News - 2017 Tony Awards

The 71st Tony Awards were presented on Sunday evening. See the full list of winners for US Theatres' top honours...

Dear Evan Hansen, the incredibly moving musical about a teenager who makes up a prior friendship with a lost classmate, came out on top with six awards out of its 9 nominations - winning the best new musical, best original score, best book, best orchestration, best actor in a musical for Ben Platt and best supporting actress for Rachel Bay Jones.

The acclaimed revival of "Hello, Dolly!" starring Bette Midler was the other big winner with four Tonys and Ms Midler, who took the best actress award, gave an impassioned speech that went on, and on, and on, as she silenced the orchestra with a well chosen turn of phrase.



However the show that had the most nominations this year with 12, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 which was a dramatisation of Tolstoy's War and Peace, only scooped 2, for lighting and scenic design of a musical.

Best Play went to Oslo, a drama about the Middle East peace talks of 1993, which also took the award for best supporting actor in a play, for Michael Aronov. And some big screen names also scooped awards with Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) getting the supporting actress in a play award for Little Foxes, while Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) picked up best actor for the play Present Laughter. And the great honour of the lifetime achievement award went to the voice of Darth Vadar, James Earl Jones (although I suspect he's done other things too.)

And in a very prescient start to the whole show, host (and the god that is) Kevin Spacey took on the "polo shirt and hashtag cast" look of the main character in Dear Evan Hansen for the perennial highlight of the big opening number.  Do you think they knew?




HERE'S THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Best play - Winner: Oslo
Also nominated: A Doll's House, Part 2; Indecent; Sweat

Best musical - Winner: Dear Evan Hansen
Also nominated: Come From Away; Groundhog Day; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Best revival of a play - Winner: Jitney
Also nominated: The Little Foxes; Present Laughter; Six Degrees of Separation

Best revival of a musical - Winner: Hello, Dolly!
Also nominated: Falsettos; Miss Saigon

Best book of a musical - Winner: Dear Evan Hansen
Also nominated: Come From Away; Groundhog Day; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Best original score - Winner: Dear Evan Hansen
Also nominated: Come From Away; Groundhog Day; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812


Best leading actor in a play - Winner: Kevin Kline, Present Laughter
Also nominated: Denis Arndt, Heisenberg; Chris Cooper, A Doll's House, Part 2; Corey Hawkins, Six Degrees of Separation; Jefferson Mays, Oslo

Best leading actress in a play - Winner: Laurie Metcalf, A Doll's House, Part 2
Also nominated: Cate Blanchett, The Present; Jennifer Ehle, Oslo; Sally Field, The Glass Menagerie; Laura Linney, The Little Foxes

Best leading actor in a musical - Winner: Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
Also nominated: Christian Borle, Falsettos; Josh Groban, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Andy Karl, Groundhog Day; David Hyde Pierce, Hello, Dolly!

Best leading actress in a musical - Winner: Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!
Also nominated: Denee Benton, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Christine Ebersole, War Paint; Patti LuPone, War Paint; Eva Noblezada, Miss Saigon

Best featured actor in a play - Winner: Michael Aronov, Oslo
Also nominated: Danny DeVito, The Price; Nathan Lane, The Front Page; Richard Thomas, The Little Foxes; John Douglas Thompson, Jitney

Best featured actress in a play - Winner: Cynthia Nixon, The Little Foxes
Also nominated: Johanna Day, Sweat; Jayne Houdyshell, A Doll's House, Part 2; Condola Rashad, A Doll's House, Part 2; Michelle Wilson, Sweat

Best featured actor in a musical - Winner: Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!
Also nominated: Mike Faist, Dear Evan Hansen; Andrew Rannells, Falsettos; Lucas Steele, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Brandon Uranowitz, Falsettos

Best featured actress in a musical - Winner: Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen
Also nominated: Kate Baldwin, Hello, Dolly!; Stephanie J Block, Falsettos; Jenn Colella, Come From Away; Mary Beth Peil, Anastasia

Best scenic design of a play - Winner: The Play That Goes Wrong
Also nominated: The Front Page, Jitney; Oslo

Best scenic design of a musical - Winner: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Also nominated: Groundhog Day; Hello, Dolly!; War Paint

Best costume design of a play - Winner: The Little Foxes
Also nominated: A Doll's House, Part 2; Jitney; Present Laughter

Best costume design of a musical - Winner: Hello, Dolly!
Also nominated: Anastasia; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; War Paint

Best lighting design from a play - Winner: Indecent
Also nominated: A Doll's House, Part 2; Jitney; Oslo

Best lighting design from a musical - Winner: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Also nominated: Come From Away; Dear Evan Hansen; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Best direction of a play - Winner: Rebecca Taichman, Indecent
Also nominated: Sam Gold, A Doll's House, Part 2; Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jitney; Bartlett Sher, Oslo; Daniel Sullivan, The Little Foxes

Best direction of a musical - Winner: Christopher Ashley, Come From Away
Also nominated: Rachel Chavkin, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen; Matthew Warchus, Groundhog Day; Jerry Zaks, Hello, Dolly!

Best choreography - Winner: Bandstand
Also nominated: Come and Away; Groundhog Day; Holiday Inn; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Best orchestrations - Winner: Dear Evan Hansen
Also nominated: Bandstand; Hello, Dolly!; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theatre - James Earl Jones

Special Tony Award - Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, sound designers for The Encounter

Regional Theatre Tony Award - Dallas Theater Center, Dallas

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award - Baayork Lee

Tony Honours for excellence in the theatre - Nina Lannan; Alan Wasser

Image - Tony Awards Website