Fiddler on the Roof
She Loves Me
Spring Awakening

Best Book of a Musical
Bright Star
Hamilton – WINNER
School of Rock—The Musical
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Bright Star
Hamilton – WINNER
School of Rock—The Musical
Waitress

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Gabriel Byrne, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Jeff Daniels, Blackbird
Frank Langella, The Father – WINNER
Tim Pigott-Smith, King Charles III
Mark Strong, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey Into Night – WINNER
Laurie Metcalf, Misery
Lupita Nyong’o, Eclipsed
Sophie Okonedo, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Michelle Williams, Blackbird

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Alex Brightman, School of Rock—The Musical
Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof
Zachary Levi, She Loves Me
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton – WINNER

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Laura Benanti, She Loves Me
Carmen Cusack, Bright Star
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple – WINNER
Jessie Mueller, Waitress
Phillipa Soo, Hamilton

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Reed Birney, The Humans – WINNER
Bill Camp, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
David Furr, Noises Off
Richard Goulding, King Charles III
Michael Shannon, Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Pascale Armand, Eclipsed
Megan Hilty, Noises Off
Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans – WINNER
Andrea Martin, Noises Off
Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Daveed Diggs, Hamilton – WINNER
Brandon Victor Dixon, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress
Jonathan Groff, Hamilton
Christopher Jackson, Hamilton

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton – WINNER
Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me
Jennifer Simard, Disaster!
Adrienne Warren, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, Thérèse Raquin
Christopher Oram, Hughie
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
David Zinn, The Humans – WINNER

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Es Devlin & Finn Ross, American Psycho
David Korins, Hamilton
Santo Loquasto, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
David Rockwell, She Loves Me – WINNER

Best Costume Design of a Play
Jane Greenwood, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Michael Krass, Noises Off
Clint Ramos, Eclipsed – WINNER
Tom Scutt, King Charles III

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Tuck Everlasting
Jeff Mahshie, She Loves Me
Ann Roth, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Paul Tazewell, Hamilton – WINNER

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Natasha Katz, Long Day’s Journey Into Night – WINNER
Justin Townsend, The Humans
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Howell Binkley, Hamilton – WINNER
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Ben Stanton, Spring Awakening
Justin Townsend, American Psycho

Best Direction of a Play
Rupert Goold, King Charles III
Jonathan Kent, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Joe Mantello, The Humans
Liesl Tommy, Eclipsed
Ivo Van Hove, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge – WINNER

Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Spring Awakening
John Doyle, The Color Purple
Scott Ellis, She Loves Me
Thomas Kail, Hamilton – WINNER
George C. Wolfe, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton – WINNER
Savion Glover, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Hofesh Shechter, Fiddler on the Roof
Randy Skinner, Dames at Sea
Sergio Trujillo, On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan

Best Orchestrations
August Eriksmoen, Bright Star
Larry Hochman, She Loves Me
Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton – WINNER
Daryl Waters, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Bright Star
Hamilton – WINNER
School of Rock—The Musical
Waitress

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Sheldon Harnick
Marshall W. Mason

Special Tony Award
National Endowment for the Arts
Miles Wilkin

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey)

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
Brian Stokes Mitchell

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Seth Gelblum
Joan Lader

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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