Washington Heights, a northern Manhattan neighborhood best known to theater buffs as the setting of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first hit show, played host to thousands in the Broadway community on Sunday night. The 76th Annual Tony Awards moved to the United Palace Theater, the third venue change in three years for Broadway’s biggest night. This one even surprised Miranda, who excitedly handed out high-fives to those camped out outside the venue as he headed for the red carpet.
Once inside the lavishly decorated theater (“It looks like Beyonce’s screening room,” Nathan Lane later remarked while presenting an award with his “Producers” partner-in-crime Matthew Broderick), Miranda jokingly thanked everyone for coming to 176th street. “Never in my wildest dreams…” he said before presenting a lifetime achievement award to “Cabaret” composer John Kander during the non-televised segment of the Tonys.
The new location was the least of the big changes for the Tony Awards, which went unscripted in solidarity with the WGA strike. No one at the United Palace Theater seemed to miss the stale banter and dull bits that are a staple of awards shows. As one Tony visitor put it: “There’s no script, so there’s just a bunch of performances. It’s much better!” And it’s true: audiences loved Ariana DeBose’s on-the-fly hosting duties and the many musical numbers, especially those from “& Juliet,” “Shucked,” and “Funny Girl.”
Viewers at home were treated to meaningful speeches and rousing musical numbers (many of which were plagued by microphone problems in the room). But there’s plenty that didn’t make it to the broadcast. Here’s what you didn’t see on TV at the Tony Awards, where “Kimberly Akimbo” won Best Musical and performers Alex Newell (“Shucked”) and J. Harrison Ghee (“Some Like It Hot”) made history.
Michael Arden claims homophobic slur gets beeped by CBS
Those watching on TV could hear Arden, who won the Best Director award for “Parade,” speak emotionally about the hatred he faced as a young gay man. “I was called the F-word more times than I can remember,” he said. But CBS beeped the next part of his speech, in which he reclaimed the homophobic slur: “Now I’m a fagot with a Tony,” he told the audience to raucous applause and excited gasps. Since Robert De Niro took the stage to denounce Trump in 2018, with another F-word, broadcast censors hadn’t worked as hard.
“Some Like It Hot”, but not like that
The organizers of the Tonys took the name of this year’s most nominated show, “Some Like It Hot,” a little too literally. There was hardly any air conditioning in the 3,300-seat venue. Not great for New York City in June! During commercial breaks, Alex Newell would wave to herself with their hand, while Lea Michele used her Playbill to circulate the airflow. At 8:45 p.m., everyone in the orchestra did the same. A sweaty Newell even referenced the heat in their best supporting actor speech, saying “I’m not gonna hold you guys because it’s hot in here.” Before presenting the final award of the night, DeBose used the best musical envelope as a fan and shouted “it’s so hot” to the front row.
A mess to get into – and out of – the theatre
The show was technically on Broadway, but it was more than 100 blocks from the theaters that regularly host the nominated shows. Some of the growing pains associated with the new venue were so drastic that it would have been credible that the Tonys were the first time the United Palace Theater had ever hosted an event to capacity. The frenzied struggle to find seats (ushers were too swarming to get everyone to their rows and had to pass out Playbills once people were seated) was matched only by the crunch of getting out of the theater. But what a star-studded log jam! Audra McDonald, an “Ohio State Murders” nominee, and her husband Will Swenson, whose rendition of “Sweet Caroline” rallied the crowd earlier in the evening, were among the huddled masses yearning to be free, or in at least tried to push through to the exit. “This is problematic,” Swenson whispered to his wife about the potential fire hazard.
Mad-dash to finish your drink
During Act One, which doesn’t air live on CBS, the wait at the bar was longer than a “Hamilton” rush hour line in 2015. But as the clock approached 7:15 p.m. (the main show started at 8 p.m.), people started begging for return to their seats. They were clearing the lobby so DeBose was free to trudge, jump, and twirl through the two-story venue to open the Tonys in her rousing, wordless musical number. The bar reopened after the broadcast began, but by 9 p.m. (a whole two hours before the curtain), the bartenders announced they were out of wine and champagne. Guess the $25 price tag for a glass of cheap bubbly didn’t stop many people.
Lots of love like Ariana did “The Thing”
Perhaps everyone at the United Palace Theater sensed the challenge and was loudly on DeBose’s side. One person even yelled “Go Ariana!” as the countdown clock to the show started ticking closer and closer to zero. (And yes, the whole room screamed collectively as she began the dance by diving down the stairs and into the arms of a strong dancer.) Sara Bareilles exclaimed “yes!” while DeBose took the stage.
“It’s not easy to present a three-hour show,” Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, said during a long break between Acts One and Two. “We’ve got the right woman to spend us the next three years—hours,” she said, correcting her Freudian slip. “Sometimes it feels that way.”
Mixing during commercial breaks
When spectators weren’t chilling, they mingled with fellow nominees and friends during the four-hour evening. Miranda, who had an excellent front row seat, gave a high five to presenter Utkarsh Ambudkar, who played Aaron Burr in the early readings of ‘Hamilton’ and made his Broadway debut in Miranda’s other other show “Freestyle Love Supreme.” Later, DeBose was swamped by producers as she said “hello” to Miranda in between outfit changes. Julia Lester, an “Into the Woods” nominee, used the time to make sure her dress stayed within the confines of her seat. You see, there was so much tulle in it that it ran down the aisle. “Ain’t No Mo'” playwright Jordan E. Cooper kissed Newell on the cheek. Ben Platt and fiancée Noah Galvin chatted and looked at something on Platt’s phone (maybe this Instagram post to promote their upcoming movie ‘Theater Camp’ which went live half way through the show).
Shake Shack and Uber Misery
When guests came out of the theater and headed to the after party, held in a tent outside the venue, they were greeted with an even longer line – a food truck for Shake Shack burgers. (“This is the coolest event I’ve ever worked on,” said the man in charge of handing out burgers to the crowd of hungry talent.) Taking advantage of the glow of the truck’s fluorescent lights, Rachel Brosnahan and TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney for a photo. Elsewhere, newly minted Tony winner J. Harrison Ghee roamed the party with their trophy proudly in hand. Once the burgers, signature cocktails, and churros started to dwindle, there was one last obstacle. Wilson Cruz approached a friendly woman about finding his Uber. Turns out she wasn’t working at the event – she was also a guest. Lupita Nyong’o also couldn’t find her ride of choice. “Okay, we’ll come to you,” she told a driver on the phone as she hurried to the other side of the United Palace Theater. Stars, she Are just like us.