Atlanta’s Kenny Leon, Audra McDonald, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder and All the Way were the big winners at the 68th Tony awards, telecast live Sunday night from Radio City Music Hall.
Leon, co-founder and artistic director of Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre Company, won directing honors for his revival of A Raisin in the Sun, and Raisin was named best revival of a play. Leon, a one-time artistic director at the Alliance Theatre, was nominated in 2010 for his direction of August Wilson’s Fences. He was not nominated for an earlier revival of Raisin, which featured Sean Combs in the Sidney Poitier film role as well as the luminous (and Tony-winning) Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald. Raisin is his seventh directorial gig on Broadway; the eighth comes next season with the new musical Holler If Ya Hear Me, based on the music of Tupac Shakur. This version of Raisin featured Denzel Washington as Walter Lee Younger. Sophie Okonedo, as his wife, Ruth, was named best featured actress/play in her Broadway debut.
A weeping McDonald, who’s only 43, made history by winning her sixth Tony and becoming the only Broadway performer ever to earn awards in all four acting categories — best actress/play, best actress/musical, featured actress/play and featured actress/musical. This year’s Tony comes for her mesmerizing turn as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Her previous Tonys came for Carousel (1994), Master Class (1996), Ragtime (1998), A Raisin in the Sun (2004) and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (2012).
Neil Patrick Harris, the popular three-time Tony awards host and sitcom actor, won his first Tony for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a noise-banging musical about an East German transvestite who has suffered a botched sex-change operation. Bryan Cranston (TV’s “Breaking Bad”) was named best actor/play for portraying LBJ in the first year of his presidency, trying to pass the Civil Rights Act. In all, seven musicals and six plays won at least one Tony Award for the 2013-14 season compared with four musicals and six plays last year. Gentleman’s Guide and Hedwig received the most awards, four, a relatively small number, while the three awards for Raisin were the most of any play.
The awards were hosted by Hugh Jackman, who mostly seemed to be trying too hard. And several of the numbers from musicals failed to give viewers an accurate impression of the shows. A highlight, however, was Carole King joining alter ego Jessie Mueller in a a number from Beautiful — The Carole King Musical. Mueller won the best actress/musical Tony for playing the young Carole King. The Tonys were determined by a pool of more than 800 voters, about 70 percent of whom usually cast ballots. (Many of the others decline to vote because they did not see many shows.) The voters are a mix of theater producers, directors, designers, actors and tour operators, some of whom have financial and personal interests in the outcomes. If you’re wondering which musicals we might see at the Fox Theatre over the next few seasons, I’d bet on Disney’s Aladdin and Beautiful — The Carol King Musical. Hedwig may be too edgy to fill the 4,000-seat Fox and Gentleman’s Guide may be too small (and British) to play well. Here’s a complete list of winners. They’re the ones with their names in bold type.
BEST PLAY
- Act One by James Lapine
- All the Way by Robert Schenkkan
- Casa Valentina by Harvey Fierstein
- Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally
- Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley
BEST MUSICAL
- After Midnight
- Aladdin
- Beautiful — The Carol King Musical
- A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
BEST REVIVAL | PLAY
- The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
BEST REVIVAL | MUSICAL
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Les Miserables
- Violet
BEST DIRECTION | PLAY
- Tim Carroll, Twelfth Night
- Michael Grandage, The Cripple of Inishmaan
- Kenny Leon, A Raisin in the Sun
- John Tiffany, The Glass Menagerie
BEST DIRECTION | MUSICAL
- Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
- Michael Mayer, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Leigh Silverman, Violet
- Darko Tresnjak, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
BEST BOOK | MUSICAL
- Aladdin, Chad Beguelin
- Beautiful — The Carole King Musical, Douglas McGrath
- Bullets Over Broadway, Woody Allen
- A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Robert L. Freedman
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
- Aladdin, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin
- The Bridges of Madison County, Jason Robert Brown
- A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman
- If/Then, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey
LEADING ACTOR | PLAY
- Samuel Barnett, Twelfth Night
- Bryan Cranston, All the Way
- Chris O’Dowd, Of Mice and Men
- Mark Rylance, Richard III
- Tony Shalhoub, Act One
LEADING ACTRESS | PLAY
- Tyne Daly, Mothers and Sons
- LaTanya Richardson Jackson, A Raisin in the Sun
- Cherry Jones, The Glass Menagerie
- Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
- Estelle Parsons, The Velocity of Autumn
LEADING ACTOR | MUSICAL
- Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Ramin Karimloo, Les Miserables
- Andy Karl, Rocky
- Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
- Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
LEADING ACTRESS | MUSICAL
- Mary Bridget Davies, A Night With Janis Joplin
- Sutton Foster, Violet
- Idina Menzel, If/Then
- Jessie Mueller, Beautiful — The Carole King Musical
- Kelli O’Hara, The Bridges of Madison County
FEATURED ACTOR | PLAY
- Reed Birney, Casa Valentina
- Paul Chahidi, Twelfth Night
- Stephen Fry, Twelfth Night
- Mark Rylance, Twelfth Night
- Brian J. Smith, The Glass Menagerie
FEATURED ACTRESS | PLAY
- Sarah Greene, The Cripple of Inishmaan
- Celia Keenan-Bolger, The Glass Menagerie
- Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun
- Anika Noni Rose, A Raisin in the Sun
- Mare Winningham, Casa Valentina
FEATURED ACTOR | MUSICAL
- Danny Burstein, Cabaret
- Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway
- Joshua Henry, Violet
- James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin
- Jarrod Spector, Beautiful — The Carole King Musical
FEATURED ACTRESS | MUSICAL
- Linda Emond, Cabaret
- Lena Hall, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Anika Larsen, Beautiful — The Carole King Musical
- Adriane Lenox, After Midnight
- Lauren Worsham, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
SCENIC DESIGN | PLAY
- Beowulf Boritt, Act One
- Bob Crowley, The Glass Menagerie
- Es Devlin, Machinal
- Christopher Oram, The Cripple of Inishmaan
SCENIC DESIGN | MUSICAL
- Christopher Barreca, Rocky
- Julian Crouch, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Alexander Dodge, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
- Santo Loquasto, Bullets Over Broadway
COSTUME DESIGN | PLAY
- Jane Greenwood, Act One
- Michael Krass, Machinal
- Rita Ryack, Casa Valentina
- Jenny Tiramani, Twelfth Night
COSTUME DESIGN | MUSICAL
- Linda Cho, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
- William Ivey Long, Bullets Over Broadway
- Arianne Phillips, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Isabel Toledo, After Midnight
LIGHTING DESIGN | PLAY
- Paule Constable, The Cripple of Inishmaan
- Jane Cox, Machinal
- Natasha Katz, The Glass Menagerie
- Japhy Weideman, Of Mice and Men
LIGHTING DESIGN | MUSICAL
- Kevin Adams, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Christopher Akerlind, Rocky
- Howell Binkley, After Midnight
- Donald Holder, The Bridges of Madison County
SOUND DESIGN | PLAY
- Alex Baranowski, The Cripple of Inishmaan
- Steve Canyon Kennedy, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
- Dan Moses Schreier, Act One
- Matt Tierney, Machinal
SOUND DESIGN | MUSICAL
- Peter Hylenski, After Midnight
- Tim O’Heir, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Mick Potter, Les Miserables
- Brian Ronan, Beautiful — The Carole King Musical
CHOREOGRAPHY
- Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
- Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine, Rocky
- Casey Nicholaw, Aladdin
- Susan Stroman, Bullets Over Broadway
ORCHESTRATIONS
- Doug Besterman, Bullets Over Broadway
- Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County
- Steve Sidwell, Beautiful — The Carole King Musical
- Jonathan Tunick, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
