75th Tony Awards: ‘A Strange Loop, ‘Company,’ ‘MJ,’ ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ top winners

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The 75th Annual Tony Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and broadcast live on CBS for the first time coast to coast. They were hosted by Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose.

A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about a black gay man writing a musical about a black gay man writing a musical detailed the heart and soul of a young artist grappling with desires, identity, and instincts he both loves and loathes, won Best Musical. The show earned a field best 11 nominations.

MJ, a jukebox musical featuring the music of pop superstar Michael Jackson, came in with 10 nominations and won four; Lead Actor in a Musical for its star Myles Frost, Choreography, Lighting Design and Sound Design.

Best Play winner The Lehman Trilogy earned five wins of its field-best eight nominations, three of which were in the same category. Adam Godley, Adrian Lester and Simon Russell Beale were all nominated for lead actor with Beale taking home the Tony.

The musical revival of Company ended up the top winner the evening with 5 awards from its nine nominations: Revival of a Musical, Direction of a Musical, Featured Actor, Featured Actress and Lighting.

Tony winner and Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield and Oscar winner Jessica Chastain both showed up as presenters just days before Emmy voters get their ballots. Both are top contenders in the lead acting categories for limited series.

This year’s crop of shows suffered deeply as COVID and its variants swept through the city with nearly every production having to cancel performances or losing marquee actors for several shows. Shoutouts throughout the show for stand-ins, understudies, COVID safety managers and unsung folks who made the new season of Broadway possible.

Several performances like the reunion of the cast of 2007 Best Musical Tony winner Spring Awakening (including stars Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical winner Joaquina Kalukango from Paradise Square brought the house down. Nominee Billy Crystal proved that age is nothing but a number with a high-stepping, audience participation number by the 74-year old from his show, Mr. Saturday Night.

Superstar Jennifer Hudson became the 17th person to EGOT, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and now a Tony Award, as part of the 37-member producing team behind A Strange Loop that also included Mindy Kaling, Don Cheadle, Ilana Glazer and RuPaul Charles. Hudson had previously won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for 2008’s Dreamgirls, her first Grammy for her 2008 self-titled debut album, and a Daytime Emmy last year for producing the children’s program Baba Yaga.

In all, there were 34 eligible shows, 15 of which debuted in April alone, 29 of which scored nominations. The nominations were chosen by a group of 29 American Theatre Wing members who saw all eligible shows and a group of 650 cast their ballots for the winners.

Here is the complete list of winners of the American Theatre Wing’s 75th Tony Awards.

Best Musical
“Girl From The North Country”
“MJ”
“Mr. Saturday Night”
“Paradise Square”
“Six: The Musical”
“A Strange Loop” – WINNER

Best Play
“Clyde’s”
“Hangmen”
“The Lehman Trilogy” – WINNER
“The Minutes”
“Skeleton Crew”

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 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 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” – WINNER
Michael R. Jackson

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics)
“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” – WINNER
Music and Lyrics: Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss

“A Strange Loop”
Music & Lyrics: Michael R. Jackson

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

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”