The Broadway community celebrated its best at New York’s Lincoln Center, where “The Outsiders” and “Stereophonic” earned top honors at the Tony Awards, the highest accolades in American theater.
The event, hosted by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose for the third year running, saw “The Outsiders,” a stage adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s novel about class conflict between two high school gangs in 1960s Oklahoma, win the award for Best Musical. This marked the show’s fourth win of the night, including Best Director, Lighting Design, and Sound Design. Angelina Jolie, one of the show’s producers, introduced the cast’s performance, which featured a gritty fight scene. She remarked, “Society changes but the experience of being an outsider is universal. To any young person, any person feeling on the outside, you are not wrong to see what is unfair, you are not wrong to wish to find your own path.”
“Stereophonic,” written by David Adjmi, won the award for Best Play. The story, about a 1970s band putting together an album, features original music by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler. It won five awards on the night, including Best Featured Actor and Best Director, after making history as the most nominated play ever with 13 nods.
Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” which tells the complicated story of three friends in reverse, earned redemption by winning four awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. Stars Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe, of “Harry Potter” fame, earned trophies for their performances in the show.
The Best Musical win for “The Outsiders” was an upset over “Hell’s Kitchen,” a jukebox musical loosely based on the life of pop singer Alicia Keys. “Hell’s Kitchen” won prizes for Lead Actress Maleah Joi Moon and Featured Actress Kecia Lewis. Keys herself took the stage with the cast to perform her massive hit “Empire State of Mind,” featuring a surprise cameo from Jay-Z, who rapped his verse from outside the theater, where she joined him to end the song.
Sarah Paulson took the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her work in the family drama “Appropriate,” which also won the award for Best Revival of a Play.
