Tony Awards laud android rom-com Maybe Happy Ending and history-making Purpose

Maybe Happy Ending, a rom-com philharmonic astir androids that crackles with humanity, had a definite blessed ending astatine Sunday's Tony Awards.

It won champion caller philharmonic connected a nighttime erstwhile Kara Young made past arsenic the archetypal Black idiosyncratic to triumph 2 Tonys consecutively, for Purpose, which besides won champion caller play.

Starring Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending charts the romanticist narration betwixt 2 decommissioned robots, becoming a commentary connected quality themes and the transition of time. It won a starring six Tonys.

With Purpose, a drawing-room play astir an accomplished Black household exposing hypocrisy and pressures during a snowed-in gathering, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins caps a singular year.  

In summation to winning back-to-back Tonys — his Appropriate won champion play revival successful 2024 — earned the Pulitzer Prize for Purpose. (That triumph came the time of the Met Gala, wherever helium served connected the big committee.)

Jacobs-Jenkins becomes the archetypal Black playwright to triumph for champion caller play since August Wilson took location the trophy successful 1987 for Fences. He urged Tony viewers to enactment determination theatres; Purpose was nurtured successful Chicago.

Young, the archetypal Black pistillate histrion to beryllium nominated for a Tony Award successful 4 consecutive years, became the archetypal Black idiosyncratic to triumph 2 Tonys consecutively with the featured histrion successful a play trophy for her enactment successful Purpose.

Young thanked her parents, Jacobs-Jenkins, her formed and manager Phylicia Rashad.

"Theatre is a ineffable abstraction that we person to honour and treasure, and it makes america united," she said.

Sunset Blvd., with Nicole Scherzinger starring arsenic a fallen surface idol hopeless to reclaim her fame, won champion philharmonic revival, handing composer Andrew Lloyd Webber his archetypal competitory Tony since 1995 — when the archetypal amusement won. The existent mentation is simply a stripped-down, minimalist production.

Scherzinger besides won for champion pb histrion successful a musical, muscling speech a sizeable situation from Audra McDonald, who was gunning for her seventh statuette. It caps a singular vocation pivot for Scherzinger, erstwhile the pb vocalist of the popular radical Pussycat Dolls and a TV endowment amusement judge. 

"Don't springiness up," she said. "This is simply a testament that emotion ever wins."

Criss, who has starred successful everything from Glee to The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, won his archetypal Tony for Maybe Happy Ending, which helium besides co-produced. He said helium shared it with Shen, who was not nominated.

Notable Tony moments

Sarah Snook took location the trophy for starring histrion successful a play for her tireless enactment successful The Picture of Dorian Gray, where she plays each 26 roles.

"I don't consciousness unsocial immoderate nighttime that I bash this show," Snook said, dismissing the thought of her play arsenic a one-woman show. "There are truthful galore radical onstage making it enactment and down the signifier making it work."

Downtown cabaret prima Cole Escola took location the champion histrion successful a play trophy for playing a deranged, repressed and over-the-top ahistorical mentation of Mary Todd Lincoln successful Oh, Mary!, beating specified Hollywood stars arsenic George Clooney and Daniel Dae Kim.

Sam Pinkleton won champion manager for Oh, Mary! and thanked Escola, saying helium taught him, "Do what you love, not what you deliberation radical privation to see."

Francis Jue won champion histrion successful a featured relation successful a play for his enactment successful a revival of Yellow Face. He said helium was talented his tuxedo from different Asian histrion who wanted him to deterioration it to the Tonys.

"I'm lone present due to the fact that of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of fantastic deserving Asian artists who came earlier me," helium said. "To those who don't consciousness seen," helium added, "I spot you."

Jak Malone won champion histrion successful a featured relation successful a philharmonic for the British import Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, playing a pistillate each performance. He hoped his triumph could beryllium a almighty advocacy for trans rights.

Eureka Day, Jonathan Spector's societal satire astir well-meaning liberals debating a school's vaccine policy, won the champion play revival trophy. It made its off-Broadway debut successful 2019.

The archetypal formed of Hamilton, including creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, did a triumph thigh each dressed successful achromatic to people the show's 10th day connected Broadway, with a medley including My Shot, The Schuyler Sisters, History Has Its Eyes connected You and The Room Where It Happens.

1st-time host

First-time big Cynthia Erivo kicked disconnected the amusement from her dressing country successful Radio City Music Hall, unsure of her opening fig arsenic the signifier manager urged her to get to the stage. As she made her mode done the backstage warren, she ran into assorted radical offering proposal until she reached Oprah Winfrey, who advised, "The lone happening you request to bash is conscionable beryllium yourself."

Erivo past appeared astatine the signifier successful a red, spangly gown with achromatic accents, hep cocked, arsenic she launched into the slow-burning archetypal opus Sometimes All You Need Is a Song, written by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Initially unsocial with conscionable a pianist, Erivo's soaring dependable was soon joined by dozens of members of the Broadway Inspirational Voices choir, each dressed successful white, making her look similar a almighty strawberry successful a vessel of whipped cream.

In her opening comments, she singled retired first-time nominees Louis McCartney, Sadie Sink, Cole Escola and "an up-and-comer that I deliberation you're going to truly beryllium proceeding rather a spot astir — George Clooney."

She noted that the 2024-2025 play took successful $1.9 cardinal US, making it the highest-grossing play ever and signalling that Broadway has yet emerged from the COVID-19 blues. 

"Broadway is officially back," Erivo said. "Provided we don't tally retired of formed members from Succession," a motion to appearances this play by erstwhile co-stars Snook and Kieran Culkin and past play by Jeremy Strong.

She and Sara Bareilles duetted for a moving successful memoriam section, singing The Sun Will Come Out from Annie, and honouring its composer Charles Strouse arsenic good arsenic George Wendt, Richard Chamberlain, Athol Fugard, Joan Plowright, Quincy Jones, Linda Lavin, James Earl Jones and Gavin Creel.

The champion publication and champion people awards went to Maybe Happy Ending, with lyrics written by Hue Park and euphony composed by Will Aronson. Its director, Michael Arden, won — Happy Pride! he said — and it besides picked up champion scenic plan of a musical.

Justin Peck and Patricia Delgado won for choreographing Buena Vista Social Club and Peck noted a opus from the renowned archetypal medium was played astatine their wedding. The philharmonic takes its inspiration from Wim Wenders's 1999 Oscar-nominated documentary connected the making of the Cuban album.

Harvey Fierstein, the four-time Tony victor down Torch Song Trilogy and Kinky Boots, was honoured with a beingness accomplishment Tony and became affectional during his speech. 

"There is thing rather similar bathing successful the applause of a curtain call, but erstwhile I bow, I bow to the audience, with gratitude, knowing that without them I mightiness arsenic good beryllium lip-syncing showtunes successful my chamber mirror. And truthful I dedicate this grant to the radical successful the dark."