By JOHN BONAZZO & RICHARD BORDELON
THEATER CRITIC & STAFF WRITER
Kinky Boots was the big winner at the 67th annual Tony Awards, taking home six trophies including best musical in a year that spread the wealth, with 10 shows winning at least one prize.
Cyndi Lauper became the first solo female composer to win the Tony for best original score when she won for Kinky Boots. Billy Porter, a 20-year Broadway veteran with his first nomination, won best lead actor in a musical for his role as the drag queen Lola. The show also took prizes for choreography, orchestrations and sound design of a musical.
Matilda, Kinky Boots’ main competition, won four prizes in its own right. Gabriel Ebert, who plays the evil Mr. Wormwood, took home best featured actor in a musical, and Matilda also received awards for book, scenic design and lighting design of a musical. The final technical award, costume design of a musical, went to Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
Pippin also took home four awards, including best musical revival. Patina Miller won lead actress in a musical as the Leading Player. Andrea Martin took featured actress in a musical for her role as the high-flying grandma Berthe. Diane Paulus won best direction of a musical on her third nomination.
On the dramatic side, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike won best play, the only award for that production.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf won the award for best revival of a play. Pam MacKinnon also won best direction of a play for Woolf (she and Paulus are the sixth and seventh women to win Tony Awards for directing). In an upset, Tracy Letts won best actor in a play for Woolf over heavyweights Tom Hanks and Nathan Lane.
Cicely Tyson, who got her first Tony Award nomination this year at the age of 79, won best lead actress in a play for The Trip to Bountiful and received a prolonged standing ovation. In her speech, she described how she had wanted “just one more part” worth playing and found one in this production. She thanked the Broadway community, who “wrapped me up in your arms.”
Judith Light won best featured actress in a play for The Assembled Parties, her second consecutive win in that category and the only award for that production. Courtney B. Vance won best featured actor in a play for Lucky Guy, which also won best lighting design of a play. The Nance won three technical awards, for scenic design, costume design and sound design of a play.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg received a special Tony during the telecast recognizing the record 11.6 million people who saw Broadway shows this season. “Not bad for someone who can’t sing, can’t dance and can’t act,” Bloomberg jokingly said.
The show also featured performances from some of Broadway’s biggest musicals. The opening number, composed by Broadway veterans Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt, opened with Neil Patrick Harris dressed as the character “Guy” from Once but quickly transformed into a large musical spectacle that featured performers from nominated musicals, including Matilda and Kinky Boots, as well as those from audience favorites and longer running shows, including Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia. The song featured jabs at Mike Tyson, who had his own one-man show on Broadway this year, and Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown records who wrote the libretto for his own show this season.
The cast of Matilda performed “Naughty,” “Revolting Children” and “When I Grow Up.” After a limited run earlier in the season and its nomination for Best Musical, the cast of Bring It On: The Musical returned to the stage to perform “It’s All Happening.” Another Best Musical nominee, A Christmas Story, The Musical, returned to Broadway to perform “You’re Gonna Shoot Your Eye Out.” A Christmas Story is returning to Broadway this winter for another holiday limited engagement.
The new production of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella took the audience from Cinderella’s humble home to the elegant ball, featuring snippets of “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible/It’s Possible,” and “Ten Minutes Ago.” The revival of Annie also took center stage with a performance of “A Hard Knock Life,” led by Lilla Crawford as the famous red-headed orphan. Jane Lynch also sang “Little Girls” in the guise of Miss Hannigan.
The cast of Pippin took the audience behind the circus tent for performances of “Corner Of The Sky” and “Magic To Do.” The Kinky Boots company performed the anthem “Everybody Say Yeah.” Motown: The Musical was not nominated for the top prize, but the cast appeared to perform a medley of hits, including “Get Ready,” “Dancing in the Street,” and the Jackson 5 hit “I Want You Back.”
The show squeaked in a closing number, with Harris and Audra McDonald performing a Broadway version of the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys hit “Empire State of Mind.”