By ‘Stereophonic,’ a play about a Fleetwood Mac-like band recording an album over a turbulent and life-changing year, received a rousing reception at the Tony Awards on Sunday, winning the coveted award for best new play. The hyper-naturalistic meditation on the thrill and danger of artistic collaboration, written by David Adjmi with songs by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler, also made theater history as women claimed significant victories as Broadway directors and scorewriters.
Upon accepting the award, Adjmi, who had taken a beta-blocker to calm his nerves, admitted that the journey to bring “Stereophonic” to the stage had been challenging, taking 11 years to manifest. He emphasized the need for increased funding for the arts in America and dedicated the award to all artists.
Danya Taymor, whose aunt Julie Taymor was the first woman to win a Tony Award for directing a musical, became the 11th woman to claim the directing prize for her work on “The Outsiders,” a gritty musical adaptation of the classic American young adult novel. Taymor thanked the great women who had lifted her up, including producer Angelina Jolie.
Shaina Taub made history as only the second woman in Broadway history to write, compose, and star in a Broadway musical, winning the award for best score for her work on “Suffs.” Taub, who had already won for best book earlier in the night, used her acceptance speech to encourage all the loud girls out there to “go for it” and urged the audience to register to vote and exercise their right to do so, as her musical tells the story of the heroic final years of the fight for women’s suffrage.
The night was also marked by electrifying performances, including Alicia Keys teaming up with superstar Jay-Z on their hit “Empire State of Mind.” Keys began the performance at the piano on the stage of the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center as the cast of her semi-autobiographical musical, “Hell’s Kitchen,” presented a medley of songs before joining Jay-Z on some interior steps to wild applause.
Host Ariana DeBose kicked off the telecast with an original, acrobatic number, and Jeremy Strong took home the first major award of the night for his work in the revival of Henrik Ibsen’s political play “An Enemy of the People.” Strong, known for his role in the TV series “Succession,” added the Tony to his already impressive collection of awards, including an Emmy, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Golden Globe.
Other notable winners included Kara Young, who became the first Black performer to be nominated for a Tony three consecutive years in a row, winning best featured actress in a play for “Purlie Victorious,” and Daniel Radcliffe, who cemented his stage career pivot by winning a featured actor in a musical Tony for his role in the revival of “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Kecia Lewis, a 40-year veteran who made her Broadway debut at 18 in the original company of “Dreamgirls,” won her first Tony for her role as a formidable piano teacher in “Hell’s Kitchen,” while “Appropriate,” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play about a family reunion in Arkansas, was named best play revival.
The night also featured a heartfelt tribute to three-time Tony-honored Chita Rivera, with performances by Tony winners Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Bebe Neuwirth, as well as a special appearance by DeBose, who won an Oscar for her role in the remake of “West Side Story,” one of Rivera’s iconic performances.
As the Tony Awards celebrated the best of Broadway, “Stereophonic” and the historic wins by women in key creative roles highlighted the importance of artistic collaboration, perseverance, and the ongoing fight for representation and recognition in the theater world.
AP
