Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara (pictured with Ken Watanabe) in The King and I at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, New York. Picture: Paul Kolnik
The big news at the Tony Awards on Sunday night in New York was that Broadway’s adored songbird Kelli O’Hara finally won one after a string of six nominations. The recognition came for her lead role as English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens making her way in 19th Century Siam in Lincoln Center Theater’s mounting of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. The production itself was named Best Musical Revival, and it also won awards for Ruthie Ann Miles, portraying the king’s chief wife, as Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical and for Catherine Zuber’s costumes.
Equally noteworthy in the musical categories were the victories scored by the off-beat Fun Home, which bravely moved from the Off-Broadway intimacy of the Public Theater to the killer battlegrounds of Broadway, keeping its cast and its emotional integrity pretty much intact.
In addition to being named Best Musical, it garnered awards for the book by Lisa Kron (based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir), the original score by lyricist Kron and composer Jeanine Tesori, the direction by Sam Gold, and Michael Cerveris’ performance in a lead role as a troubled but magnetic patriarch. The Kron-Tesori collaboration also marks the first time an all-female songwriting team has captured a Tony.
An American in Paris, which was seen by many as a favourite to win Best Musical, had to be content with Tonys for Christopher Wheeldon’s choreography, the scenic design by Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, Natasha Katz’s lighting and the orchestrations (of the great Gershwin score) by Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky and Bill Elliott.
Something Rotten!, which burst somewhat unexpectedly into the Tony race this spring, picked up a single award for Christian Borle’s featured performance as a rock star-styled Shakespeare.
O’Hara’s long-time-in-coming win was greeted with apparent jubilation by the audience in New York’s massive Radio City Music Hall. “I do not need this,” an obviously ecstatic O’Hara told the crowd as she accepted the award, “but now that I’ve got it, I’ve got something to say.” And she followed up with a long list of thank you’s, ending with her husband, Greg Naughton, and then an exit offstage with a victory dance.
Sydney Lucas alongside Tony Award-winning actor Michael Cerveris in Fun Home at the Circle in the Square Theatre, New York. Picture: Joan Marcus
O’Hara’s victory was undoubtedly seen as an upset by the many who had expected Kristin Chenoweth to reign supreme for her celebrated turn in the revival of On the Twentieth Century. Chenoweth, who co-hosted the evening along with Alan Cumming, met the defeat with just a brief moment of feigned (I think) consternation as she resumed her hosting duties.
On the musical front, the evening also saw special awards going to performer/choreographer/director Tommy Tune for lifetime achievement, an honour which marked his tenth Tony; to composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz for humanitarian efforts, and to John Cameron Mitchell, for returning on Broadway this season to the role he created in the show he co-created Off-Broadway years ago, Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Now, some may be asking where in all this hullabaloo was Hamilton, the hip-hop-styled musical based on the life of American forefather Alexander Hamilton, which was greeted with hosannas in its premiere at the Public Theater this season?
Well, as you may recall, the Public is an Off-Broadway venue, and the Tonys are doled out exclusively to Broadway offerings. Hamilton, however, is moving to Broadway with previews starting 13 July for an opening 6 August. Will it sweep the 2016 Tonys? That’s what Broadway nabobs are saying. And a week ago, at the Drama Desk Awards, another of the many theatrical contests that come at the season’s end and one that considers all New York theatre, whether it’s Broadway, Off-Broadway or Off-Off, Hamilton bested the competition with seven awards. These including the coveted nod for Outstanding Musical. But as Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson have told us, it’s “a long, long time from May to December”, and it’s even a longer time from July to June.
Ron Cohen
Readers may also be interested in:
Fun Home – Circle in the Square Theatre, New York – Review
The King and I – Vivian Beaumont Theater, New York – Review
The MUSICAL THEATRE winners are:
Best Musical – Fun Home
Best Revival of a Musical – The King and I
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical – Kelli O’Hara, The King and I
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical – Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical – Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Best Direction of a Musical – Sam Gold, Fun Home
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical – Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Best Choreography – Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre – Fun Home (music: Jeanine Tesori, lyrics: Lisa Kron)
Best Book of a Musical – Fun Home, Lisa Kron
Best Orchestrations – Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris
Best Scenic Design of a Musical – Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris
Best Lighting Design of a Musical – Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
Best Costume Design of a Musical – Catherine Zuber, The King and I
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