The 2022 Tony Awards kicked off on Sunday evening, with Jess Tyler Ferguson winning the first award of the night.
Ferguson beat out (other nominees) for the award to get the show under way, airing live on CBS from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with Ariana DeBose hosting.
The 75th Annual Tony Awards is celebrating achievement in Broadway productions during the 2021–22 season.
First winner: The 2022 Tony Awards kicked off on Sunday evening, with Jess Tyler Ferguson winning the first award of the night
Jessica Chastain and Colman Domingo presented the first award of the night for Best Featured Actor in a Play, which was won by Jesse Tyler Ferguson for Take Me Out.
He beat out Alfie Allen, Hangmen, Chuck Cooper, Trouble in Mind, Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde’s, Michael Oberholtzer, Take Me Out and Jesse Williams, Take Me Out.
‘Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. My heart is beating so fast. 25 years ago I worked at the theatre circle gift shop on 44th Street, which happens to be three doors down from the theatre where Take Me out is playing,’ Ferguson began.
‘I would sit in there and folding my Phantom of the Opera t-shirts and watching actors walk by the windows on the way to the their call and I thought I hope that is me some day,’ he added.
‘I am so glad I get to be to do this. Thank you for mom, dad, thank you for letting me STO move to New York, I told you it would be okay,’ he joked.
He also bragged about his husband Justin Mikita, who, ‘was part of the producing team that brought Is This A Room to Broadway this season.;
‘I’m so unrealistically proud of you and you have incredible taste, obviously and Richard Greenberg, your words are a gift to any actor who gets the pleasure to say them. I’m so honored. Thank you so much,’ he concluded.
Kelli O’Hara and Ruthie Ann Miles presented the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, which was won by Patti LuPone for Company.
She beat out Jeannette Bayardelle, Girl From The North Country, Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night, Jayne Houdyshell, The Music Man, L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop and Jennifer Simard, Company.
‘I started this journey with Maryanne Elliott in 2018, four years, two countries, a seemingly endless and extremely vulnerable lockdown, three different viruses in three consecutive months and two sublime casts,’ she began.
‘And so a loving shout out to my British casemates lead by Rosalie Craig who was the first actors to realize Maryanne’s gender bent vision,’ LuPone added.
‘And equally loving shout out to my hometown casemates lead by Katrina Lenk. A finer group of actors and comedians I couldn’t imagine and who it is my honor to work with every night,’ she said, while also offering her, ‘huge gratitude’ to understudies and COVID compliance workers.
‘Maryanne, I will follow you for the rest of my life wherever you lead. Chris Harper who pays my salary. You are my one and last producer, except for David, Jeffrey and Andre Bishop,’ she concluded.
A number of awards were handed out before the telecast as well, which were announced through the Tony Awards Twitter.
Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow won Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) for SIX: The Musical, beating out Flying Over Sunset; Music by Tom Kitt, Lyrics by Michael Korie, Mr. Saturday Night; Music by Jason Robert Brown, Lyrics by Amanda Green, Paradise Square; Music by Jason Howland, Lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare and A Strange Loop, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson.
Montana Levi Blanco won Best Costume Design of a Play for The Skin of Our Teeth, beating out Sarafina Bush, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, Emilio Sosa, Trouble in Mind, Jane Greenwood, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite and Jennifer Moeller, Clyde’s.
Gabriella Slade won Best Costume Design of a Musical for Six: The Musical, beating out Fly Davis, Caroline, or Change, Toni-Leslie James, Paradise Square, William Ivey Long, Diana, The Musical, Santo Loquasto, The Music Man and Paul Tazewell, MJ.
Es Devlin won Best Scenic Design of a Play for The Lehman Trilogy, beating out Beowulf Boritt, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, Skeleton Crew, Anna Fleischle, Hangmen, Scott Pask, American Buffalo and Adam Rigg, The Skin of Our Teeth.
Bunny Christie won Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Company, beating out Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset, Arnulfo Maldonado, A Strange Loop, Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, MJ and Allen Moyer, Paradise Square.
Jon Clark won Best Lighting Design of a Play for The Lehman Trilogy, beating out Joshua Carr, Hangmen, Jiyoun Chang, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, Jane Cox, Macbeth and Yi Zhao, The Skin of Our Teeth.
Natasha Katz won Best Lighting Design of a Musical for MJ, beating out Neil Austin, Company, Tim Deiling, SIX: The Musical, Donald Holder, Paradise Square, Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset and Jen Schriever, A Strange Loop
Mikhail Fiskel won Best Sound Design of a Play for Dana H., beating out Justin Ellington, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, Palmer Hefferan, The Skin of Our Teeth, Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, The Lehman Trilogy and Mikaal Sulaiman, Macbeth.
Gareth Owen won Best Sound Design of a Musical for MJ, beating out Simon Baker, Girl From The North Country, Paul Gatehouse, SIX: The Musical, Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Company and Drew Levy, A Strange Loop.
Simon Hale won Best Orchestrations for Girl From the North Country, beating out David Cullen, Company, Tom Curran, SIX: The Musical, Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, MJ and Charlie Rosen, A Strange Loop.
Christopher Wheeldon won Best Chroreography for his work in MJ, beating out Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, Warren Carlyle, The Music Man, Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, SIX: The Musical and Bill T. Jones, Paradise Square.
The nominations were revealed last month, with Michael R. Jackson’s musical A Strange Loop leading the pack with an impressive 11 nominations, including Best Music, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson jukebox musical MJ The Musical and Paradise Square also dominated with 10 nominations each, while The Legman Trilogy was the most nominated play.
Major stars, including Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster (‘The Music Man’), Billy Crystal (‘Mr. Saturday Night’), and Sam Rockwell (‘American Buffalo’) are up for acting nominations.
Notably, Daniel Craig’s turn as Macbeth is absent from the nominations list, however, his co-star Ruth Negga has a nod for Best Performance By An Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her part as Lady Macbeth.
Oscar-winner DeBose called the honor of hosting the prestigious event ‘a dream come true’ when it was announced last month.
In a statement, she said: ‘I’m coming home! I’m so honored to celebrate 75 years of excellence in theatre, but more importantly every member of this community who poured themselves into making sure the lights of Broadway have the opportunity to shine brightly once again!’
DeBose is best known for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, for which she received Oscar, BAFTA, Critics Choice, and SAG Awards for her star turning role as Anita.
On-stage, DeBose is known for her role as ‘Disco Donna’ in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which earned her a 2018 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
In 2015, DeBose appeared alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda in the musical Hamilton as a member of the original cast in both the Broadway and off-Broadway productions, as well as the Emmy Award winning film version that was later released on Disney+.
After her departure from Hamilton in 2016, DeBose completed a run as ‘Jane’ in the original Broadway cast of A Bronx Tale.
Her theater credits include: Leading Player in the Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin, ‘Mary Wilson’ in Motown The Musical, ‘Nautica’ in Bring It On: The Musical and ensemble in Stephen Sondheim’s Company.
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, known as the Tony Award, was founded in 1947 by a committee of the American Theatre Wing (ATW) headed by Brock Pemberton.
The award is named after Antoinette Perry, nicknamed Tony, an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, who died in 1946.