On Sunday, June 12, CBS aired the 70th annual Tony Awards. A night where the theater community comes as one -despite the horrific events of the Orlando, FL shooting- was filled with love and unity. Filled with talented Broadway actresses and actors/actresses, the award show delivered quality performances right to our television screens.
The star of the night was Hamilton, even before the show began. The musical, which was created and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, scored a whooping 16 nominations on May 3rd.
The night began with a Hamilton introduction, featuring the host of this years Tony's, James Corden.Throughout the night, Hamilton won Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations, Best Costume Design of a Musical, and Best Lighting Design of a Musical.
While those are just the technical aspects of the musical, as the show progressed, Hamilton took home awards for some of the most notable categories. It first began with the category of Best Score.
Miranda won his second Tony for Best Score and what was most memorable about his win was the moving speech about the Orlando, FL tragedy that occurred that same early morning.
Miranda reminded us through a sonnet as acceptance speech that love is love and love is love and love is love and that we will rise once again with the help of love and acceptance.
For the category of Best Actress in a Musical, Renée Elise Goldsberry won the first acting nomination. She plays Eliza Hamilton's step-sister, Angelica Schuyler. Goldsberry delivered a heartwarming speech that was raw and full of emotion and gratitude.
It didn't stop there. For category of Best Actor in a Musical, Daveed Diggs, who has sang the fastest rap on Broadway won the Tony. Diggs plays Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.
One of the highly anticipated categories of the night was the award for Leading Actor in a Musical. Miranda and his Broadway villain, Leslie Odom Jr. were put in the same category alongside other great actors. However, the winner of the night was Odom Jr., who plays Aaron Burr.
Another highlight from the cast was their performance. Once again delivering their 100%, the performance was spectacular and full of pure talent. One of the most notable things was the decision to not use gun props in-light of what happened in Orlando, FL.
One important thing to remember about the winners of these categories for this musical (and just the casting nominations in general). It was the first time that four people of color won the most regarded awards of the night. This takes a big step towards diversity, something the Broadway community has been taking steps in.
The show was coming to an end, and the final category was going to be presented by a Broadway legend herself, Barbra Streisand. Literally dressed for the Hamilton occasion, she didn't have to open the card to know that the winner of the night was going to be Hamilton. In short words, Hamilton took 11 awards, including Best Musical They ended the show with another casual performance of The Schuyler Sisters.
