A Strange Loop was named best musical at the 75th Tony Awards on Sunday.
The Lehman Trilogy won best play, Company won best musical revival and Take Me Out nabbed the award for best revival of a play.
A Strange Loop is the story of a Broadway usher, named Usher, who is trying to write a musical about a Broadway usher trying to write a musical; his thoughts, many of them self-critical, are portrayed by six performers, who each appear in multiple guises. It’s creator Michael R. Jackson won the Pulitzer Prize for it.
And, with A Strange Loop winning the top musical award (along with Best Book for a Musical) actress Jennifer Hudson became only the 17th person to achieve an EGOT — winning an Emmy, a Grammy, and Oscar, and a Tony in competitive categories. Hudson was a producer.
Company, which flipped the gender of the protagonist of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical to tell a more female-focused story, earned five prizes. Sondheim died 6 months ago at the age of 91. Patti LuPone won Best Actress in a musical for Company, her third win.
The Lehman Trilogy, charts the history of one of the financial institutions that helped spark the 2008 recession, won five awards, including prizes for Sam Mendes’ direction and for the lead performance of Simon Russell Beale.
A lifetime achievement award was given to Angela Lansbury, a beloved star of stage, film and television who was also a five-time host of the Tony Awards, more than any other person. Lansbury, who is 96, was not able to attend in person, or even to accept by video; instead the actor Len Cariou, who starred with Lansbury in the original production of Sweeney Todd, for which they both won Tonys, paid tribute to her and introduced a video of career highlights.
The New York City Gay Men’s Chorus performed the title song from Mame, which was the show in which she won the first of her five competitive Tony Awards.
Here’s a full list of the night’s nominees and winners.
Best Play
- “Clyde’s,” Lynn Nottage
- “Hangmen,” Martin McDonagh”
- The Lehman Trilogy,” Stefano Massini & Ben Power *WINNER
- “The Minutes,” Tracy Letts
- “Skeleton Crew,” Dominique Morrisseau
Best Musical
- “Girl From the North Country”
- “MJ”
- “Mr. Saturday Night”
- “Paradise Square”
- “SIX: The Musical”
- “A Strange Loop” *WINNER
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 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,” Michael R. Jackson *WINNER
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
- “Flying Over Sunset”
- “Paradise Square”
- “SIX: The Musical” *WINNER
- “A Strange Loop”
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 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 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”
- lDonald 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 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 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”
(via NBC News)
