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Looks like the Tony Awards are back in the ballgame, with an uptick in the overnight Nielsen numbers (3.8 million viewers, according to Variety, up 39 per cent from last year). It’s a stunning comeback from those pandemic years, and a healthy comeback for Broadway.

Last night’s diversity of winners – including newbies – means a breath of fresh air. Artistry prevailed over box office grosses, and the bottom line is quite obvious: a new breed of splendid talent will bring a burst of invigorating new headliners in the Great White Way community.

Hosted by former “Hamilton” performer Ariana DeBose, a first-time Oscar winner from this year’s “West Side Story,” the Broadway community welcomed fresh faces and a vigorous new wedge of diversity, particularly these new names among the expanding elite Tony crowd:

1– Joaquina Kalukango, “Paradise Square, ” victorious as the Best Performance by an Actress in a  Leading Role in a Musical. Her performance was hypnotic, deeply emotional, and a show-stopper.

2— Myles Frost, “MJ”– Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. He recreated the smooth moves of Michael Jackson, from moon-walking to crotch-grabbing, displaying a style  with his own imprint.

3 –Another MJ, Michael A. Jackson, became a new hero in the Broadway milieu, winning his first Tony for “A Strange Loop,” the Best Book of a Musical winner. The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical,  the tale of  of a Broadway usher, whose named is Usher, who is trying to write a musical about a Broadway usher trying to write a musical, has been widely applauded for its unique tale and score. Redundancy paid off, with a schematic involving six performers, who are guises of Usher’s innermost sentiments.

These wins might be loosely termed “upsets,” because the unknown Frost, enacting Michael Jackson, beat universally popular Hugh Jackman as con man Harold Hill, in the evergreen Meredith Willson musical, “Music Man,”

the show that has been earning more than $3 million-plus a week, beating the usual “take” of $2 million-plus of “Hamilton,” which has been box office gold since Lin-Manuel Miranda first played Alexander Hamilton well before Covid halted all productions.

The exposure from the Tonys, televised by CBS to mark the 75^th anniversary of the award, will be a clear milestone that will be long remembered. Change is happening. Slowly, but assuredly.

For a while, it looked like the old guard was going to make a clean sweep of the Tonys.

Patti Lupone, in “Company,” deserved her laurels; ditto, Phylicia Rashjad, in “Skeleton Crew.” Even the late Stephen Sondheim picked up a trophy, in memoriam, for Best Revival of a Musical,” for the beloved “Company.”

Jennifer Hudson quietly became an EGOT winner, as a co-producer of “A Strange Loop,” which galvanized her as a bonafide GOAT. Greatest of All Time, though her artistic clock’s still ticking. (Surely, you know that EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, the various show biz competitions, and if you win all, you’re an EGOT).

Scroll down the winner’s list, below, and yes, some traditonalists continue to score (think Sam Mendes  for Best Director of a Play, “The Lehman Trilogy”), gender equality is still relevant (think Marianne Elliott, Best Director of a Musical,” for “Company”), and a sweet, blossomimg dance to  fame is reflected in other triumphs in other categories.

Here’s the complete list of Tony nominees and winners (designated in boldface) :

Best Play
“Clyde’s”
“Hangmen”
WINNER: “The Lehman Trilogy”
“The Minutes”
“Skeleton Crew”

Best Musical
“Girl From The North Country”
“MJ”
“Mr. Saturday Night”
“Paradise Square”
“Six: The Musical”
WINNER: “A Strange Loop”

Best Revival of a Play
“American Buffalo”
“for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
“How I Learned to Drive”
WINNER: “Take Me Out”
“Trouble in Mind”

Best Revival of a Musical
“Caroline, or Change”
WINNER: “Company”
“The Music Man”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
WINNER: Simon Russell Beale, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Adam Godley, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Adrian Lester, “The Lehman Trilogy”
David Morse, “How I Learned to Drive”
Sam Rockwell, “American Buffalo”
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “Lackawanna Blues”
David Threlfall, “Hangmen”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Gabby Beans, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
LaChanze, “Trouble in Mind”
Ruth Negga, “Macbeth”
WINNER: Deirdre O’Connell, “Dana H.”
Mary-Louise Parker, “How I Learned to Drive”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Billy Crystal, “Mr. Saturday Night”
WINNER: Myles Frost, “MJ”
Hugh Jackman, “The Music Man”
Rob McClure, “Mrs. Doubtfire”
Jaquel Spivey, “A Strange Loop”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sharon D Clarke, “Caroline, or Change”
Carmen Cusack, “Flying Over Sunset”
Sutton Foster, “The Music Man”
WINNER: Joaquina Kalukango, “Paradise Square”
Mare Winningham, “Girl From The North Country”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Alfie Allen, “Hangmen”
Chuck Cooper, “Trouble in Mind”
WINNER: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Take Me Out”
Ron Cephas Jones, “Clyde’s”
Michael Oberholtzer, “Take Me Out”
Jesse Williams, “Take Me Out”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Uzo Aduba, “Clyde’s”
Rachel Dratch, “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive”
Kenita R. Miller, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
WINNER: Phylicia Rashad, “Skeleton Crew”
Julie White, “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive”
Kara Young, “Clyde’s”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
WINNER: Matt Doyle, “Company”
Sidney DuPont, “Paradise Square”
Jared Grimes, “Funny Girl”
John-Andrew Morrison, “A Strange Loop”
A.J. Shively, “Paradise Square”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Jeannette Bayardelle, “Girl From The North Country”
Shoshana Bean, “Mr. Saturday Night”
Jayne Houdyshell, “The Music Man”
L Morgan Lee, “A Strange Loop”
WINNER: Patti LuPone, “Company”
Jennifer Simard, “Company”

Best Direction of a Play
Lileana Blain-Cruz, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Camille A. Brown, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
WINNER: Sam Mendes, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Neil Pepe, “American Buffalo”
Les Waters, “Dana H.”

Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Brackett, “A Strange Loop”
WINNER: Marianne Elliott, “Company”
Conor McPherson, “Girl From The North Country”
Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage, “Six: The Musical”
Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ”

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive”
Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, “Skeleton Crew”
WINNER: Es Devlin, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Anna Fleischle, “Hangmen”
Scott Pask, “American Buffalo”
Adam Rigg, “The Skin of Our Teeth”

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, “Flying Over Sunset”
WINNER: Bunny Christie, “Company”
Arnulfo Maldonado, “A Strange Loop”
Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, “MJ”
Allen Moyer, “Paradise Square”

Best Book of a Musical
“Girl From The North Country”
Conor McPherson “MJ”
Lynn Nottage
“Mr. Saturday Night”
Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
“Paradise Square”
Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan
WINNER: “A Strange Loop”
Michael R. Jackson

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics)
“Flying Over Sunset”
Music: Tom Kitt Lyrics: Michael Korie
“Mr. Saturday Night”
Music: Jason Robert Brown Lyrics: Amanda Green
“Paradise Square”
Music: Jason Howland
Lyrics: Nathan Tysen & Masi Asare
WINNER: “Six: The Musical”
Music and Lyrics: Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss
“A Strange Loop”
Music & Lyrics: Michael R. Jackson

Best Costume Design of a Play
WINNER: Montana Levi Blanco, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Sarafina Bush, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
Emilio Sosa, “Trouble in Mind”
Jane Greenwood, “Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite”
Jennifer Moeller, “Clyde’s”

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Fly Davis, “Caroline, or Change”

Toni-Leslie James, “Paradise Square”

William Ivey Long, Diana, The Musical

Santo Loquasto, “The Music Man”

WINNER: Gabriella Slade, “SIX: The Musical”

Paul Tazewell, “MJ”

Best Lighting Design of a Play
WINNER: Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy
Jane Cox, “Macbeth”
Yi Zhao, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Joshua Carr, “Hangmen”
Jiyoun Chang, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Neil Austin, “Company”
Tim Deiling, “Six: The Musical”
Donald Holder, “Paradise Square”
WINNER:Natasha Katz, “MJ”
Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset Jen Schriever, “A Strange Loop”

Best Sound Design of a Play
Justin Ellington, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
WINNER: Mikhail Fiksel, “Dana H.”
Palmer Hefferan, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Mikaal Sulaiman, “Macbeth”

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Simon Baker, “Girl From The North Country”
Paul Gatehouse, “Six: The Musical”
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, “Company”
Drew Levy, “A Strange Loop”
WINNER: Gareth Owen, “MJ”

Best Choreography
Camille A. Brown, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”
Warren Carlyle, “The Music Man”
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, “Six: The Musical”
Bill T. Jones, “Paradise Square”
WINNER: Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ”

Best Orchestrations
David Cullen, “Company”
Tom Curran, “Six: The Musical”
WINNER: Simon Hale, “Girl From The North Country”
Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, “MJ”
Charlie Rosen, “A Strange Loop”

And that’s Show Biz. …