NEW YORK, NY.- The Outsiders, a muscular musical based on the classic young adult novel, was named best new musical at the Tony Awards on Sunday night, while Stereophonic, a behind-the music play about a band making an album, was named best new play.
Stephen Sondheims Merrily We Roll Along completed a four-decade journey from flop to hit by winning the best musical revival prize, while Appropriate, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins family drama about a trio of siblings confronting an unsettling secret, won best play revival.
Here are the highlights of the 77th Tony Awards ceremony, which took place at Lincoln Center in Manhattan and was hosted by Ariana DeBose:
Best New Musical: The Outsiders won in an upset over Hells Kitchen, a musical powered by Alicia Keys songs and inspired by her life. The Outsiders is gritty, bloody and relentlessly youthful, and features some of the most effectively vivid violence seen on a Broadway stage. The shows director, Danya Taymor, also won, and the show picked up prizes for sound and lighting. Hells Kitchen won two performance prizes for its young star, Maleah Joi Moon, and a featured performer, Kecia Lewis.
Best New Play: Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, takes place in the 1970s in a pair of California recording studios. The play, which won more prizes than any of the musicals, also picked up prizes for its director, Daniel Aukin, as well as for a featured actor, Will Brill, plus sound and scenic design.
Best Musical Revival: Merrily We Roll Along, one of Broadways most storied flops, cemented its status as one of Sondheims masterworks. The shows leading actor, Jonathan Groff, and its featured actor, Daniel Radcliffe, both won their first Tony Awards in a production that is thriving amid a surge in interest in the work of Sondheim, an acclaimed composer and lyricist who died in 2021. This is proof that what you had then was indeed a masterpiece, the lead producer, Sonia Friedman, said, addressing those from the original production. And her sister, the musicals director, Maria Friedman, addressed the spirits of Sondheim and the shows book writer, George Furth, saying, Steve and George: Merrily is popular!
Best Revival of a Play: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has long been seen as one of the best among a new generation of American playwrights, but Appropriate is his first work to make it to Broadway. In his acceptance speech, he had said that he spent years being told he was too risky, too provocative and too not commercial enough. The plays star, Sarah Paulson, also won a Tony, as best leading actress.
Starry Night: The awards ceremony featured a lot of familiar faces. A pair of celebrity co-producers introduced the shows they are working on: Hillary Clinton with the new musical Suffs, and Angelina Jolie with The Outsiders. Jay-Z joined Keys for a rendition of Empire State of Mind as part of a Hells Kitchen medley. Eddie Redmayne led a performance by the cast of a Cabaret revival, while Pete Townshend joined the cast of a revival of The Whos Tommy for a bit of Pinball Wizard. Brooke Shields, who was recently elected president of Actors Equity Association, a labor union representing performers and stage managers, introduced an In Memoriam segment.
2024 TONY AWARD WINNERS
Best New Play
Stereophonic
Best New Musical
The Outsiders
Best Play Revival
Appropriate
Best Musical Revival
Merrily We Roll Along
Best Book of a Musical
Shaina Taub, Suffs
Best Leading Actor in a Play
Jeremy Strong, An Enemy of the People
Best Leading Actress in a Play
Sarah Paulson, Appropriate
Best Leading Actor in a Musical
Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along
Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Maleah Joi Moon, Hells Kitchen
Best Featured Actor in a Play
Will Brill, Stereophonic
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along
Best Featured Actress in a Play
Kara Young, Purlie Victorious
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Kecia Lewis, Hells Kitchen
Best Direction of a Play
Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic
Best Direction of a Musical
Danya Taymor, The Outsiders
Best Scenic Design of a Play
David Zinn, Stereophonic
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Tom Scutt, Cabaret
Best Costume Design of a Play
Dede Ayite, Jajas African Hair Braiding
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Linda Cho, The Great Gatsby
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jane Cox, Appropriate
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim, The Outsiders
Best Sound Design of a Play
Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Cody Spencer, The Outsiders
Best Original Score
Shaina Taub, Suffs
Best Choreography
Justin Peck, Illinoise
Best Orchestrations
Jonathan Tunick, Merrily We Roll Along
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement
Jack OBrien
George C. Wolfe
2024 Special Tony Award
Alex Edelman
Abe Jacob
Nikiya Mathis
Isabelle Stevenson Award
Billy Porter
Regional Theater Tony Award
The Wilma Theater
Tony Award for Excellence in Theater Education
CJay Philip, Dance & Bmore
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater
Wendall K. Harrington
Dramatists Guild Foundation
The Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts
Colleen Jennings-Roggensack
Judith O. Rubin
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.