'Hamilton' wins on somber night

NEW YORK - Hamilton, the hip-hop stage biography of Alexander Hamilton, as expected scooped up Tony Awards on the telecast on Sunday, including best new musical, but it was prevented from breaking the record for the most Tonys.

Leslie Odom Jr., who was raised in East Oak Lane and graduated from Masterman, won the Tony for best actor in a musical for his energetic turn as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.

Hamilton went into the night with 16 nominations and won 11, including best score, best book, direction, orchestration, choreography and best featured actor and actress statuettes for Renee Elise Goldsberry and Daveed Diggs.

It earlier won awards for costume and lighting but lost scenic design to She Loves Me, meaning Hamilton was not able to break the 12-statuette record haul by The Producers. Still, few shows are introduced by a sitting commander-in-chief, as President Obama, with his wife Michelle, did for the performance by the cast.

The awards show unspooled with a heavy heart a night after a gunman killed 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, prompting a Broadway tribute to the victims at the top of the show and a smattering of references to tolerance throughout it.

Host James Corden, his back to the audience, spoke to viewers when he dedicated the night to celebrating the diversity of Broadway.

"Hate will never win," he said. "Together we have to make sure of that. Tonight's show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle."

But for much of the telecast, the mood was light.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the star and creator of Hamilton, won for best score and book, and read from onstage a sonnet, referencing tragedy and urging "love and love and love."

Thomas Kail won the Tony for directing "Hamilton." He thanked Miranda, a frequent collaborator, and celebrated the diversity of Broadway this season. "Let's continue to tell stories," he said.

English actress Cynthia Erivo has won a Tony Award for best actress in a musical for Broadway debut in The Color Purple, which won the best musical revival award.

Jayne Houdyshell, a mainstay of the New York stage, won her first Tony Award at 62 for playing a gossipy, gently needling mom in The Humans. Her stage husband, Reed Birney, won best featured actor in a play. An actor for almost 42 years, he acknowledged that 35 of them were "pretty bad." He thanked the theater community for keeping him going.

The play, about a fractious family's get-together, won the best play statuette and playwright Stephen Karam dedicated his award to all the struggling writers. "Keep the faith," he said.

In response to the Florida shooting, Hamilton dropped its use of muskets in its performance. The show also created a silver ribbon for stars to wear in solidarity and they were seen on the suits of actor Sean Hayes and director George C. Wolfe.

"My heart is saddened by it," Jeffrey Seller, producer of Hamilton, said on the red carpet before the show. "The celebration tonight is tempered by it."

The shooting was close to home for Christopher Fitzgerald, a nominee for the musical Waitress who went to school in Orlando. "I'm heartbroken. I think everybody is feeling it, so we are at least all coming together to celebrate and not live in fear," he said on the carpet.

Eclipsed won for best costume for a play and The Humans won for best set design of a play. Best set design for a musical went to She Loves Me and best lighting for a play went to Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Jessica Lange won her first Tony for playing a drug-addled mother in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's monumental Long Day's Journey Into Night. The 67-year-old two-time Academy Award winner said: "This is a dream come true and it fills me with such happiness, even on such a sad day as this."

Frank Langella won his fourth Tony for playing a man who has begun his slide down the slippery slope of dementia in The Father. He had a message for the people of Orlando: "We will be with you every step of the way."

Dutch visionary Ivo Van Hove won his first Tony for directing an imaginative revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. Under his helm, the barefoot cast warily circled one another under bright lights in a set that resembled a boxing ring. The show was also named best play revival.

Corden brought his endearing, fan-boy vibe to the opening number in which he performed a head-spinning medley of tunes from famous Broadway musicals, including donning a mask for The Phantom of the Opera, a leather jacket for Grease, and a curly red wig for Annie. He later encouraged others in the audience to pick songs and join him in a bit of karaoke during commercial breaks, including one with Hayes and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The show opened with the cast of Hamilton performing their opening number with the lyrics altered to have them all wondering why Corden - "chatting with Hollywood phonies" - had earned this honor.

The host of The Late Late Show had some quips for the theater-loving audience: "This is like the Super Bowl for people who don't know what the Super Bowl is," he said at one point. At another: "Think of tonight as the Oscars, but with diversity," and made a dig at Donald Trump, suggesting he wanted to build a wall around the theater.

Trump was a frequent target. Nathan Lane made a crack about Trump University and Emilio Estefan insisted that his all-Latin cast for On Your Feet! were all in America legally.

The season was rich in diversity: Fourteen of the 40 Tony nominees for acting in plays and musicals were actors of color.

StartText

Best Musical

Hamilton

Best Revival of a Musical

The Color Purple

Best Actor/Musical

Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton

Best Actress/Musical

Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple

Best Play

The Humans by Stephen Karam

Best Revival of a Play Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge

Best Actor/Play

Frank Langella, The Father

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Hamilton with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best Actress/Play

Jessica Lange, Long Day's Journey Into Night

Best Supporting Actress/Play

Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans

Best Supporting Actress/Musical

Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton

Best Supporting Actor/ Play

Reed Birney, The Humans

Best Supporting Actor/Musical

Daveed Diggs, Hamilton

Best Direction of a Play Ivo Van Hove, Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge

Best Direction of a Musical

Thomas Kail, Hamilton EndText