By Mark Kennedy
NEW YORK (AP) – “Maybe Happy Ending” is a ROM.com about humanity and the cracked androids, with a clear happy ending at the Tony Awards on Sunday. It won Best New Musical on the night when Kara Young made history as the first black man to win two Tonys in a row for “purpose.”
Starring Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen, “Maybe Happy Ending” represents the relationship between two abolished robots, and provides an explanation of the human theme and the passage of time. We won six major Tonys.
In “Purpose,” playwright Branden Jenkins, a reception room drama about skilled black families who expose hypocrisy and pressure during snowy gatherings, holds back an astonishing year. (That victory came on the Met Gala day, when he served on the host committee.)
Jacobs Jenkins is the first black playwright to win the category since “Fence” August Wilson in 1987. He urged viewers to support local theatres. The “purpose” was raised in Chicago.
“The theatre is a sacred space where we must respect respect and treasure, and it unites us,” Young said in her own acceptance speech.
Notable Tony’s moment
“Sunset Boulevard” desperately tried to regain her fame as a fallen screen idol with Nicole Scherzinger, earning the best musical revivals and handing composer Andrew Lloyd Weber his first competitive Tony since 1995. The current version is a stripped minimalist production.
Schelzinger also won the best lead actress in the musical, with the exception of a considerable challenge from Audra McDonald, with the exception of a notable career pivot of the pop group Pussycat Dolls and the former lead singer of the TV talent show judge.
“Growing up, I always felt like I didn’t belong, but you guys made me feel like I belong and finally got home,” she said. “So if there are people who feel they don’t belong or who don’t have time for you, don’t give up.
Starring in everything from “Glee” to “Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Tales,” Chris won his first Tony in “Maybe Happy Ending,” which he co-produced. He said he shared it with Shen, who was not nominated.
Sarah Snook has won a leading actress in her tireless play with “Durian Gray Photography,” where she plays all 26 roles.
“I don’t feel alone on the night I do this show,” Snook said, dismissing the idea as a one-woman show. “There are so many people working on the stage and behind the stage.”
Downtown Cabaret star Cole Escola has beaten Hollywood stars such as George Clooney and Daniel De Kim to win the best actor in Mary Todd Lincoln’s crazy, oppressed, over-historic version of the play. Sam Pinkleton has been named Best Director of “Ah, Mary!” And thanked Escola, they said they taught him, “Do what you like, not what you want to see.”
Francis Jou has won the best featured actor in the play for the revival of “Yellow Face.” He said he was given his tuxedo by another Asian actor who wanted Tony to wear it.
“I’m just here for the encouragement and inspiration of a generation of amazing Asian artists who have come before me,” he said.
Jak Malone has won the best featured actor in the musical for the British import “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical.” He hoped that his victory would be a strong defense of trans rights. On “Eureka Day,” Jonathan Spector’s social satire won the Best Play Revival for the well-intentioned liberals discussing school vaccine policies.
The original cast of “Hamilton,” including creator Lynn Manuel Miranda, had a black-decorated victory rap to commemorate the show’s 10th anniversary on Broadway.
Most hosts
First time host Cynthia Eribo started the show in the dressing room at Radio City Music Hall, where she doesn’t know her opening number. As she walked through Warren behind the scenes, she met a variety of people offering advice until she arrived at Oprah Winfrey.
Eribo appeared on stage in a red span spung gown with white accents as he set out for the slow burning original, “I need you sometimes,” written by Mark Shaiman, Scott Whitman, Benji Pasek and Justin Paul. First alone with a pianist, Eribo’s rising voice was quickly joined by members of the inspirational Broadway choir, all dressed in white and looked like powerful strawberries in a bowl of whipped cream.
In her opening comments, she chose her first nominations: Escola, Louis McCartney, Sadicink and “a budding George Clooney that you really think you’re hearing.”
She noted that the 2024-2025 season won $1.9 billion, making it the best cultivation ever, and that Signaling Broadway has finally emerged from the Covid-19 blues.
“Broadway is officially back,” Erivo said. “Unless there’s a shortage of cast members from “Succession,” Jeremy Strong from last season’s Jeremy Strong nodded to the appearances of former co-stars Snook and Kieran Culkin this season.
She and Sarah Bareire sang “The Sun is Out” from “Annie,” and not only composers Charles Strauss, George Went, Richard Chamberlain, Attle Fugaard, Joan Ploughright, Quincy Jones, Linda Lavin and James Earl Creelle, but also “The Sun is Out” from “Annie.”
Eribo is an amiable host, appearing at one point in the second mezzanine, commenting that everyone, except perhaps Abraham Lincoln, likes the view from the theater’s balcony. She later had fun with Winfrey and told her to check under the chair. There she finds a gift bag with a toy car. “You’re going to get the car!” Eribo cracked.
Pre-show results
The Best Book and Best Score Awards came from “Maybe Happy Endings,” with lyrics written by Heugar Park and music composed by Will Aronson. That manager Michael Arden won – “Happy Pride!” he said – and it also picked up the best scenic designs.
Justin Peck and Patricia Delgado won the choreography for “Buena Vista Social Club,” and Peck pointed out that songs from the famous original album were played at their wedding. The musical is inspired by Wim Wenders’ 1999 Oscar-nominated documentary Make of the Cuban album. I won four Tonys.
The best outfit in the play went to Marg Hornwell for “Photo of Dorian Grey,” but in “Death Is Her Her,” he won Paul Tazewell’s musical counterpart a few months after becoming the first black man to win an Oscar for designing the outfit.
Harvey Fierstein, the four-time Tony winner behind “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Kinky Boots,” was recognized as Tony for Lifetime Achievement and became emotional during his speech.
“There’s nothing like bathing at the applause of a curtain call, but when I bow, I bow to the audience. “So I’ll dedicate this award to people in the dark.”
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For more information about the 2025 Tony Awards, please visit https://apnews.com/hub/tony-awards.
Original issue: June 8, 2025, 12:24am EDT
