‘Outsiders’ Outmaneuvers ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ F-Bombs Fly and More

There have been heading into the 2024 Tony Awards ceremony — “Stereophonic,” “Merrily We Roll Alongside,” Daniel Radcliffe. However this 12 months’s full listing of winners had room for some sudden twists and turns, too. You need snubs? You need surprises? Discover ’em proper right here.

SURPRISE: An early F-bomb short-circuits Pluto TV’s censors
“I can’t imagine I’m crying in entrance of so many f—in’ folks,” stated Cody Spencer (“The Outsiders”) in his acceptance speech for the musical sound design award, handed out through the “Act One” portion of the ceremony’s proceedings. Everybody watching Pluto TV, the streaming platform on which “Act One” aired, heard it — which was humorous sufficient, however the actual comedy got here when Pluto TV blacked out utterly for the following minute as slow-on-the-draw censors determined too late to nix the remainder of his speech. However not earlier than dwelling viewers all caught a glimpse of Spencer’s “oops” face.

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SNUB: Leslie Odom Jr. misses the award for “Purlie Victorious”
Emmy winner Jeremy Sturdy (“Succession”) added one other trophy to his shelf when his efficiency in “An Enemy of the Folks” earned him the award for actor in a play in a number one function. He was one of many frontrunners in that class — however his victory left one other actor with loads of trade assist, Leslie Odom Jr., off the winners’ listing. No less than Odom Jr. has that “Hamilton” trophy to maintain him heat till he’s again on the Tonys once more.

SNUB: Maria Friedman (“Merrily We Roll Alongside”) goes dwelling empty-handed
Heading into Tony night time, only a few nominees appeared to have extra of a lock on their class than Maria Friedman did on the award for greatest course of a musical. Friedman is broadly credited with reviving the repute of Stephen Sondheim’s most infamous flop, and praised for guiding a manufacturing that lastly makes the present work for critics and audiences alike. However within the night time’s first huge upset, the award went to Danya Taymor, who was broadly admired for her visually hanging, staging of “The Outsiders.”

SURPRISE: Kecia Lewis (“Hell’s Kitchen”) takes the consideration for featured actress in a musical
With all of the love showered on “Merrily We Roll Alongside” over the course of the season, it appeared seemingly that Lindsay Mendez, nominated for featured actress for her efficiency within the revival (and already a Tony winner for “Carousel”), would have snagged the award that night time. However as an alternative voters opted to offer the trophy to a theater veteran getting a long-awaited highlight in “Hell’s Kitchen,” Kecia Lewis, taking part in the piano instructor who turns into a mentor to the younger artist on the middle of Alicia Keys’ loosely autobiographical musical.

SURPRISE: Shaina Taub scores for “Suffs”
If there was a frontrunner for the night’s award for greatest rating, it was, counterintuitively, a play (“Stereophonic”) fairly than any one of many nominated musicals. However in a win for the season’s musical slate, Shaina Taub, the favored creator-writer-composer-star of “Suffs,” took dwelling the trophy for her achieved rating for that present — and, whereas she was at it, she nabbed the award for greatest guide, too.

SNUB: “Hell’s Kitchen” misses out on the highest award for brand spanking new musical
For many of the 2023-24 season, Keys’s musical “Hell’s Kitchen” regarded just like the present to beat: It was a well-liked Broadway switch of a downtown hit anchored by a breakout lead efficiency (from newly minted Tony winner Maleah Joi Moon). However late within the season, “The Outsiders” started to show the trade’s head, and as increasingly Tony voters checked the field for the present, it grew to become the underdog that simply may come out on prime. Ultimately, “The Outsiders” took the night time’s largest award — in addition to trophies for lighting design, sound design and course.

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