Tony Awards hand out 2014 honors
The 2014 Tony Awards handed out honors on Sunday night, June 8 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in a ceremony airing on CBS. Host Hugh Jackman opened the evening with a bouncy entrance, taking viewers through the audience, into the dressing rooms and onto the stage before singing “I Love the Tonys.”
This exciting entrance opened the evening with the appropriate tribute to the Broadway of the past (his bouncy opening sequence was inspired by musical actor Bobby Van performing “Take Me to Broadway” in the 1953 movie Small Town Girl.) Jackman then focused on the present by kicking off an evening of performances and announcements.
Perhaps the two most noteworthy moments at this year’s Tonys were actress Audra McDonald making Broadway history with her sixth Tony Award and former show host Neil Patrick Harris winning the Tony for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.
McDonald won the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her portrayal of blues legend Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. As her sixth Tony, this award made her the first person to win in four different acting categories.
“I want to thank my mom and my dad up in heaven for disobeying the doctor’s orders and not medicating their hyperactive girl and finding out what she was into instead and pushing her into the theatre,” McDonald said in her acceptance speech.
She also paid tribute to women who paved the way for her success. “I’m standing on Lena Horne, I’m standing on Maya Angelou, Diane Carroll, Ruby Dee, and most of all, Billie Holiday. You deserved so much more than you were given when you were on this planet. This is for you Billie.” Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill also won the Tony for Best Sound Design of a Play.
Harris, on the other hand, won his Tony for his title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a musical about a rock band led by a German transgender singer.
Another highlight of the 2014 Tony Awards was when Jessie Mueller sang with the woman she portrays in Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, Carole King. Mueller won a Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical.
This year’s Tony Award for Best Choreography went to Warren Carlyle for After Midnight. Other nominees were: Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine of Rocky; Casey Nicholaw of Aladdin; and Susan Stroman of Bullets Over Broadway.
Here’s the complete list of actors and productions that won the 2014 Tony Awards, as well as the other nominees:
Best Musical — WINNER: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Nominees: After Midnight, Aladdin, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical — WINNER: Jessie Mueller, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
Nominees: Mary Bridget Davies, A Night with Janis Joplin; Sutton Foster, Violet; Idina Menzel, If/Then; Kelli O’Hara, The Bridges of Madison County
Best Revival of a Musical — WINNER: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Nominees: Les Misérables, Violet
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical — WINNER: Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Nominees: Ramin Karimloo, Les Misérables; Andy Karl, Rocky; Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder; Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Best Play — WINNER: All the Way
Nominees: Act One, Casa Valentina, Mothers and Sons, Outside Mullingar
Best Revival of a Play — WINNER: A Raisin in the Sun
Nominees: The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Glass Menagerie, Twelfth Night
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play — WINNER: Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Nominees: Samuel Barnett, Twelfth Night; Chris O’Dowd, Of Mice and Men; Mark Rylance, Richard III; Tony Shalhoub, Act One
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play — WINNER: Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
Nominees: Tyne Daly, Mothers and Sons; LaTanya Richardson Jackson, A Raisin in the Sun; Cherry Jones, The Glass Menagerie; Estelle Parsons, The Velocity of Autumn
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play — WINNER: Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun
Nominees: Sarah Greene, The Cripple of Inishmaan; Celia Keenan-Bolger, The Glass Menagerie; Anika Noni Rose, A Raisin in the Sun; Mare Winningham, Casa Valentina
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical — WINNER: James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin
Nominees: Danny Burstein, Cabaret; Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway; Joshua Henry, Violet; Jarrod Spector, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
Best Direction of a Play — WINNER: Kenny Leon, A Raisin in the Sun
Nominees: Tim Carroll, Twelfth Night; Michael Grandage, The Cripple of Inishmaan; John Tiffany,The Glass Menagerie
Best Direction of a Musical — WINNER: Darko Tresnjak, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Nominees: Warren Carlyle, After Midnight; Michael Mayer, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Leigh Silverman, Violet
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical — WINNER: Lena Hall, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Nominees: Linda Emond, Cabaret; Anika Larsen, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical; Adriane Lenox, After Midnight; Lauren Worsham, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play — WINNER: Mark Rylance, Twelfth Night
Nominees: Reed Birney, Casa Valentina; Paul Chahidi, Twelfth Night; Stephen Fry, Twelfth Night; Brian J. Smith, The Glass Menagerie
Best Book of a Musical — WINNER: Robert L. Freedman, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Nominees: Chad Beguelin, Aladdin; Douglas McGrath, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical; Woody Allen, Bullets Over Broadway
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theater — WINNER: The Bridges of Madison County (music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown)
Nominees: Aladdin (music: Alan Menken; lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Begeulin), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (music: Steven Lutvak; lyrics: Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak), If/Then (music: Tom Kitt; lyrics: Brian Yorkey)
Best Scenic Design of a Play — WINNER: Beowulf Boritt, Act One
Nominees: Bob Crowley, The Glass Menagerie; Es Devlin, Machinal; Christopher Oram, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Best Scenic Design of a Musical — WINNER: Christopher Barreca, Rocky
Nominees: Julian Crouch, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Alexander Dodge, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder; Santo Loquasto, Bullets Over Broadway
Best Lighting Design of a Play — WINNER: Natasha Katz, The Glass Menagerie
Nominees: Paule Constable, The Cripple of Inishmaan; Jane Cox, Machinal; Japhy Weideman,Of Mice and Men
Best Lighting Design of a Musical — WINNER: Kevin Adams, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Nominees: Christopher Akerlind, Rocky; Howell Binkley, After Midnight; Donald Holder, The Bridges of Madison County
Best Choreography — WINNER: Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
Nominees: Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine, Rocky; Casey Nicholaw, Aladdin; Susan Stroman, Bullets Over Broadway
Best Costume Design of a Play — WINNER: Jenny Tiramani, Twelfth Night
Nominees: Jane Greenwood, Act One; Michael Krass, Machinal; Rita Ryack, Casa Valentina
Best Costume Design of a Musical — WINNER: Linda Cho, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Nominees: William Ivey Long, Bullets Over Broadway; Arianne Phillips, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Isabel Toledo, After Midnight
Best Sound Design of a Play — WINNER: Steve Canyon Kennedy, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
Nominees: Alex Baranowski, The Cripple of Inishmaan; Dan Moses Schreier, Act One; Matt Tierney, Machinal
Best Sound Design of a Musical — WINNER: Brian Ronan, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
Nominees: Peter Hylenski, After Midnight; Tim O’Heir, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Mick Potter, Les Misérables
Best Orchestrations — WINNER: Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County
Nominees: Doug Besterman, Bullets Over Broadway; Steve Sidwell, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical; Jonathan Tunick, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Photo (top): Tony Awards host Hugh Jackman, center, onstage during the ceremony in New York City. Photo (left): Gladys Knight, Fantasia and Patti LaBelle from After Midnight perform onstage during the Tony Awards. Photos courtesy of the 68th Annual Tony Awards®.