Kevin Spacey was the somewhat surprising — though certainly not unqualified — host of the 71st running of the Broadway theater-honoring Tony Awards, broadcast Sunday night from New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Having made his first Broadway appearance 35 years ago and, more recently, serving as artistic director of London’s Old Vic Theater for about a decade, he has theater cred to spare.
He even has a Tony himself, awarded in 1991 for Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers.” Most important, he has a sense of play and fun. What mattered all the way through is that he was game.
But unlike last year’s host James Corden, and other recent hosts such as Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman, Spacey is not known for his singing or dancing. And so, naturally, he sang and danced through the first 10 minutes of the broadcast from New York’s Radio City Music Hall in a medley of numbers playing off of current Broadway musicals.
Spacey was unveiled as Ben Platt’s character in “Dear Evan Hansen,” sporting a cast on his arm signed “#HOST,” a dressing that was later moved to his leg in reference to the knee injury Andy Karl suffered during previews for “Groundhog Day.”
But the import was clear, even to a person unfamiliar with any of these shows, because all the lyrics were about Spacey hosting the Tonys, including one playing off his own earlier joke that he was 15th choice for the job.
Stephen Colbert appeared from inside a groundhog head, Whoopi Goldberg came out of a closet and Billy Crystal flew in via video, all to advise the host.
This was, of course, the first Tonys of the Donald Trump administration, with which the theater world is in many ways philosophically at odds. Still, politicking was kept subtle. Here, acceptance speeches often celebrated parents, teachers and the community.
Kevin Kline, however, did name-check the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and former Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden, introducing a number from the veteran-themed “Bandstand,” arrived to a standing ovation. Husband Joe, meanwhile, was in the audience. (No members of the current administration were evidently in attendance.)
2017 Tony Awards: The complete list of winners and nominees »
More overtly, Colbert, introducing the award for musical revival, characterized the Trump administration itself in theatrical terms. “Couple of problems,” he noted. “Main character is totally unbelievable, and hair and makeup, yeesh. This D.C. production is supposed to have a four-year run but reviews have not been kind. Could close early, we don’t know.”
As with all awards shows, three hours is a long time to sustain interest. There is a reason that Broadway plays do not generally last that long. An evening with so many scheduled high points, so many moments of focused energy, can have a cumulative enervating effect.
And yet, I will be honest, I choke up regularly and reliably through the Tonys.
It is, along with the production numbers, scripted banter and parade of internationally and locally famous faces, a performance by the fans, who are present in person at the Tonys along with the people who make the work. However big a business Broadway is, it remains the property of the people who create it and love it — it’s a community, and one that’s interactive by nature.
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Producer Stacey Mindich, at the mike, and the cast of “Dear Evan Hansen” accept the award for best musical at the conclusion of the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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Josh Groban and the cast of “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” perform at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Tina Fey, presenting at the Tony Awards
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Stephen Colbert speaks during the 2017 Tony Awards.
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The cast of “Bandstand” performs during the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall.
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Kevin Spacey, left, Michael Kelly and Robin Wright appear as their characters from “House of Cards” as they present Lin-Manuel Miranda with the envelope for best musical.
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The cast of “Bandstand” performs at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Jill Biden introduces a performance by the cast of “Bandstand.”
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The cast of “Bandstand” performs at the 71st Tony Awards in New York.
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Ben Platt, an L.A. native, accepts the award for lead actor in a musical for “Dear Evan Hansen.”
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The mix of performers, presenters and winners backstage. From left, Josh Groban, Allison Janney, Rachel Bloom, Christopher Jackson and “Come From Away’s” Tony-winning director, Christopher Ashley.
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“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, last year’s big Tony winner, announces the best musical prize the 2017 awards.
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Josh Gad presents the educators awards at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Rebecca Taichman accepts the award for direction of a play for “Indecent.”
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Andy Karl and the cast of “Groundhog Day The Musical” perform at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Christopher Ashley accepts the award for direction of a musical for “Come From Away.”
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Mimi Lien accepts the award for scenic design of a musical for “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.”
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The Rockettes perform “New York, New York” at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Rachel Bay Jones accepts the featured actress in a musical award for “Dear Evan Hansen.”
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Bette Midler presents the award for performance by a leading actress in a play.
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Patti LuPone, left, and Christine Ebersole perform from the musical “War Paint” during the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Andy Blankenbuehler accpets the award for choreography for “Bandstand.”
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Uma Thurman at the 2017 Tony Awards.
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David Hyde Pierce performs the song “Penny in My Pocket” from the Broadway revival of “Hello, Dolly!”
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Choreographer-director Tommy Tune at Radio City Music Hall.
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Patina Miller, left, and Sara Bareilles speak during the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Host Kevin Spacey impersonates Johnny Carson.
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Kevin Kline accepts the award for his lead performance in the play “Present Laughter.”
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Christopher Akerlind accepts the award for lighting design for the play “Indecent.”
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Alex Lacamoire accepts the award for the “Dear Evan Hansen” orchestrations.
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Ben Platt, who portrays the title character in “Dear Evan Hansen,” performs the song “Waving Through a Window” during the Tony telecast.
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Betsy Wolfe, left, and Tracie Thoms perform with the cast of “Falsettos.”
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Gareth Fry, left, and Pete Malkin, receive a special Tony Award for their sound design for “The Encounter.”
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Cynthia Nixon, left, accepts the Tony Award for featured actress in a play for “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes.” The handoff is by presenters Olivia Wilde and Tom Sturridge.
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Scarlett Johansson presents the award for featured performance by an actor in a play.
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Jenn Colella of “Come From Away” links arms with Rockettes during a production number at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Justin Paul, left, and Benj Pasek accept the original score award for “Dear Evan Hansen.”
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James Earl Jones accepts the special Tony award for lifetime achievement in the theater at the 71st Tony Awards.
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The cast of “Come From Away” performs onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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The cast of “Miss Saigon” performs onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Whoopi Goldberg and host Kevin Spacey perform onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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Stephen Colbert and host Kevin Spacey perform onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Host Kevin Spacey, center, performs the intro to the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Host Kevin Spacey during the intro to the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Host Kevin Spacey arrives at the 71st Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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Anna Kendrick
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Sutton Foster
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Uma Thurman
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Presenter Scarlett Johansson arrives at the 71st Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall.
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Glenn Close, who’s on Broadway in a revival of “Sunset Boulevard,” arrives at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Olivia Wilde attends the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Bette Midler, nominated in the musical-lead-actress category, arrives at the 71st Tony Awards.
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Jason Sudekis
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John Legend and Chrissy Teigen
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Nominee Cynthia Nixon and presenter Orlando Bloom arrive at the 2017 Tony Awards.
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It’s a selfie moment for actors, from left, Nick Kroll, John Mulaney and Darren Criss on the red carpet at the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Actor Jonathan Groff
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Eva Noblezada, nominated in the lead actress category for the revival of the musical “Miss Saigon.”
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Tina Fey
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Josh Groban, nominated in the lead actor category for the musical “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.”
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Actress Sally Field
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Actress Cynthia Erivo
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L.A. native and lead actor nominee for the musical “Dear Evan Hansen” Ben Platt arrives at the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall.
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Laurie Metcalf, lead actress nominee for the play “A Doll’s House, Part 2”
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John Lithgow.
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Christine Ebersole, left, Baayork Lee and Courtney Reed.
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Jenn Colella.
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Mark Hamill.
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Actors John Mulaney, left, and Nick Kroll.
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Patina Miller, left, Steven Levenson and Cobie Smulders.
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Christian Borle.
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Andrew Rannells.
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Andy Karl, a musical-lead-actor Tony nominee for “Groundhog Day,” arrives at the awards with his actress-singer wife, Orfeh.
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Jordan Roth, president of the Jujamcyn Theaters on Broadway, attends the 2017 Tony Awards.
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Denis Arndt, a leading actor nominee for the play “Heisenberg,” at the Tonys. He’s headed to L.A. this month to perform the play at the Mark Taper Forum.
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Members of the Radio City Rockettes.
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The entrance to the 2017 Tony Awards’ red carpet at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
(Angela Weiss / AFP/Getty Images) Perhaps the height of the evening came with its penultimate award, won by Bette Midler for her performance in “Hello Dolly!” Not done having her energetic say, Midler talked down the orchestra that was attempting to play her off (“I just want to say -- shut that crap off!”), earning her laughs and applause.
She then praised the musical’s “optimism, its democracy … its love of life … This thing has the ability to lift your spirits in this terrible, terrible times.”
“Thank you so much, how was that show?” Spacey asked in closing, taking the stage with Patti Lupone to sing “The Curtain Falls,” a song written for Bobby Darin, whom Spacey has played on film. “As they say in this biz, that’s all there is, there isn’t any more,” the song goes.
As the tune unfolded, the winners swayed in the background. It was corny and sweet, a fine way to finish.
robert.lloyd@latimes.com
Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd
