John Lithgow, Lesley Manville and Laurie Metcalf were among the big winners at Sunday’s Tony Awards, which celebrate the best US theatre of the past year.
Aged 80, Lithgow became the oldest male actor ever to win a Tony, for his portrayal of author Roald Dahl in Giant.
The actor’s latest Tony trophy comes more than five decades after his first, when he won for his role in a 1972 Broadway production of Changing Rooms.
“Two Tony bookends with 53 years between them,” Lithgow noted in his acceptance speech.
“In those years, I have worked with hundreds of just fantastic theatre artists. I’ve had dozens and dozens of ecstatic moments on the stage, but I have to tell you right now, this moment has got to be one of the best.”
British actress Manville won the first Tony of her career for her performance as Jocasta in the Greek tragedy Oedipus.
Accepting the award, Manville said: “I’m a bit overwhelmed, it was my first time on Broadway so this is such a big deal.”
She also paid tribute to her fellow nominees – Rose Byrne, Carrie Coon, Susannah Flood and Kelli O’Hara – and joked: “Would someone like to write a play for five women? We are quite bankable.”
The wins for Lithgow and Manville were an echo of last year’s Olivier Awards, as both their productions played in the UK before transferring to Broadway.
A new production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman dominated the night overall, notching up six wins in total.
They included best revival of a play as well as the lead actress prize for Metcalf, a Bafta and Oscar-nominated actress known for Roseanne and Lady Bird.
Metcalf said: “When I was in college, I met six fellow students in the theatre department. We worked really hard to amuse each other, and I still consider them family – and I still draw on lessons that I learned from them.
“And they were Gary Sinise, Moira Harris, Al Wilder, Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney, and John Malkovich.”
The show’s success at the ceremony was notable for also scoring the first Tony Award for controversial producer Scott Rudin since he stepped back from Broadway in 2021, following allegations of bullying and abusive behaviour towards employees.
At the time, Rudin acknowledged his “history of troubling interactions with colleagues” and said he was “profoundly sorry for the pain my behaviour caused to individuals, directly and indirectly”.
Rudin was not present at Sunday’s ceremony, and the production’s trophy for best play revival was accepted by actor Nathan Lane, who paid tribute to “the genius of Arthur Miller, who created this monumental masterpiece”.
Other big winners included Ragtime, about three families pursuing the American dream at the dawn of the 20th Century, and Schmigadoon!, a comedic celebration of theatre’s golden age, adapted from the Apple TV series.
Schmigadoon! producer Christine Schwarzman joked: “I think I should start by thanking Apple TV for cancelling the third season of Schmigadoon!, the TV show, because without them dropping it, we couldn’t have picked it up and ran with it.”
Both shows won two awards, as did musical The Lost Boys, the punk-rock adaptation of the 1987 cult vampire film.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball took home three trophies, while feminism epic Liberation won best play after recently winning the Pulitzer prize for drama.
The ceremony was hosted by singer Pink, who kicked off the night with a rendition of Lady Marmalade that saw her adapt the lyrics to namecheck several of the nominees.
The star called herself “Broadway’s biggest fan” who wanted to pay tribute to “the hardest-working people in showbiz”.
Tony Awards: The main winners
Best musical
- The Lost Boys
- WINNER: Schmigadoon!
- Titaníque
- Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best play
- The Balusters
- Giant
- WINNER: Liberation
- Little Bear Ridge Road
Best revival of a play
- WINNER: Death of a Salesman
- Becky Shaw
- Every Brilliant Thing
- Fallen Angels
- Oedipus
Best revival of a musical
- Cats: The Jellicle Ball
- WINNER: Ragtime
- Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Best leading actor in a musical
- Nicholas Christopher, Chess
- Luke Evans, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
- WINNER: Joshua Henry, Ragtime
- Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
- Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime
Best leading actress in a musical
- Sara Chase, Schmigadoon!
- Stephanie Hsu, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
- WINNER: Caissie Levy, Ragtime
- Marla Mindelle, Titaníque
- Christiani Pitts, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best leading actor in a play
- Will Harrison, Punch
- Nathan Lane, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
- WINNER: John Lithgow, Giant
- Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing
- Mark Strong, Oedipus
Best leading actress in a play
- Rose Byrne, Fallen Angels
- Carrie Coon, Bug
- Susannah Flood, Liberation
- WINNER: Lesley Manville, Oedipus
- Kelli O’Hara, Fallen Angels
Best supporting actress in a play
- Betsy Aidem, Liberation
- Marylouise Burke, The Balusters
- Aya Cash, Giant
- WINNER: Laurie Metcalf, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
- June Squibb, Marjorie Prime
Best supporting actor in a play
- Christopher Abbott, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
- Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime
- Brandon J. Dirden, Waiting for Godot
- WINNER: Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
- Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
- Richard Thomas, The Balusters
Best supporting actress in a musical
- WINNER: Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
- Hannah Cruz, Chess
- Rachel Dratch, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
- Ana Gasteyer, Schmigadoon!
- Nichelle Lewis, Ragtime
Best supporting actor in a musical
- WINNER: Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys
- André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
- Bryce Pinkham, Chess
- Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime
- Layton Williams, Titaníque
