The fact that Stereophonic, a play about a rock band making a hit album, won the most Tony Awards on Sunday night, including best new play, was not surprising. With thirteen nominations, it had gotten the most of any play ever.
With the exception of Best Musical, there were actually very few surprises during this incredibly boring 77th annual Tony Awards. With 13 nominations, it was widely anticipated that Hell's Kitchen, a musical that is partially based on Alicia Keys' life and incorporates her music, would win that honour. Then, halfway through the performance, it appeared as though Suffs, the original musical, might win instead. Shaina Taub, the show's writer and star, won Tony Awards for both the writing and the soundtrack of the original production.
But no—the enthusiastic film version of S.E. Hinton's well-liked young adult novel and its subsequent motion picture, The Outsiders, won the night's grand prize. Danya Taymor, who also won, directed it. The only two prizes that Hell's Kitchen took home were for Maleah Joi Moon, the lead actress, and her instructor, Kecia Lewis.
1. The show was a little boring.
Too many people struggled with their speeches, even among those whose line of work is to make language sound interesting. The majority of those speeches consisted of long lists of gratitude, with the exception of Jonathan Groff's moving speech about growing up with parents who didn't always understand him but still supported him since he had a main role in a musical.
Even the typically radiant host Ariana DeBose had dull moments anytime she opened her mouth, despite the amazing performances.
Because of the SAG-AFTRA strike last year, there were no scripts. Perhaps we ought to return to that.
2. There was (vaguely) politics everywhere...
This theatrical season featured a number of political plays: Patriots is about Putin's ascent to power, Enemy of the People is about a fight over an environmental disaster, and Suffs is about women struggling for the right to vote.
The Tony stage also featured a political segment. A number of speakers and winners either made it a point to urge voters to cast ballots in this election year, spoke boldly about "making change," or did both. However, not much of it was particular; I didn't hear anyone criticise a candidate by name, voice their opinion about a matter that wasn't getting enough coverage in the media, or call attention to anything.
3. And celebrities were too
Presenters were Nick Jonas, Brooke Shields, Cynthia Erivo, Angelina Jolie, and Hillary Clinton. Alicia Keys and Jay-Z performed their hit song "Empire State of Mind," which closes Hell's Kitchen; nevertheless, they are not in the Broadway version. The Who's Pete Townshend, who isn't on Broadway either, played guitar on "Pinball Wizard" during the Tommy cast performance. Eddie Redmayne performed with the Cabaret cast, and acting honours went to Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Strong, and Sarah Paulson.
4. Plays are now being performed again.
The Broadway attitude right now seems to be a "little desperate." And that makes sense. The number of Tony-eligible productions that premiered this season—36 of them in just the last weeks of April alone—is impressive, but the attendance hasn't yet returned to 2019 levels.
Travellers are typically drawn to musicals, and the Tony Awards demonstrated this by featuring a number from each nominee. However, they also included a play. In stereo. (Which, in fairness, has a good deal of music.)
This is due to Stereophonic's current popularity. It takes place in a recording studio where young musicians are striving to make music in spite of their conflicting personalities, and it just seems new and fresh. It lacks stars, but it offers strong performances, tense screenplay, and catchy music instead. It's creative. It's astounding. It's something that is unique to this place.
That is not at all like the situation in the musicals. These days, musicals are so expensive that producers don't seem to want to support any production that isn't based on well-known content. As a result, theatres are crowded with stage adaptations of films, novels, and even records. Despite the fact that each play this season featured at least one inventive, poignant, or really imaginative sequence, musicals felt rather safe overall this year.
Stereophonic is merely one of several examples. The play Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins received Best Revival of a Play. It's a crazy roller coaster trip because of its complex family drama, unexpected set, and powerful performers. And a plethora of others.
You really couldn't go wrong if you watched a show on Broadway this season.
5. Presenting the argument in favour of theatre
The majority of the most impactful speeches took place prior to the main Tony honours ceremony; several design honours, as well as the special achievement awards, were broadcast live on Pluto TV.
One of the best of those was directed by George C. Wolfe, a Tony Award winner for distinguished achievement who argued for the value of theatre in society.
Theatre "doesn't need to look like you to be about you," he declared. Also, he stated that theatre is "celebrating and exploring the human heart" during a "remarkably complicated time in this country."
That was a speech worthy of being heard at prime time.
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