Last night Broadway toasted the unlikely musical blockbuster about the first Treasury Secretary of the United States, awarding Hamilton with 11 Tonys from its record-breaking 16 nominations, including Best Score, Best Book, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Actor, Best Direction and Best Musical. Producer Jeffrey Seller, when accepting the Tony for Best Musical, paid tribute to the creative, generous spirit in which the show was developed, and quoted one of the songs, "Look around. Look around. How lucky we are to be alive right now."
His words had another meaning, as it was also a somber night in the aftermath of the Orlando massacre. In addition to Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's moving acceptance speech for Best Score ("We rise and fall and light from dying embers / Remembrances that hope and love lasts longer / And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love), Frank Langella, who won Best Actor in a Play for The Father said, "I found some words that will mean more to you than a list of names. When something bad happens we have three choices: we let it define us, we let it destroy us, or we let it strengthen us. Today in Orlando we had a hideous dose of reality, and I urge you Orlando to remain strong... We will be with you every step of the way."
He told reporters later, "I had to say something about it... I react to things much more profoundly than I did when I was 60, 50. This violence, sense of madness that seems to be pervading this country is terrifying me."
It was also a notable night because all the winners of the musical acting categories are people of color: Leslie Odom Jr. won Best Actor for Hamilton; Cynthia Erivo won Best Actress for The Color Purple; Daveed Diggs won Best Supporting Actor for Hamilton; and Renee Elise Goldsberry won Best Supporting Actress for Hamilton. Host James Corden said, "Think of tonight as the Oscars—but with diversity." After the applause, he continued, "It is so diverse, Donald Trump has threatened to build a wall around this theater." Corden also explained, "This is like the Super Bowl for people who don't know what the Super Bowl is."
Here's a full list of the winners. Among them should be Corden, who was an excellent host, even if the show felt a bit overstuffed—which is to be expected, as the program is a way for Broadway to entice people to buy tickets to their shows.
Check out video clips from the show below; sadly CBS hasn't included the really terrific bit where Corden name-checked nominees, noting that they were better known by the bit parts they played in Law and Order:
James Corden's opening number:
Which was preceded by a Hamilton spoof/tribute to Corden:
Gloria Estefan and the cast of On Your Feet:
Cynthia Erivo, Heather Headley, Danielle Brooks and the cast of The Color Purple:
Alex Brightman and the cast of School of Rock:
The cast of Fiddler on the Roof:
Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and the cast of Shuffle Along:
Gavin Creel, Jane Krakowski, Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti sing songs from "She Loves Me":
Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and the cast of Bright Star:
The "In Memoriam" segment, complete with applause-meter:
The cast of Spring Awakening:
The cast of Hamilton performs "Yorktown":
Jessie Mueller and the cast of Waitress:
The cast of Hamilton closes the Tonys with "The Schuyler Sisters":
