Recap the 2025 Tony Awards Acceptance Speeches
Read all of the Tony Awards acceptance speeches in full!
By: Nicole Rosky Jun. 08, 2025
Click Here for More on 2025 AWARDS SEASON
The 78th Annual Tony Awards have arrived at last! As winners take the stage tonight, BroadwayWorld will be bringing you full text of all of the acceptance speeches; from the emotional to the humorous, and everything in between.
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FULL LIST OF WINNERS
Will Aronson and Hue Park
Best Book
Maybe Happy Ending
Hue Park: Thank you so much for this for this incredible honor. Before we start saying anything. I just have to put it out there, because people have been asking, we are not a couple. I am very much a single, okay? But we've been very close friends for 17 years.
Will Aronson: Yes, I met Hue when he was studying at NYU as an international student. And it changed my life. We've written four shows together now. We've worked across the country andthe world, and now we're even here giving a speech in front of Keanu Reeves.
Park: Hi, Keanu. I don't know where you are, but I'm sure you look great.
Aronson: We want to give a huge thanks to our brilliant director, Michael Arden. We love you, we are so grateful to you. Oh, my gosh. Debra Abramson, Andy Mientus, Justin Scribner, our incredibly brave producers, Jeffrey Hunter, Pamm NHN Link. Run Foundation, Alliance Theater and most of all, our family and friends. Thank you so much for supporting us for this nine year journey. Thank you very much.
Park: Thank you so much.
Jonathan Deans
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Thank you so much. I get very emotional, so I'm going to try and get through this and read this. I want to thank the sound of music team with special shout outs to Dean Chen and our Timothy Jarrell, Daniel Lumberg, and Mike Tracy. Also, I'd like to think Oren Wolf. So here, Ali, and the cast of musicians for allowing me to shape the invisible. And also to my mentors, which is Abe Jacob and Andrew Bruce, and of course, my wife and my family for their love and support. Thank you for that. And for all those responsible for this, the award and my 15 seconds of fame. Thank you very much. Bye bye.
Marco Paguia
Best Orchestrations
Buena Vista Social Club
Thank you to the American Theater Wing. I am deeply grateful to be bringing Cuban music to the Broadway stage to be part of this. I stand proudly on the shoulders of the Cuban musicians whose legacy will continue to inspire generations.
Thank you, Juan de Marcos Gonzz. Thank you to Orin Wolf, Barbara Broccoli, John Styles, Yazbek, the Atlantic Theater, Anna, Isabella, and the entire producing team. Dean Chernow, thank you for inviting me to this experiment and for your partnership throughout.
To my homeroom, Marco Ramirez, Justin Peck, Patricia Delgado, and Sahim Ali, what we've made is a testament to the power of theatrical collaboration. I'm so proud to share this with you.
To the entire company of Buenavista Social Club, inside and outside tof the Schoenfeld, thank you so much. Mark Standroff, thank you. Shout out to my music team, Amay, Rosie, Josh, Nick, Jordan and Tim Hanson. The band! Amazing band...
To my parents Ruby and Victor, who came to America from the Philippines and gave their kids everything, I love you, thank you for everything. My kids, Olivia, Atlanta, do everything for you, and the biggest thanks to my wife, Helen, my love, I couldn't have done anything without you. I couldn't imagine a better partner on this journey. I absolutely would not be standing here if it wasn't for you. Thank you. Thank you.
Outstanding Regional Theatre
The Muny
Kwofe Colman and Mike Isaacson
Kwofe Colman: Good evening. I'm Kwofe Colman. I started at the Muny as an usher. 27 years later, I couldn't be prouder to be the Muny's President and CEO. On behalf of our board, our incredible staff and the people of St. Louis who have gathered underneath the stars in Forest Park for 107 glorious summers. We thank the members of the American Theater Critics Association, the American Theater Wing, and the Broadway League for this honor, and the City National Bank for making this possible.
Mike Isaacson: I'm Mike Isaacson, the Muny's Artistic Director and executive producer. I'm also a Broadway producer, and the bond between the Muny and Broadway has always been deep. Tommy Tune, choreographed his first show at The Muny. Oscar Hammerstein debuted his last operetta at the Muny. Jerry Mitchell took his first professional steps there. Jerry is one of 11 Muny alums who are Tony nominated tonight. In fact, every musical nominated this season has a Muny album on stage, backstage, or in the office making the magic.
Coleman: Born and raised in St. Louis, I know firsthand that the Muny is St. Louis's theater. Families have held tickets for decades, passing along this rich tradition, and we are proud to offer 1,500 free seats for every single performance.
Isaacson: In 1930, J.J. Schubert wrote "The Muny offers hope for a true national theater." To colleagues and theaters around the country right now, when our work is so challenging, our story offers hope that if you press on, trust your audience, believe in your work, and cherish your collaborators, you will have 107 years of epic adventures.
Coleman: Finally, for our Muny family in St. Louis, and especially our amazing audience, please hear thisL For 11 decades, you've shown up for us. Good weather or bad, not to mention two World Wars, a depression, countless social and political turmoil, and a plague or two. We cannot wait to welcome you backm to welcome you home on opening night. One week from tomorrow. Thank you!
Jon Clark
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Hello. I have to admit, I've got no idea about lilac pink. It's kind of cold or warm or normally cold. I'd like to thank the American Theatater Wing and the Broadway League for this huge honor. Lighting Stranger Things has been the greatest privilege, absurdly complex, wildly challenging, but immensely rewarding. This has been the most collaborative of processes with the most generous and committed creative team and production team. I have the deepest respect for every single one of them, how lucky we are. We are indebted to the genius of Stephen Daldry, Justin Martin and Kate Trefry, and the one and only Sonya Friedman and all the astonishing people at Netflix, SFP, and Bespoke. To Gary, Ryan, Ed, Matt Rolt, and to the crewm props, stage management, technical teams at the Marquis, and to the greatest lighting department on Broadway, I would say. For months, they've dealt with everything everywhere all at once. Our iconic associate, Jess Krieger, programmer Elliot Smith, Will Elfingston, assistant, Piper Phillips, and the OG of production Electians Dan Coey and his team. Derek Jones and Kwame Tucker, and the many electricians who grace us with skill, humor, and patience, Craig and Melissa at the Marquis, and to our follow spot team, Nikki, Miriam, and Taylor, who have redefined the craft. I'd liked to also give a special thank you Lucia Sanchez Rodan, our UK associate who puts so much time and care into creating the production. And lastly, to my wife, Gail, and my three daughters, Alice, Martha and Nel. This one's for you. Thanks.
Jack Knowles
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Sunset Blvd.
This is a lot of people. I'm used to being behind. Doing Sunset Boulevard has been the biggest privilege of my life. Such fabulous kind of collaborators. I want to name everyone in the playbill.I'm not going to. I don't have time. This show is so precise, so spot on, and all the work that everyone has done has made my design look so spectacular. Saw it again last night, and it is just mind blowing brilliant. I wanna give a message out to people outside of the pit world, London Orca, amazing walk by the club.You're brilliant. My family mum and dad brilliant. My sister Emily who's here tonight. Everyone involved in the show, Jamie fabulous director great collaborators. This is amazing.Okay anyway thank you so much everybody.
Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck
Best Choreography
Buena Vista Social Club
Okay. We're choreographers who like to prepare, so we prepared a few words. This means so much. Thank you so much. We're so proud to have played a part in making Buena Vista Social Club. The music alone has been a bedrock of inspiration for us personally, from hearing these songs as individuals when we were kids to decades later when we joined hands at our wedding where we had our first dance to Buena Vista social club song. This this, this this music has been a continuous heartbeat culminating full circle this gorgeous musical for which we have so much pride for. This musical is entirely sung in Spanish. What a historic moment for this Broadway community, and it is one that we are profoundly grateful for.To have this platform to harness the universal language of dance to help communicate this complex and uplifting story has meant the world to us. It's a testament to our creative team that have that has held up the power of dance and the generous collaborative nature of our process, which has helped pave a new path for the possibilities of American theater. We wanna thank Oren Wolf and our team of producers, Marco Ramirez, Sahima Lee, Marco Peguia, Carlos Gonzalez, our designers, our stage managers, our crew, Di Glazer. And we wanna thank our cast and our band. Oye.Many first timers to Broadway for their courage, their undeniable talent, and for their, commitment to telling their story with profound authenticity. Lastly, as a Cuban American, daughter of immigrants, I would like to thank my entire family for your sacrifice and unconditional encouragement to follow my dreams and pursue an artistic path. And to our daughter, Lucia, our forever guiding light, we love you. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Gracias. Thank you.
Excellence in Theatre Education Award
Edwin Robinson
Good evening. I am Mr. Robinson, and I proudly teach theater. The first time I performed at Radio City Music Hall, I was 15 years old. I was singing with the Old City High School Chorus. When I returned to this great stage, I was sing a choral backup for Miss Diana Ross on her Take Me Higher Tour. Proverbs 226. "Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
I was born for the theatre. I declared my major in theater education at Howard University. You know.... My advisor and the chairman of the department, the late Dr. Carol Waters Singleton, left me with a profound statement. "Mr. Allenson. Your Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in theater education is specific at Howard. You are being trained to train people for careers in the theater. You got that? Specific."
Yes, the it factor in theater education is theater. My platform as a theater education is career focused. I love working with my students to help them find their theater in themselves. When they shout, "I got it, Mr. Robinson, I found it. That is what brings me the joy of teaching theater. They are ready to see the many different pathways to a career in theater. They're open to all the possibilities. I am honored to return to this great stage as the recipient of the 2025 Excellence in Theater Educational Award.
Thank you to all my past and present students who make theater live every day. They give me joy. You are my rock. Thank you to all my administrators. Thank you to Miss Charlotte St. Martin for starting the Broadway Bridges program. Mr. Spike Lee, Cornelius Wilkie, for your student film opportunities, Disney Theatricals for hiring me as an instructional coach for Young Simba and Nala in The Lion King. Thank you, Mom and Dad, my brothers, and sister for your support. I told you I was going to the Tony Awards one day. And thank you to Carnegie Mellon University, the American Theater wing and the Broadway League. Thank you.
Miriam Buether and 59
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Thank you for your immense support. My agent, Tracy Elliston, thank you to my partner, Peely, my family, for holding the family forward whenever I can't. And I have the most incredible production team, led by Gary and Ryan. Thank you, Ed, Joanna, Kelly, the props team, everybody, backstage, behind the scenes, stage managers, crew. We couldn't do anything without you.Thank you so much. This is for all of us. Us. Thank you.
Lawrence, Ria, Tayah, Emily, Jason, Nicole, Leo, Azure, Brad, all the crew at the Marquis Theater who do this eight shows a week. It is such an intense show. Raul, Matt, Reese, who Paul thanked, who does a lot of our cues, and my family, all of our families, my my wife, Stoney, my daughter, Zella and Lucy, thank you very much.
Dane Laffrey and George Reeve
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Maybe Happy Ending
This is an incredible honor, and a million thank yous to everyone who has made this production flourish. Making a show like maybe happy ending is alchemical and I've always believed that the key to the alchemy is to find your people. The people with whom you can really meld minds and, you know dig deep on many projects over many years. I shared decades worth of experience with this design team. A shared artistic vocabulary with Ben and Clint and Pete.It's unbelievable and I think the reason I've always believed so strongly in finding your people and holding on tight is because I found one of them when I was 16 years old. Michael Arden. I my oldest friend and partner in almost everything. I share this with you. And I share this with my partner and partner in all other things, the amazing Jen Silverman. And with this brilliant man sitting next to me whose staggering work on the video of the show is inseparable from my own. Thank you. It's profoundly moving to be standing here, amongst my dear friend Dane and accepting this award on a show that marks my Broadway debut. To be at the forefront of that happened every single performance, to my wonderful agent for keeping me grounded in this crazy world, and lastly, my rock, my best friend, and soon to be husband, Richard Bassett. Thank you so much.
Celia Keenan-Bolger
Isabelle Stevenson Award
Thank you so much. Sara [Bareilles], your friendship especially this past year has been a gift beyond my imagination. You are my compass, my lighthouse, and my soft place to land. I am so grateful to the American Theater Wing and the Broadway League for this honor because of the message that it sends, that small efforts over a sustained period of time are deserving of recognition. We are living through big, challenging times where the act, any act of resistance or kindness or engagement can feel insufficient. In honoring me, you're sending a message that the work of community care matters.
The writer, Clarissa Pincola Estis says "ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach." And the truth is, every single one of us, you here, you at home, we can all engage with this work, we can look inside of our communities for what needs doing, find some friends, and try to make our corner of the world a little bit better.
My dear friend, Gavin Creel, who was my co-conspirator and champion in this work. We held each other's hands, fighting for marriage equality, volunteering for political campaigns, advocating with the New York Civil Liberties Union, feeding hospital workers through the pandemic and on, and on, and on. Before he left this earthly plane, I asked him if we started a foundation for him, what he would want it to benefit, and he said plainly, for young actors who don't come from money to have support when they move to New York City. So this feels appropriate in receiving this award to extend an offering of service to you, where you can join me in partnership with the American Theater Wing to support the Gavin Creel Fellowship. If Gavin meant something to you, this is a way to honor him and give back, you can pick up your phones and text Gavin to a 44321 to donate. I am one among many helpers in this community, and I am constantly amazed by our ability to show up and answer the call. This a word feels like spiritual encouragement for me to keep caring and directing our collective energy towards helping the most vulnerable among us so that we can shine our mighty compassionate light and make this world a better place. Thank you.
Marg Horwell
Best Costume Design of a Play
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Everyone's been very calm up here. I'm not very calm up here. Thank you so much to all the producers on The Picture of Dorian Gray, but especially to Michael Castle who picked up the show when it was still on in Australia. I wanna thank, everyone at Seattle Theatre Company, Sam and Lorent, my my brilliant costume associate, Jude Locksley, and assistant, Matilda Woodruff, My dream team in New York who were performing this play each night with with Sarah, Nick and Midge and Scotty. The brilliant Sarah Snook, thank you.Also, I get to be original performer of this of this play, Erin Jean North. There's there's so much of both of you in this play. Thank you to my creative team, who are all nominated tonight, which is so special. Thank you, to to Nick, Clemmy, and Dave, especially to my friend and collaborator, Kip Williams. I love the work we make together, and I'd like to keep doing that, please.To my my family and my agents, but, especially to my incredibly supportive and very good looking partner, Kira. I tell you, you're the best all the time, and now I'm telling everyone in this old massive room, you're the best. It's amazing making work in New York. It it feels incredible to be here, in a city that celebrates theatre so wholeheartedly. Thanks for having us here.We've had a really, really wonderful time.
Paul Tazewell
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Death Becomes Her
Oh my God! The Black, queer, little boy, in Akron, Ohio, had no idea that in 2025, he would have the year that he had. One of the main things I want to say is: looking out at this audience, I have dressed so many of you out there, and I have worked with the rest of you out there in creating amazing worlds and telling wonderful stories, and it is a huge privilege to be a meaningful part of this Broadway community. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
Thank you to Universal Theatrical Group and all of the producers. Thank you, Chris Gattelli for his amazing work, his team. Thank you to all of my collaborators, Chuck LaPointe, Derek McLane, Justin Townsend, Peter Helsinki, and I have to, have to thank all of the people who were instrumental in creating this world, led by my amazing associate, James Wen, and all of the shops that went into creating this magical moment. Thank you very, very much.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Harvey Fierstein
Don't make mommy cry. Oh, thank you so much, you gorgeous people. I have to tell you, since I got that call, something's been on my mind. This is all that happened by accident. See, if it had gone to plan, I should now be a retired high school art teacher. But what happened was my freshman year of high school of art and design, this kid, in my class said that his money was starting a community theater and, in Brooklyn. And, we needed kids to come and make posters. I figured why not? I don't know if it was the fumes from the magic markers, but I entered the basement of a Unitarian church in Brooklyn, and I found my community. Here were people, mostly adults, who saw this odd, chubby, recently marmoset boy, who put a towel on his head and lip sync Broadway show tunes into his bedroom mirror. And without hesitation or judgment, just welcome on them. I painted scenery, I read life, I drew curtains, and by the age of 15, I was on the board of directors of the gallery place, a a theater that still exists in Brooklyn. From there, I moved to the world of experimental theater in La MaMa, then Off Broadway. By then, I was writing and acting in my own shows, and I was always, always accepted just as I was. And then suddenly well, not so suddenly. Well, you can get the rest of the story from my best selling New York Times. What a biography. I was better last But what I find most humbling is the thought that somehow my journey means something to you. There's no way to really thank for the tiny percentage of the people responsible. No one does theater alone. But I must call out my mother who dragged us to opera and ballet and Broadway as often as she could afford. And my brother who said no one else, who used my shows as a personality test for his dates. If they freaked out, seeing his drag queen brother give a history. With gratitude, knowing that without them, I might as well be lip syncing show tunes in my bedroom mirror. And so, I dedicate this award to the people in the dark and offer my most profound thanks to all of you, my community.
Will Aronson and Hue Park
Best Original Score
Maybe Happy Ending
Hue Park: What is happening? Okay, all right. Okay. By the way, I'm still single. I'm not going to cry. This season is full of artists working in totally different styles, and we are so honored to be among them. We tried to blend Korean indie pop, American jazz, modern classical, and traditional Broadway, at melting pot of sensibilities, and we are so grateful the Broadway community has embraced us.
Will Aronson: Thanks again to our music team, Debra Abramson, John Yun, and Eric Kang, and our amazing band who has to play while spinning around on a turntable in the dark. I just want to say, I had the gift of an incredible music education in my hometown school system, and even if this hadn't been a career, it enriched my life tremendously. I'm so grateful to those teachers and to my mom who drove me to trombone lessons and sang Irving Berlin songs to me as a baby, we're all only here because of the support we get. So thank you, Mom, Dad, and Luke, Thank you again.
Hue Park: Thank you so much.
Sarah Snook
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Hi. Oh, yeah it does spin! I saw it in the video, and it does spin! It's amazing! It's an intimidating room full of incredibly talented people. Thank you so, so much for this. This means so much for a little Australian girl to be here on Broadway. Yeah. Thank you to my incredible team, UTA, Bailey, Scott and Jenny and Ben. And just everybody on stage, it is billed as a one-person show and I don't feel alone at any night that I do this show. There are so many people on the stage making it work and so many people behind the stage making it work. In particular, a huge thank you to Kip Williams, who is incredible to create this. And of course, an exceptional thank you, the biggest thank you I can ever give, to my husband, my soul's mate, you are so brilliant, holding the fort down and keeping our family together and looking after the fons. I love you so much, thank you. Thank you.
Francis Jue
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Yellow Face
Twenty years ago, wonderful actor, singer, Alvin Ng, gave me this tux. He had it made for himself for the opening of Pacific Overtures on Broadway in 1976. And when he gave it to me, he told me he wanted me to wear it when I accepted my Tony Award. I'm only here because of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of wonderful, deserving Asian artists who came before me and never got the opportunities that I've had. It can be difficult in challenging times to be brave, so I would like to thank Scott Ellis in Roundabout Theatre for daring to do a play called Yellow Face in an election season.
Thank you to David Henry Hwang for giving me and so many others a voice. Thank you to brilliant director Lee Silverman whose integrity made this entire gorgeous production soar. To those who don't feel seen, to those who are being targeted in these authoritarian times, I see you. At its best, this community sees you. And I hope that encourages you to be brave, to dream, and to dream big.
Thank you so much.
Jak Malone
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Thank you so much to the American Theater Wing, the Broadway League, and to this incredible Broadway community for your warmth, generosity of spirit, and this fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Thank you all so much to everyone on team Mincemeat, all of our producers, creatives, cast, and the exceptional team at the Golden. It is such a pleasure to come to work with you all each day. All we do is laugh.
Thank you to Karen Moore for being a steady hand with a sense of humor. Much love to Jeff with a J. And I have the best dresser in all of Broadway, and his name is Jim Hoden. Thank you so much to my wonderful agents. Thank you, Jerry Allen, for the 17 minute voice notes. Thank you, Claire Marie Hall for being a timeless inspiration from day one. To Dave, Tash, Zoe, and Felix, thank you for writing what I believe to be the best musical theatre song in recent memory, and not having the good sense to sing it yourselves. Thank you so much to my family watching in England, and thank you to my little family, my beautiful partner, Jasmine, and my little dog, Dracula, who came out here to have this adventure with me. You are my whole heart, and I'd be lost without you, and I'm grateful every day.
The last thing I wanted to say is this: Eight times a week, I walk out on that stage and tell the audience that I'm a woman. I'm not one, and I only convey it through simple adjustments to posture, voice, and energy, but night after night, audiences believe in Hester. They weep for her, they invest in her, they love her for her old romantic heart. And if you watched our show and found yourself believing in Hester, well, then I am so glad to tell you that intentionally or otherwise, you might have just bid farewell to cynicism, to outdated ideas, to that rotten old binary, and opened yourself up to a world that is already out there in glorious technicolor, and isn't going away anytime soon. Thank you so much.
Kara Young
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Purpose
Thank you so much to the American Theater Wing. Thank you to the Broadway League. Thank you to my mother and my father. My mother who is my date, Vanessa Jenkins Young, my queen, my queen of the bay, my Belizean queen of the bay who cooked and stewed and brewed me for nine months. Thank you. To my father Clay Young and my brother Clay Junior, I love you guys.
To my partner, Biko Eisen-Martin, who is everything, and to, Brandon Jacobs Jenkins, Pulitzer Prize winning Brandon Jacobs Jenkins, whose fire of a pen hits our spirits like a natural storm, and all we have to do is buckle up. To the incredible, legendary, Phylicia Rashad, who is our director, who opened windows and doors and and and moved mountains to guide me through Aziza. To this incredible company of people that I get to be with eight shows a week, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, our matriarch, the queen of nuance, Harry Lennox, John Michael Hill, Glenn Davis, the Lana of Arenas, made an epic Broadway debut. Thank you to the producers of Purpose. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I am so grateful. I am so grateful.
And wait, one more second. In this world that we are so divided, theater is a sacred thing. It's a sacred space that we have to honor and treasure, and it makes us united. Thank you so much.
Natalie Venetia Belcon
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Oh, my goodness. Hello, everyone. Amazing. Okay, so the last time I was here was the 58th Tony Awards. Yeah. I missed this place. Anyway, congratulations to everyone, actually. Thank you to the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing. Tara, Xavier, and Frankie at Tara Rubin casting. Tara, thank you for calling me in. Even if it's a 12 year old Asian boy. Tara says, "I've got you, girl" and there I am.
To my producers, Orin Wolf, John Styles, Patrick Daly, Barbara Brotley, David Yazbeck, Luis Miranda, and La Chanze. Thank you so much for trusting me with this. Our brilliant director, Sahim Ali, I like to call him, Sir Booked and Busy, and our wonderful bookwriter Marco Ramirez. The band, my obsession, well my second obsession, the first one is Jason Momoa. Hey, Jason, how you doing?
And the real Buena Vista Social Club, who, of course, we could not do this without. I hope you will see this. I hope you are proud of us. It is such an honor to portray you.
My fellow nominees, your performances, are all incredibly inspiring. My friends and family, thank you for listening to me cry and cackle and complain at three in the morning. And my team, John Mason, Harry Gonberg, Lauren and Alex at Sunshine Sachs. This is such an incredible honor to come back this way and to portray this woman in this band. I thank you all so much.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Best Play
Purpose
Damn. On behalf of the entire Steppenwolf community and team purpose, I would like to thank the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing for this honor.
My fellow Artistic Director, Audrey Francis, Executive Director, Bert Flanigan, and I dedicate this award to Steppenwolf's leadership staff, our board, and especially our ensemble. They are without question some of the great artists in our country. Risk-takers and innovators have launched some of the boldest new plays in the American Theater Canada. Thank you to our singular producer, The Incomparable David Stone. Thank you to the entire producing team for giving us this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And thank you to our brilliant director, Ms. Phylicia Rashad, the Queen. Finally, we have our stronger favorite, the Genus and his friend, Jacob Jacob, and his grandest friend, the best for all of you. Give us for us.
We're also bringing Genus, our friend. I love you. Thank you. One of the great voices of our generation. We're in the right direction. Thank you. Thank you, Tony nominators. Thank you, Tony voters. And thank you to these audiences that have been showing up and showing out, bringing their aunties, bringing their moms, bringing their sisters, and making it a family affair. I want to thank my husband, who had no business letting me go to Chicago to play make believe with some of the best actors in America. And I want to thank those actors. I want to thank my teachers. I want to thank Robert Sandberg for giving me a purpose. I want to thank Marsha Norn, late great Christopher Dure for telling me to stop being a student and start writing. I want to thank Jeffrey Scott and Liz Frank for plucking me out of the slush pile. I want to just thank the city of Chicago, honestly, who literally made this show when I was an enthusiasm. Since we were here, I encourage everyone to please support their local theaters.
A lot of great stuff happened in New York. A lot more happens at home.
Jonathan Spector
Best Revival of a Play
Eureka Day
Jonathan Spector: Wow. Um, thank you to the Broadway League and such an honor to be included in such an amazing season of plays on Broadway. Um, thanks to my Theater community, who gave me space to find my voice as a writer. My wife, Molly, who makes everything possible. My children watching at home, Hi, Maisie, Hi, Benji., my parents, the world's best agent, Ilazer, the rest of the team at CAA, and, especially our awe-inspiring collaborators Anna Shapiro, this incredible cast, the team at Manhattan Theatre Club, the passionate supporters of new plays, producing partners, like the singular Sonia Friedman, and all the artists who were part of the journey of this play. I learned so much from all of you. So thank you.
Lynne Meadow: Thank you. Thank you so much for this incredibly, wonderful honor and on behalf of my Manhattan Theater Club colleagues, Chris Jennings and Nikki Hunter, our staff, our board, our other producing partners, Wagner Johnson and Seaview, Sonia Friedman, thank you so much. Thank you so much for getting this play to happen. It was a joy to work with Jonathan Spector on this play. This seriously funny play, this insightful play. Now, I am in my 50+ years at Manhattan Theater Club as its artistic director and more than ever, I feel such gratitude to have this platform to welcome our playwrights, our artists, to tell stories like Jonathan's, that impact, entertain, and that open our hearts and our minds. I'm so nervous, I'm shaking, but I feel so passionately about all of this. Okay, here's what I want to say. We celebrate our ancient and timeless art form in this incredibly challenging time.. So let us all double down now and go out and do more great theater, like Eureka Day!
Sam Pinkleton
Best Direction of a Play
Oh, Mary!
Okay. To every director and choreographer in this room, I salute you. I share this award with three directors who took a chance on me as a young artist, Mark Brokaw, Dan Saffer, and Liz Suidos. I wanna thank my dad, Alan, my mom, Kim, who did not stop a little gay boy from doing little gay things, my husband, Andrew, I love you, Dikelazer. Thank you for not letting me quit theater.Cole Escola. You have taught me. You have taught me to make what you love and not what you think people want to see. I share this with everyone who put their fingerprints on O'Mary, Uptown and Downtown, the cast, the stage managers, the designers, the understudies, Sonny Hit, my associate, Brian Henry, my co conspirators, our amazing producers, Kevin, Lucas, Mike, Carly. You have trusted artists.You've done it with decency and generosity, this cast. This is something we can do, bring a little joy to people at the end of a crappy day, and that feels like a big deal to me. I love making theater, and I love being a part of this community. Thank you so much. I love you.
Michael Arden
Best Direction of a Musical
Maybe Happy Ending
Sam Pinkleton just won a Tony Award. Thank you to all the helper bots who shaped Maybe Happy eEnding and make the impossible seem effortless eight times a week at the Belasco Theater, you are the reason that I stand here tonight. Will Aronson and Hue Park wrote a perfect musical and it dares us to love with radical abandon despite the fact that we know we have shelf lives. It reminds us that compassion is the antidote for isolation, and that empathy is not a weakness, but it is a gift in our shared responsibility. The experience of live theater confirms that no matter how different we may be from one another, we are all connected and we are all here and in it together in this brief, beautiful life. So I implore you, please go to the theater. Whether it's a Broadway show or a school play, support the arts, support artists, we need you now more than ever. Maybe Happy Ending was a monumental risk so many people took so to everyone in this community, and artists, I say, keep taking risks, keep telling stories that probe for deeper truths, that inspire hopem because the darker it gets, the more we need your light. As Daddy Sondheim said, "Give us more to see." And if there are any queer people watching tonight, Happy Pride.
Cole Escola
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Oh, Mary!
Thank you. Thank you. Oh my god. Well, Julie Harris has a Tony for playing Mary Todd Lincoln. Sorry. I wanna thank the the other nominees, George and John and Harry and Daniel and Louis, it's an honor to be in your company. And more than that, it's been a a sincere pleasure, spending time with you over these warm salads at all these luncheons. I have to thank oh, first of all, hi, mom. I love you. I'll call you when I can. 23 seconds. Sam Pinkleton and the producers, Lucas McMahon and Carly Briglia, Michael Boy, and Kevin McCollum, and the cast, Conrad, James, Bianca, Tony, the extended cast, and most importantly, the most important people in my life, my friends who are here tonight, Jeffrey, Jen, Ben, everyone watching at home, Christian, Dakota, the whole gang, John, Claudia, oh, and Tivo from Grindr and Amy Sedaris who always reminds me how important she is to me, and she is. Okay. Thank you very much. Good night.
Sunet Blvd.
Best Revival of a Musical
Jamie Lloyd: Thank you so much. On behalf of the Jamie Lloyd Company and Adam Spears for ATG Productions and Michael Harrison for Lloyd Wbber Harrison musicals and Gavin Kalin. We'd like to thank you all so much for this exceptional honor. And we want to thank absolutely everybody involved in Sunset Boulevard on stage, backstage, in the orchestra, in various offices around the city and indeed, back in London. But none of this would be possible without our exceptional authors, Don Black and Christopher Hampton, and of course, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. Thank you.
Andrew Lloyd Webber: What a joy it is to be here and to congratulate wonderful Jamie Lloyd on a reinterpretation of my piece. I mean, it's just fantastic for me to see the old shows rethought, reworked, and with the most fantastic lead with Nicole, of course. I'd just like to say thank you to one person without whom this also wouldn't be possible. My producer and partner now, Michael Harrison. Thank you, Michael. Thank you very much.
Darren Criss
Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Maybe Happy Ending
What a night. I'll get right into it. Thank you to the American Theatre Wing and to the Drama League for this tremendous honor and for this marvelous ceremony. I have such immense pride to get to be part of this, notably diverse and exquisite, Broadway season this year and to get to be among this industry's finest, namely my fellow leading lads. They put us in a category together, but you boys are all in a category of your very own.
I share this with one of the best leading actresses in a Broadway musical this season, Helen J. Shen. I am so proud of you and your Broadway debut for the books. This is where you belong. A lot of humans got me here. So thank you, mom. Thank you to Craig Slate at the Young Conservatory and ACT for shepherding me and so many people here. To my teachers, every teacher that ever taught me the value of physical theater because I would use that in my toolkit to create all of her. Thank you all to all of the little robots that that made Maybe Happy Ending possible. You know how I feel, and, I'll tell you about that later.
But the real hero about this for this remarkable journey is my wife, Mia, who took a massive swing on allowing me to to to do this and to allow this crazy upheaval in our life to make this logistically possible and for bearing the brunt of of raising two tiny friends under three so that I could raise a singing robot at the theater eight times a week. Mia, you're the very pedestal that upholds the shiny spinny bit in our lives, and your love and your support for me and our beautiful children combined with the miracle of working on something as magical as maybe Happy Ending has been and will always be award enough. This play that we're doing is about love and memory, so I would like to dedicate this in loving memory to one of the greatest role models I ever had and one of the best friends I ever had had, and that is my father, Bill, and my brother, Chuck. Congratulations to all of you here tonight and your achievements. Everybody out there, break a leg, and I'm gonna go celebrate with my favorite kind of people to party with, theater people.
Nicole Scherzinger
Best Performance By an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sunset Blvd.
Can y'all sit down because they said that we only have 90 seconds. First of all, I just have to thank God for carrying me every step of the way. I give you all the glory.
Y'all know this Broadway schedule is hard core. I got to keep it real. I had to write stuff down, 'cause I only have...okay. I am so honored to be recognized alongside these exceptional warrior women in this category. I want to thank all of you all so much. This is gonna go really fast. For making this little Hawaiian Ukrainian Filipino girl's dream come true. I'm so proud to represent.
I want to thank my mom who had me at 18 and gave everything up for me. My dad, my sister Keala, my Tito and Papa and who instilled me an unshakable faith. My Ohana, my family, all 5,000 of you, you know that I love you. To my fiancé, Tom, who believes in me when I forget to believe in myself. Andrew Lloyd Webber. It's happened, Andrew! It's been such an honor to be able to create with you the past 15 years. Don Black, Christopher Hampton, Alan and Fabian, Tom Francis, thank you so much for letting me sever your head every single night and every performance. To our extraordinary cast crew, producers, creators, I'm forever grateful for you, and we killed that matinee y'all today, okay, literally. It's no joke this schedule. Literally.
And Joe Mahota, I love you. CIA, Marla and Jenny, Crush, Ollie, Lee Kilsmith, Lori Sorio, and all the other brilliant human friends who support me, you know who you are. Jamie Lloyd. Jamie Lloyd, you saw in me what no one else did. You've given us all, all new ways to dream, and you have changed my life forever.
Okay, listen, I'm almost done. Growing up, I always felt like I didn't belong. But you all have made me feel like I belong, and I have come home at last. So if there's anyone out there who feels like they don't belong, or your time hasn't come, don't give up. Just keep on giving and giving because the world needs your love and your light now more than ever. This is a testament that love always wins. Thank you so much. This is an honor. God bless you.
Maybe Happy Ending
Best Musical
I'm so honored to receive this award for this magical, melodical, beautiful, heartfelt, humane musical that has been thrilling audiences at the Belasco Theater since last fall. And I wanna salute, of course, people who you've already saluted tonight, our authors, Will Aronson and Hue Park, our brilliant director, Michael Arden. Hue Park, as he's mentioned more than once, is still single. And, also, I wanna thank all of the wonderful producers who joined to make this show happen, and especially thank our general management, Foresight and Alan Williams, who has guided us through this entire season.
I just wanna say this is for all the audiences all over the world who came out and saw live theater this year, and more importantly, for our friends, for our families, for our spouses at work and at home, like my husband, Jason, who has held me when my batteries were low and put up with this obsolete model. We could not do without our support systems. We love you. We see you. We thank you. Good night.
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