The night was hosted by a supremely confident and versatile (and recent Oscar winner) Ariana DeBose, who declared at the beginning that Broadway had gotten its groove back.
'A Strange Loop' beat out crowd-pleasing fare like 'Six: The Musical,' a pop reimagining of the six wives of Henry VIII, and 'MJ,' about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Jackson's 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner about a Black gay man writing a show about a Black gay man. The marquee award, best new musical, went to the highly innovative 'A Strange Loop,' Michael R. It just needs even more people filling the seats.īut if the ceremony was meant to recapture the razzle-dazzle of Broadway seasons past, marking the 75th anniversary of the Tonys with a dollop of nostalgia, it was also a celebration of groundbreaking work by a hugely diverse group of artists. The exuberant ceremony Sunday night was designed to answer that unthinkable possibility with an emphatic 'No' - to make clear that whatever the ongoing difficulties, Broadway is back, with verve and creativity, and it is here to stay. NEW YORK - Surely many in the audience were thinking it, but 'Company' director Marianne Elliott said it most directly at Sunday's Tony awards: In the devastating two years since the pandemic hit, it 'felt at times that live theater was endangered.'
