“Hamilton” Wins Tony for Best Musical, “The Humans” Wins Best Play

Just Shy Of The Record, “Hamilton” Takes Home 11 Tony Awards

On June 12, 2016, the 70^th Annual Tony Awards took place at the Beacon Theatre, hosted by James Corden. To the surprise of no one, Hamilton won the Tony Award for Best Musical. Of the 16 nominations for which Hamilton was nominated, it took home 11.

To be fair, of the five nominations it did not win, three of those were won by others from Hamilton. One big surprise was that Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of the show, did not win the acting award. Instead, the Tony Award for Best Performance by Lead Actor in a Musical was given to Leslie Odom, Jr., who plays Aaron Burr in Hamilton.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Is A Household Name

Clearly, he could benefit more from the award than Miranda would have, because Miranda is already a household name and giant star; plus he won the awards for Original Score, Best Book, and Best Musical.

The other 7 awards that Hamilton won are Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for Daveed Diggs, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Renée Elise Goldsberry, Best Costume Design of a Musical for Paul Tazewell, Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Howell Binkley, Best Direction of a Musical for Thomas Kail, Best Choreography for Andy Blankenbuehler, and Best Orchestrations for Alex Lacamoire.

“The Humans” Wins Best Play, “A View From The Bridge” Wins Best Revival Of A Play

As for the plays, it was a more contentious race. The Best Play award was given to Stephen Karam’s The Humans, a major coup for this young playwright making his Broadway debut. He beat out the other Best Play nominees: Eclipsed, The Father, and King Charles III.

The award for Best Revival of a Play, meanwhile, went to Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, in a production directed by Ivo van Hove. This beat out another Miller revival also directed by van Hove, The Crucible, as well as Blackbird, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Noises Off.

Frank Langella Wins Best Actor In A Leading Performance In A Play

The award for Best Actor in a Leading Performance in a Play was given to Frank Langella for The Father, and the award for Best Actress in a Leading Performance in a Play was given to Jessica Lange for Long Day’s Journey Into Night. The award for Best Actor in a Featured Performance in a Play was given to Reed Birney for The Humans, and the award for Best Actress in a Featured Performance in a Play was given to Jayne Houdyshell, also for The Humans.

Best Scenic Design of a Play was David Zinn for The Humans, Best Costume Design of a Play was Clint Ramos for Eclipsed, Best Lighting Design of a Play was Natasha Katz for Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Best Direction of a Play was given to Ivo van Hove for Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge.

“The Color Purple” Wins Best Revival Of A Musical, And Cynthia Erivo Wins Best Actress

As for the Best Revival of a Musical, the award was given to The Color Purple, in a production directed by John Doyle. One of the few awards for a musical not given to Hamilton, the award for Best Actress in a Leading Performance in a Musical was given to Cynthia Erivo, for her role as Celie in The Color Purple.

The only other award for which Hamilton was nominated and for which it did not win was that for Best Scenic Design of a Musical, which was given to David Rockwell for She Loves Me. With so many wins, Hamilton was still shy of breaking the record for most ever Tony Awards won in one evening.

"The Producers" Still Holds The Record At 12 Tony Award Wins

That record is still held by The Producers, which earned 12 Tony Awards in 2001. Still, it broke the record for most nominations, with 16 across all award categories. The nominated actors who did not win for Hamilton were Lin-Manuel Miranda for Best Lead Actor, Phillipa Soo for Best Lead Actress, Jonathan Groff for Best Featured Actor, and Christopher Jackson for Best Featured Actor. The biggest award announcement of the evening, that for Hamilton to win Best Musical, was announced by Barbra Streisand, appearing at the Tony ceremony for the first time since 1970.

The Complete List Of Winners:

Best Play "Eclipsed" "The Father" WINNER: "The Humans" "King Charles III"

Best Musical "Bright Star" WINNER: "Hamilton" "School of Rock — The Musical" "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed" "Waitress"

Best Revival of a Play "Arthur Miller's the Crucible" WINNER: "Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge" "Blackbird" "Long Day's Journey Into Night" "Noises Off"

Best Revival of a Musical WINNER: "The Color Purple" "Fiddler on the Roof" "She Loves Me" "Spring Awakening"

Best Book of a Musical "Bright Star" WINNER: "Hamilton" "School of Rock — The Musical" "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed"

Best Original Score (music and/or lyrics) "Bright Star" Music: Steve Martin and Edie Brickell Lyrics: Edie Brickell WINNER: "Hamilton" Music and lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda "School of Rock — The Musical" Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Glenn Slater "Waitress" Music and lyrics: Sara Bareilles

Best Lead Actor in a Play Gabriel Byrne, "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Jeff Daniels, "Blackbird" WINNER: Frank Langella, "The Father" Tim Pigott-Smith, "King Charles III" Mark Strong, "Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge"

Best Lead Actress in a Play WINNER: Jessica Lange, "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Laurie Metcalf, "Misery" Lupita Nyong'o, "Eclipsed" Sophie Okonedo, "Arthur Miller's The Crucible" Michelle Williams, "Blackbird"

Best Lead Actor in a Musical Alex Brightman, "School of Rock — The Musical" Danny Burstein, "Fiddler on the Roof" Zachary Levi, "She Loves Me" Lin-Manuel Miranda, "Hamilton" WINNER: Leslie Odom Jr., "Hamilton" Best Lead Actress in a Musical Laura Benanti, "She Loves Me" Carmen Cusack, "Bright Star" WINNER: Cynthia Erivo, "The Color Purple" Jessie Mueller, "Waitress" Phillipa Soo, "Hamilton"

Best Featured Actor in a Play WINNER: Reed Birney, "The Humans" Bill Camp, "Arthur Miller's The Crucible" David Furr, "Noises Off" Richard Goulding, "King Charles III" Michael Shannon, "Long Day's Journey Into Night"

Best Featured Actress in a Play Pascale Armand, "Eclipsed" Megan Hilty, "Noises Off" WINNER: Jayne Houdyshell, "The Humans" Andrea Martin, "Noises Off" Saycon Sengbloh, "Eclipsed"

Best Featured Actor in a Musical WINNER: Daveed Diggs, "Hamilton" Brandon Victor Dixon, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed" Christopher Fitzgerald, "Waitress" Jonathan Groff, "Hamilton" Christopher Jackson, "Hamilton"

Best Featured Actress in a Musical Danielle Brooks, "The Color Purple" WINNER: Renée Elise Goldsberry, "Hamilton" Jane Krakowski, "She Loves Me" Jennifer Simard, "Disaster!" Adrienne Warren, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed"

Best Scenic Design of a Play Beowulf Boritt, "Thérèse Raquin" Christopher Oram, "Hughie" Jan Versweyveld, "Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge" WINNER: David Zinn, "The Humans"

Best Scenic Design of a Musical Es Devlin and Finn Ross, "American Psycho" David Korins, "Hamilton" Santo Loquasto, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed" WINNER: David Rockwell, "She Loves Me"

Best Costume Design of a Play Jane Greenwood, "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Michael Krass, "Noises Off" WINNER: Clint Ramos, "Eclipsed" Tom Scutt, "King Charles III"

Best Costume Design of a Musical Gregg Barnes, "Tuck Everlasting" Jeff Mahshie, "She Loves Me" Ann Roth, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed" WINNER: Paul Tazewell, "Hamilton"

Best Lighting Design of a Play WINNER: Natasha Katz, "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Justin Townsend, "The Humans" Jan Versweyveld, "Arthur Miller's The Crucible" Jan Versweyveld, "Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge"

Best Lighting Design of a Musical WINNER: Howell Binkley, "Hamilton" Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed" Ben Stanton, "Spring Awakening" Justin Townsend, "American Psycho"

Best Direction of a Play Rupert Goold, "King Charles III" Jonathan Kent, "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Joe Mantello, "The Humans" Liesl Tommy, "Eclipsed" WINNER: Ivo Van Hove, "Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge"

Best Direction of a Musical Michael Arden, "Spring Awakening" John Doyle, "The Color Purple" Scott Ellis, "She Loves Me" WINNER: Thomas Kail, "Hamilton" George C. Wolfe, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed"

Best Choreography WINNER: Andy Blankenbuehler, "Hamilton" Savion Glover, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed" Hofesh Shechter, "Fiddler on the Roof" Randy Skinner, "Dames at Sea" Sergio Trujillo, "On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan"

Best Orchestrations August Eriksmoen, "Bright Star" Larry Hochman, "She Loves Me" WINNER: Alex Lacamoire, "Hamilton" Daryl Waters, "Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed"