77th Tony Awards: ‘Stereophonic,’ ‘The Outsiders,’ ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Lead Top Wins

Erik Anderson June 16, 2024

The American Theater Wing has handed out the 77th annual Tony Awards where Stereophonic, The Outsiders and Merrily We Roll Along led the wins while Jeremy Strong, Sarah Paulson, Jonathan Groff and Angelina Jolie all notched a second award in their EGOT status.

After garnering 13 nominations, the most of any show in Tony Awards history, Stereophonic earned five wins: Best Play, Best Direction of a Play for Daniel Aukin, Featured Actor in a Play for Will Brill plus Scenic Design for a Play and Sound Design for a Play

The Outsiders, a musical adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age novel and the Francis Ford Coppola film of the same name, won Tonys for Best Musical,Best Direction of a Musical for Danya Taymor, Sound Design for a Musical and Lighting Design for a Musical. As a producer on the project, Angelina Jolie earned a Tony to add to her Oscar as the second statue towards EGOT.

Merrily We Roll Along, the revival of a rare critical and box office failure for the legendary Stephen Sondheim in 1981 (it closed after 16 performances and 44 previews), was one of the season’s biggest successes and won four awards: Best Revival of a Musical, Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Jonathan Groff (his first win in three nominations), Featured Actor in a Musical for Daniel Radcliffe, his first nomination, and Best Orchestrations for Jonathan Tunick. The win gives Groff the second in his EGOT status after the Grammy win as a part of the cast of Hamilton. The show tells the story of how three friends’ lives and friendship change over the course of 20 years; it focuses particularly on Franklin Shepard, a talented composer of musicals who, over those 20 years, abandons his friends and songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood movies. A film adaptation directed by Richard Linklater has already begun shooting, and will over the next 20 years, starring Paul Mescal, Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein.

In his speech Groff thanked his parents for their unwavering support saying, “I walk through life with an open heart because you let me know that I could,” while an equally emotional Radcliffe said “I will never have it this good again” and speaking to co-star Groff and Lindsay Mendez that “I don’t really have to act in this show, I just have to look at you and feel everything that I want to feel.”

Suffs and Hell’s Kitchen picked up two awards apiece while Appropriate earned three: Revival of a Play, Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for Sarah Paulson (earning her a second EGOT award after her Emmy win for 2016 American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson) and Lighting Design for a Play. Jeremy Strong was the winner for Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for An Enemy of the People, nabbing his second award for EGOT after his Emmy win for Succession.

Kara Young won Supporting Actress in a Play for Purlie Victorious and made history as the first Black actor to be nominated for a Tony three years in a row. She was previously nominated for her work in 2022’s Clyde’s and 2023’s Cost of Living.

The 77th Tony Awards were hosted by Ariana DeBose, her third go-round, and held in the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.

Here is the complete list of winners.

Best Play

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Mary Jane
Mother Play
Prayer for the French Republic
Stereophonic – WINNER

Best Musical

Hell’s Kitchen
Illinoise
The Outsiders – WINNER
Suffs
Water for Elephants

Best Revival of a Play

Appropriate – WINNER
An Enemy of the People
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Best Revival of a Musical

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Gutenberg! The Musical!
Merrily We Roll Along – WINNER
The Who’s Tommy

Best Direction of a Play

Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic – WINNER
Anne Kauffman, Mary Jane
Kenny Leon, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate
Whitney White, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

Best Direction of a Musical

Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along
Michael Greif, Hell’s Kitchen
Leigh Silverman, Suffs
Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants
Danya Taymor, The Outsiders – WINNER

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

William Jackson Harper, Uncle Vanya
Leslie Odom, Jr., Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Liev Schreiber, Doubt: A Parable
Jeremy Strong, An Enemy of the People – WINNER
Michael Stuhlbarg, Patriots

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Betsy Aidem, Prayer for the French Republic
Jessica Lange, Mother Play
Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane
Sarah Paulson, Appropriate – WINNER
Amy Ryan, Doubt: A Parable

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Brody Grant, The Outsiders
Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along – WINNER
Dorian Harewood, The Notebook
Brian d’Arcy James, Days of Wine and Roses
Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Eden Espinosa, Lempicka
Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen – WINNER
Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses
Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook
Gayle Rankin, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Will Brill, Stereophonic – WINNER
Eli Gelb, Stereophonic
Jim Parsons, Mother Play
Tom Pecinka, Stereophonic
Corey Stoll, Appropriate

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Doubt: A Parable
Juliana Canfield, Stereophonic
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Mother Play
Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic
Kara Young, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch – WINNER

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Roger Bart, Back To The Future: The Musical
Joshua Boone, The Outsiders
Brandon Victor Dixon, Hell’s Kitchen
Sky Lakota-Lynch, The Outsiders
Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along – WINNER
Steven Skybell, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Shoshana Bean, Hell’s Kitchen
Amber Iman, Lempicka
Nikki M. James, Suffs
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Monty Python’s Spamalot
Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen – WINNER
Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll Along
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Book of a Musical

Hell’s Kitchen
Kristoffer Diaz

The Notebook
Bekah Brunstetter

The Outsiders
Adam Rapp and Justin Levine

Suffs – WINNER
Shaina Taub

Water for Elephants
Rick Elice

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Days of Wine and Roses
Music & Lyrics: Adam Guettel

Here Lies Love
Music: David Byrne and Fatboy Slim
Lyrics: David Byrne

The Outsiders
Music & Lyrics: Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine

Stereophonic
Music & Lyrics: Will Butler

Suffs – WINNER
Music & Lyrics: Shaina Taub

Best Scenic Design of a Play

dots, Appropriate
dots, An Enemy of the People
Derek McLane, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
David Zinn, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
David Zinn, Stereophonic – WINNER

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian, The Outsiders
Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini, Hell’s Kitchen
Takeshi Kata, Water for Elephants
David Korins, Here Lies Love
Riccardo Hernández and Peter Nigrini, Lempicka
Tim Hatley and Finn Ross, Back To The Future: The Musical
Tom Scutt, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club – WINNER

Best Costume Design of a Play

Dede Ayite, Appropriate
Dede Ayite, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding – WINNER
Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic
Emilio Sosa, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
David Zinn, An Enemy of the People

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Dede Ayite, Hell’s Kitchen
Linda Cho, The Great Gatsby – WINNER
David Israel Reynoso, Water for Elephants
Tom Scutt, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Paul Tazewell, Suffs

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Isabella Byrd, An Enemy of the People
Amith Chandrashaker, Prayer for the French Republic
Jiyoun Chang, Stereophonic
Jane Cox, Appropriate – WINNER
Natasha Katz, Grey House

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Brandon Stirling Baker, Illinoise
Isabella Byrd, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Natasha Katz, Hell’s Kitchen
Bradley King and David Bengali, Water for Elephants
Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim, The Outsiders – WINNER

Best Sound Design of a Play

Justin Ellington and Stefania Bulbarella, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Leah Gelpe, Mary Jane
Tom Gibbons, Grey House
Bray Poor and Will Pickens, Appropriate
Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic – WINNER

Best Sound Design of a Musical

M.L. Dogg and Cody Spencer, Here Lies Love
Kai Harada, Merrily We Roll Along
Nick Lidster for Autograph, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Gareth Owen, Hell’s Kitchen
Cody Spencer, The Outsiders – WINNER

Best Choreography

Annie-B Parson, Here Lies Love
Camille A. Brown, Hell’s Kitchen
Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders
Justin Peck, Illinoise – WINNER
Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, Water for Elephants

Best Orchestrations

Timo Andres, Illinoise
Will Butler and Justin Craig, Stereophonic
Justin Levine, Matt Hinkley and Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance), The Outsiders
Tom Kitt and Adam Blackstone, Hell’s Kitchen
Jonathan Tunick, Merrily We Roll Along – WINNER

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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.