“Ragtime,” based on a novel by E.L. Doctorow, features a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and is directed by Lear deBessonet; it was previously staged by deBessonet as a gala production at New York City Center. The show was first on Broadway in 1998 but that production was not a financial success. The current production has been selling quite strongly and has already planned a tour.
More praise for ‘Liberation’: The Pulitzer-winning drama about a 1970s women’s consciousness-raising group, won best new play, the first time a play by an American woman has won that prize in 37 years. “I want to honor women everywhere who have the courage to use their voice,” the playwright, a jubilant Bess Wohl, said while accepting the award. “And to all the girls out there, may you speak your truth, and may the world be wise enough to listen.”
‘Salesman’ shines: A strong-selling Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman” picked up five early trophies, suggesting a significant amount of enthusiasm for a production that marked the comeback of the producer Scott Rudin and featured starring performances by Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf. The play’s director, Joe Mantello, won in his category, as did Metcalf, who won for a third time. The show also won prizes for sound, lighting and scenic design. While accepting his trophy, Mantello called “Salesman” “this magnificent work that still talks to us through time, and yet it just feels like it was written yesterday.”
Big prizes for celebrities: Lesley Manville won her first Tony Award for her Broadway debut, as the incestuous Jocasta in “Oedipus.” And John Lithgow won his third Tony Award for starring as Roald Dahl in “Giant,” 53 years after he won for the first time in “The Changing Room.” “I’ve had dozens and dozens of ecstatic moments onstage,” he said, “but I have to tell you, right now, this moment has got to be one of the best.”
Early wins for ‘Schmigadoon!’: The musical comedy about a bickering couple trapped in a town whose residents keep bursting into song picked up the trophies for a musical’s book, score and orchestrations. “Schmigadoon!” is among the leading contenders for the all-important best musical prize, which will be decided at the end of the night. The show is facing off against “The Lost Boys,” “Titaníque” and “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).”
“The Lost Boys” draws blood: “The Lost Boys” has won four prizes, including for two members of its cast, Shoshana Bean and Ali Louis Bourzgui, as well as for scenic design and lighting. Bourzgui gave the most directly political speech of the night, shouting out immigrants, queer and trans rights, and the people of Palestine while denouncing billionaires, colonizers and fascists. “We ask how we can see ourselves in a stranger’s story, and then carry that sentiment out into the world that needs us to ask that more than ever,” he said.
Pink hosts: Pink, the Grammy-winning, arena-filling pop singer, kicked off the ceremony at Radio City Music Hall with a nine-minute-long, 170-person opening number packed with inside jokes, celebrity shout-outs and loving nods to musicals past, present and even future. The casts of all the nominated musicals joined her for the spectacle, which was set to the tune of “Lady Marmalade,” a song prominently featured in the current Broadway production of “Moulin Rouge!”
A history-making trophy: Qween Jean won for best costume design of a musical (for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”), becoming the first openly transgender person to win a Tony Award, according to a “Cats” publicist. “We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” Qween Jean said in her acceptance speech, adding, “We have to take up space, we have to shift the paradigm.”
Anniversaries galore: Pink joined a variety of “Chicago” alumni, including Queen Latifah, in celebrating the half-century since that show’s original production. Leslie Odom Jr. will sing “Without You” from “Rent” as part of the ceremony’s In Memoriam segment, and Rachel Zegler will perform a song from “A Chorus Line” in recognition of that show’s 50th anniversary. The original cast of “The Book of Mormon” is reuniting to perform in honor of that show’s 15th anniversary.