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Sept. 23, 2024
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Click through for a look at some of the best and worst moments from the 2015 Tony Awards.
(Clockwise from top left: Theo Wargo / Getty Images; Theo Wargo / Getty Images; Charles Sykes / Associated Press; Theo Wargo / Getty Images)A look at the highlights and lowlights of the 2015 Tony Awards.
Co-hosts Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming -- she in a tuxedo mini dress, he in purple shorts and a tie -- immediately opened the Tonys with a topical zinger: âGood evening ladies and gentlemen -- and those who donât identify as either!â Cumming quipped as the audience burst into applause.
(Charles Sykes / Associated Press)In a part classy, part biting move, Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming noted a few overlooked individuals who werenât in attendance this year. âJake Gyllenhaal for âConstellations,â Cumming said, pointing into the crowd. âNot here!â Chenoweth chimed in. âAnd Hugh Jackman for âFilet-O-Fish in the River,â he joked. âAlso not here!â Chenoweth quipped. Then Cumming looked into the crowd and called out âFinding Neverlandâ producer Harvey Weinsteinâs name, as the camera cut to a close-up of the not-nominated-this-evening producerâs face. âHeeeerrrre!â Chenoweth belted out.
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)The opening number of the evening, from the cast of âSomething Rotten!,â elevated the meaning of âmetaâ â it was a high-energy, Brian dâArcy James-led musical number about musicals, opening a theater-centric show about theater shows. But hey, it worked.
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)In her acceptance speech for featured actress in a play (âYou Canât Take It With Youâ), Annaleigh Ashford â in a fitted emerald green dress â joked: âI canât believe Iâm standing on a stage at
In a particularly poignant moment, father-daughter duo Joel and Jennifer Grey introduced the musical number from nominee âFun Home,â which Jennifer Grey called âuniversally resonant.â No doubt the musical -- based on Alison Bechdelâs graphic memoir about her closeted gay father and struggling with being gay herself -- had some resonance for the Greys. Joel Grey himself came out in January at age 82. If there were any tears in the room after a moving performance of the song âRing of Keys,â they were broken by humor when the house lights went up: there, standing next to co-host Alan Cumming, was ET. âNo,â Cumming told the character, âI said âFun Home!â
(Charles Sykes / Associated Press)Biggest win we didnât see: Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, songwriters for âFun Home,â made history this year as the first female writing team to win a Tony for musical score. But we missed most of the moment, as it took place during a commercial break. During the snippet of their acceptance speech that was later broadcast, Kron joked: âItâs statistically 10% betterâ than it used to be for women on Broadway. âItâs unacceptably low, but it seems that perhaps weâre making some progress,â she said.
(Charles Sykes / Associated Press)It was her Broadway debut, but Ruthie Ann Miles still scored the Tony for featured actress in a musical. And she didnât waste any time using the platform to further a cause. Her first words at the podium? âRecycle,â she said, holding up her iPhone to an applauding crowd. Then she read her list of thanks, her voice shaking with emotion, off the digital device. We approve.
(Charles Sykes / Associated Press)A musical highlight of the evening: Broadway royalty Chita Rivera, who played Anita in the original 1957 âWestside Story,â performing a number from âThe Visit,â which was nominated for best musical. The performance seemed to especially capture the Twitterati: âShe is allllllllll that!â one person tweeted. âWow, Iâd be scared to death to dance with Ms Rivera,â another said. âThe nerves!â
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)Most G-rated moment: accepting the award for best play for âThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,â playwright Simon Stephens thanked his young children for inspiring him to create a play, adapted from the novel, without swear words or violence.
(Brinkhoff-Moegenburg / Associated Press)Sweetest win: Alex Sharp, who snagged the Tony for lead actor in a play for âThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.â âSooo crazy,â said the 26-year-old Broadway newcomer, wearing a cream tux accentuated by a crooked bow tie, as if dressed for his bar mitzvah. âThis time last year I picked up my [diploma] after graduating from Juilliard; now Iâm holding this. Soo crazy!â Then Sharp dedicated his award to âany young person out there who feels misunderstood or different. And to answer the question: âdoes that mean I can do anything?â Yes it does!â
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)Best comeback: Neil Patrick Harris revisited his âlocked boxâ joke that didnât go over so well when he hosted the Oscars earlier this year -- in which he suggested show predictions were in a locked box backstage -- but this time, the joke was met with warm applause.
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)Introducing the best musical category, Larry David, accompanied by Jason Alexander, let his characteristic comic bitterness seep through. âThey couldnât put aside their anti-Semitism,â he joked about not being nominated for his âFish in the Dark.â âFor me or Harvey Weinstein. Yes, I am a loser.â
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)Deborah Vankin is an arts and culture writer for the Los Angeles Times. In whatâs never a desk job, she has live-blogged her journey across Los Angeles with the L.A. County Museum of Artâs âbig rock,â scaled downtown mural scaffolding with street artist Shepard Fairey, navigated the 101 freeway tracking the 1984 Olympic mural restorations and ridden Doug Aitkenâs art train through the Barstow desert. Her award-winning interviews and profiles unearth the trends, issues and personalities in L.A.âs arts scene. Her work as a writer and editor has also appeared in Variety, LA Weekly and the New York Times, among other places. Originally from Philadelphia, sheâs the author of the graphic novel âPoseurs.â
Sept. 23, 2024