74th Tony Awards 2020/2021 - Wrap Up

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After nearly three years the Tony Awards are finally back! This 2020/2021 award season had some big wins for the period productions that I was rooting for. 

As always this award show wrap up will specifically focus on the projects that have black characters (both main and side) and are set in the past. These productions include Moulin Rouge!, Tina, A Soldier's Play, and A Christmas Carol. Categories that did not include these productions are not listed below. 


Best Musical

Moulin Rouge! (Winner)

Jagged Little Pill

Tina

 

Best Revival of a Play

A Soldier's Play (Winner)

Betrayal

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

 

Best Book of a Musical

Diablo Cody – Jagged Little Pill (WINNER)

John Logan – Moulin Rouge!

Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar, and Kees Prins – Tina

 

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Andrew Burnap – The Inheritance as Toby Darling (WINNER)

Ian Barford – Linda Vista as Wheeler

Jake Gyllenhaal – Sea Wall/A Life as Abe

Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal as Robert

Tom Sturridge – Sea Wall/A Life as Alex

Blair Underwood – A Soldier's Play as Captain Richard Davenport

 

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Aaron Tveit – Moulin Rouge! as Christian (the only nominee in the category)

 

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Adrienne Warren – Tina as Tina Turner (WINNER)

Karen Olivo – Moulin Rouge! as Satine

Elizabeth Stanley – Jagged Little Pill as Mary Jane "M.J." Healy

 

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

David Alan Grier – A Soldier's Play as Sergeant Vernon C. Waters (WINNER)

Ato Blankson-Wood – Slave Play as Gary

James Cusati-Moyer – Slave Play as Dustin

John Benjamin Hickey – The Inheritance as Henry Wilcox

Paul Hilton – The Inheritance as Morgan/Walter Poole

 

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Danny Burstein – Moulin Rouge! as Harold Zidler (WINNER)

Derek Klena – Jagged Little Pill as Nicholas "Nick" Healy

Sean Allan Krill – Jagged Little Pill as Steve Healy

Sahr Ngaujah – Moulin Rouge! as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Daniel J. Watts – Tina as Ike Turner

 

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Lauren Patten – "Jagged Little Pill" (WINNER)

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"

 

Best Direction of a Play

Stephen Daldry – The Inheritance (WINNER)

David Cromer – The Sound Inside

Kenny Leon – A Soldier's Play

Jamie Lloyd – Betrayal

Robert O'Hara – Slave Play

 

Best Direction of a Musical

Alex Timbers – Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)

Phyllida Lloyd – Tina

Diane Paulus – Jagged Little Pill

 

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics Written for the Theatre)

Christopher Nightingale (music) – A Christmas Carol (WINNER)

Paul Englishby (music) – The Inheritance

Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb (music) – The Rose Tattoo

Lindsay Jones (music) – Slave Play

Daniel Kluger (music) – The Sound Inside

 

Best Choreography

Sonya Tayeh – Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – Jagged Little Pill

Anthony Van Laast – Tina

 

Best Scenic Design in a Play

Rob Howell – A Christmas Carol (WINNER)

Bob Crowley – The Inheritance

Soutra Gilmour – Betrayal

Derek McLane – A Soldier's Play

Clint Ramos – Slave Play

 

Best Scenic Design in a Musical

Derek McLane – Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)

Riccardo Hernández and Lucy MacKinnon – Jagged Little Pill

Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg – Tina

 

Best Costume Design in a Play

Rob Howell – A Christmas Carol (WINNER)

Dede Ayite – Slave Play

Dede Ayite – A Soldier's Play

Bob Crowley – The Inheritance

Clint Ramos – The Rose Tattoo

 

Best Costume Design in a Musical

Catherine Zuber – Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)

Emily Rebholz – Jagged Little Pill

Mark Thompson – Tina

 

Best Lighting Design in a Play

Hugh Vanstone – A Christmas Carol (WINNER)

Jiyoun Chang – Slave Play

Jon Clark – The Inheritance

Heather Gilbert – The Sound Inside

Allen Lee Hughes – A Soldier's Play

 

Best Lighting Design in a Musical

Justin Townsend – Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)

Bruno Poet – Tina

Justin Townsend – Jagged Little Pill

 

Best Sound Design of a Play

Simon Baker – A Christmas Carol (WINNER)

Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid – The Inheritance

Lindsay Jones – Slave Play

Daniel Kluger – Sea Wall/A Life

Daniel Kluger – The Sound Inside

 

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Peter Hylenski – Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)

Jonathan Deans – Jagged Little Pill

Nevin Steinberg – Tina

 

Best Orchestrations

Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine – Moulin Rouge! (WINNER)

Tom Kitt – Jagged Little Pill

Ethan Popp – Tina

 

Nominations and Awards Tally

    Production          Nominations      Award

 Moulin Rouge!         14                     10

Tina                          12                      1

A Soldier's Play         7                       2

A Christmas Carol     5                      5

 

    Overall, I'd say the 74th Tony Awards were an entertaining night. I'm especially happy for Adrienne Warren –Tina /Tina Turner and David Alan Grier – A Soldier's Play/Sergeant Vernon C. Waters. I was rooting for them both. David Alan Grier has been in many of my favorite plays/musicals including The Wiz and Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. I'm happy he now has a Tony to his name. I watched tons of videos of Adrienne Warren embodying the role of Tina Turner and she was electrifying and simply the best! 

*ba dum tss* 

    With theater coming back I so look forward to what stories are told on stage. One productions that I'm looking forward to specifically is Paradise Square, set in New York's infamous Five Points neighborhood around the time of the deadly NY Draft Riots of July 1863. I haven't seen or read it yet, but I look forward to a Five Points being represented as the multicultural neighborhood that it was. 

What do you think of the nominations and wins?



 

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