After 18 months away from the theater, no person returned to Broadway unchanged.
So it’s fitting that “Moulin Rouge!”, the Tony Awards’ big winner Sunday night, is hitting audiences a little differently now, too. The musical took home 10 awards out of 14 nominations.
“Now, the heart and the story is even more resonant, at its heart the show is about a group of people who are trying to make theater and are fighting for their home and are coming together against really extreme odds,” said producer Bill Damaschke.
“We had that in our own company. We had something that we loved, and we were so excited about where we were, and then it was all taken away from us. Every word means something new. Every line has new meaning and depth to it. For the company, it’s been a real experience of re-exploring the material.”
The show’s leading man Aaron Tveit took home a Tony for best performance by a leading actor in a musical in an unexpected way, being the sole nominee in the category.
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However, “until it happened, I wasn’t going to count any chickens,” he said. Tveit did not automatically win, instead needing to garner at least 60 percent support of the returned Tonys ballots, which he did.
While “Moulin Rouge!” was celebrated for its wins, “Slave Play” drew attention and anger online for being shut out of wins. The production was the most-recognized with nominations for a play, 12.
Social media lit up with a firestorm of posts pointing to the shutout as evidence that an industry that is amid a reckoning on social and racial justice still has a long way to go.
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“The Inheritance” took home Best Play honors, making Matthew Lopez the first Latinx playwright to win.
The evening also celebrated the return of Broadway in a big way, presenting a concert in its final two hours that included duets from some of theater’s most cherished names. Leslie Odom Jr., who hosted the final portion of the night, sang “You Matter to Me” from “Waitress” with wife Nicolette Robinson, followed by duets by “Wicked” stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell reunited with a “Ragtime” classic, “Rent” stars Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp came together again, and more.
The evening’s “In Memorium” section also was particularly poignant, with those lost to COVID-19 peppered among enough names to fill the Winter Garden Theatre’s curtain at the end of a compilation of songs that included interludes of “Give My Regards to Broadway” and “Try to Remember,” Stokes’ “The Impossible Dream” and “Somewhere” from Kelli O’Hara and Norm Lewis.
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Here are the nominees for the American Theatre Wing’s 74th Tony Awards:
Winner: “The Inheritance” by Matthew López
Also nominated: “Grand Horizons” by Bess Wohl; “Sea Wall/A Life,” by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne; “Slave Play” by Jeremy O. Harris; “The Sound Inside” by Adam Rapp
Winner: “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Also nominated: “Jagged Little Pill”; “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”
Winner: “A Soldier’s Play”
Also nominated: “Betrayal”; “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”
Winner: “Jagged Little Pill,” Diablo Cody
Also nominated: “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” John Logan; “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical,” Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins
Winner: “A Christmas Carol,” music by Christopher Nightingale
Also nominated: “The Inheritance,” music by Paul Englishby; “The Rose Tattoo,” music by Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb; “Slave Play,” music by Lindsay Jones; “The Sound Inside,” music by Daniel Kluger
Winner: Andrew Burnap, “The Inheritance”;
Also nominated: Ian Barford, “Linda Vista”; Jake Gyllenhaal, “Sea Wall/A Life”; Tom Hiddleston, “Betrayal”; Tom Sturridge, “Sea Wall/A Life”; Blair Underwood, “A Soldier’s Play”
Winner: Mary-Louise Parker, “The Sound Inside”
Also nominated: Joaquina Kalukango, “Slave Play”; Laura Linney, “My Name is Lucy Barton”; Audra McDonald, “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”;
Winner: Aaron Tveit, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Winner: Adrienne Warren, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”
Also nominated: Karen Olivo, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”; Elizabeth Stanley, “Jagged Little Pill”
Winner: David Alan Grier, “A Soldier’s Play”
Also nominated: Ato Blankson-Wood, “Slave Play”; James Cusati-Moyer, “Slave Play”; John Benjamin Hickey, “The Inheritance”; Paul Hilton, “The Inheritance”
Winner: Lois Smith, “The Inheritance”
Also nominated: Jane Alexander, “Grand Horizons”; Chalia La Tour, “Slave Play”; Annie McNamara, “Slave Play”; Cora Vander Broek, “Linda Vista”
Winner: Danny Burstein, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”;
Also nominated: Derek Klena, “Jagged Little Pill”; Sean Allan Krill, “Jagged Little Pill”; Sahr Ngaujah, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”; Daniel J. Watts, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”
Winner: Lauren Patten, “Jagged Little Pill”
Also nominated: Kathryn Gallagher, “Jagged Little Pill”; Celia Rose Gooding, “Jagged Little Pill”; Robyn Hurder, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”; Myra Lucretia Taylor, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”
Winner: Rob Howell, “A Christmas Carol”
Also nominated: Bob Crowley, “The Inheritance”; Soutra Gilmour, “Betrayal”; Derek McLane, “A Soldier’s Play”; Clint Ramos, “Slave Play”
Winner: Derek McLane, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Also nominated: Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, “Jagged Little Pill”; Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”
Winner: Rob Howell, “A Christmas Carol”
Also nominated: Dede Ayite, “Slave Play”; Dede Ayite, “A Soldier’s Play”; Bob Crowley, “The Inheritance”; Clint Ramos, “The Rose Tattoo”
Winner: Catherine Zuber, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Also nominated: Emily Rebholz, “Jagged Little Pill”; Mark Thompson, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”;
Winner: Hugh Vanstone, “A Christmas Carol”
Also nominated: Jiyoun Chang, “Slave Play”; Jon Clark, “The Inheritance”; Heather Gilbert, “The Sound Inside”; Allen Lee Hughes, “A Soldier’s Play”;
Winner: Justin Townsend, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Also nominated: Bruno Poet, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”; Justin Townsend, “Jagged Little Pill”
Winner: Simon Baker, “A Christmas Carol”
Also nominated: Paul Arditti & Christopher Reid, “The Inheritance”; Lindsay Jones, “Slave Play”; Daniel Kluger, “Sea Wall/A Life”; Daniel Kluger, “The Sound Inside”
Winner: Peter Hylenski, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Also nominated: Jonathan Deans, “Jagged Little Pill”; Nevin Steinberg, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”
Winner: Stephen Daldry, “The Inheritance”;
Also nominated: David Cromer, “The Sound Inside”; Kenny Leon, “A Soldier’s Play”; Jamie Lloyd, “Betrayal”; Robert O’Hara, “Slave Play”
Winner: Alex Timbers, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Also nominated: Phyllida Lloyd, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”; Diane Paulus, “Jagged Little Pill”
Winner: Sonya Tayeh, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Also nominated: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, “Jagged Little Pill”: Anthony Van Laast, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical”
Winner: Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”;
Also nominated: Tom Kitt, “Jagged Little Pill”; Ethan Popp, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.”
Ilana Keller is an award-winning journalist and lifelong New Jersey resident who loves Broadway and really bad puns. She highlights arts advocacy and education, theater fundraisers and more through her column, “Sightlines.” Reach out on Twitter: @ilanakeller; ikeller@gannettnj.com