Top Tony awards go to A Strange Loop, Lehman Trilogy | CBC Arts

 A Strange Loop, the story of a Black gay man and his mental struggles as a playwright, won the Tony award for best new musical on Sunday as Broadway honoured its first season since the long pandemic shutdown.

The Lehman Trilogy, about the rise and fall of investment firm Lehman Brothers, took the best new play honour at a live ceremony held at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Strange Loop triumphed over MJ, a crowd-pleasing musical about Michael Jackson. Star Myles Frost won best actor in a musical for playing the King of Pop.

Being on stage to accept the Tony felt like a “miracle,” said Ben Power, the writer of Lehman Trilogy, after COVID-19 halted preview shows of the play, for 577 days.

“In New York, even after everything, even after today, anything is possible,” Power said, adding that the play had been written as “a hymn to the city of New York.”

Simon Russell Beale, the star of Lehman Trilogy, won the Tony for lead actor in a play. Joaquina Kalukango took best actress in a musical for Paradise Square.

For best revival of a musical, Tony voters honoured Company, the final project backed by composer and theater legend Stephen Sondheim, who died in November.

The new Company reverses the gender roles of the original, which centred on a single man considering his life choices as he turned 35. Producer Chris Harper thanked Sondheim “for letting us re-imagine the classic musical.”

Patti LuPone won her third Tony award for a supporting role in Company and thanked, among others, “all of the COVID safety people” for making Broadway’s return possible. In the audience were 150 COVID-19 safety managers who had kept shows running.

Best play revival went to Take Me Out, the story of a gay baseball player.

Deirde O’Connell won the Tony for lead actress in a play for Dana H. As she accepted her trophy, she encouraged aspiring writers to “make the weird art.”

The list of winners at the 75th Tony Awards:

•    Best Musical: A Strange Loop.

•    Best Play: The Lehman Trilogy.

•    Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy.

•    Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.

•    Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Myles Frost, MJ.

•    Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square.

•    Best Revival of a Musical: Company.

•    Best Revival of a Play: Take Me Out.

•    Featured Actor, Play: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out

•    Featured Actress, Play: Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew

•    Featured Actress, Musical: Patti LuPone, Company.

•    Featured Actor, Musical: Matt Doyle, Company.

•    Best Direction of a Play: Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy.

•    Best Direction of a Musical: Marianne Elliott, Company.

•    Best Score: Six: The Musical, with music and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss.

•    Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon, MJ.

•    Costume Design: Montana Levi Blanco, The Skin of Our Teeth.

•    Costume Design, Musical: Gabriella Slade, Six: The Musical.

•    Scenic Design, Play: Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy.

•    Scenic Design, Musical: Bunny Christie, Company.

•    Lighting Design, Play: Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy.

•    Lighting Design, Musical: Natasha Katz, MJ.

•    Sound Design, Play: Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.

•    Sound Design, Musical: Gareth Owen, MJ.

•    Best Orchestrations: Simon Hale, Girl from the North Country.