Broadway’s biggest night saw a number of British names win top awards on Sunday night at the 76th Tony Awards.
The 2023 Tonys took place in New York and was hosted by Oscar-winning actress Ariana DeBose, who warned audiences to “buckle up” as the show would be completely unscripted, due to the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike.
However, the award ceremony seemed to go ahead without any mishaps, with some unexpected and exciting wins.
British playwright and screenwriter Sir Tom Stoppard’s production Leopoldstadt received one of the award ceremony’s most prestigious prizes, Best Play, along with the coveted Best Direction of a Play, which went to English comedian and director Patrick Marber.
The five-act play is set over a 50-year period following the lives of a wealthy Jewish community in Vienna in the first half of the 20th century and follows their lives before and after World War II.
Accepting the Best Play award, the playwright said: “I’m teeming with emotions that a chat-box wouldn’t begin to understand. Naturally, they include gratitude and pride in the Leopoldstadt ensemble.”
British actress Jodie Comer won her first Tony award for her performance in Prima Facie, in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. Actresses Jessica Chastain, Jessica Hecht and Audra McDonald were also nominated in the same category.
The one-woman show by Suzie Miller follows the story of Tessa, a criminal defence barrister whose view of the legal system changes after she is assaulted and finds herself in the witness box.
The Killing Eve star also won the Best Actress award for the same role at the 2023 Olivier Awards last month.
“This woman in this play has been my greatest teacher and I have to thank Suzie Miller for that, who wrote this magnificent piece,” Comer said during her acceptance speech at the Tonys.
“Without her writing [I] would not be here so this feels just as much Suzie’s as it is mine.”
The actress also thanked members of the production team and acknowledged her friends and family, apologising for being “absent” over the past year.
“To every person who feels represented by Tessa, this has been my greatest honour,” she said, adding: “And it continues to be – there’s three weeks left!”
Prima Facie received four Tony nominations, including for best scenic design, best lighting design and best sound in a play, but lost out in all three categories to Life Of Pi.
Going into the awards ceremony, the musical Some Like It Hot, based on the classic 1959 Billy Wilder film starring Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe of the same name, was in the lead with 13 nominations in total, receiving the Tony for four. This included the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical which went to J Harrison Ghee.
Shucked, a musical about two residents from a rural Midwestern community who are forced to postpone their wedding due to a ruined corn crop, received one award from the nine they were nominated for. New York, New York which had music by Lin-Manuel Miranda was also leading with nine nominations but received only one Tony.
Another big winner of the night was Kimberly Akimbo, a musical about a teenage girl who suffers from a condition that causes her to age rapidly.
The musical won the nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, awarded to Victoria Clark, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical awarded to Bonnie Milligan, Best Musical, Best Original Score Written for the Theatre and Best Book of a Musical.
Will and Grace actor Sean Hayes who won Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in Good Night, Oscar.
Agencies contributed to this report
