Unpacking the 78th Annual Tony Awards

AKA the Cole Escola Awards.

“Four more years,” that was Cole Escola’s declaration minutes after securing their Tony Award for Lead Actor in a Play for their performance as Mary Todd Lincoln in the critically heralded Oh, Mary!. They were reacting not to their win, but to Nicole Scherzinger’s win for Lead Actress in a Musical. The moment buttoned what had been a triumphant evening for the Broadway newcomer: from their red carpet homage to Bernadette Peters at the 1999 ceremony (Escola’s been impersonating Peters since 2008), to viral red carpet interviews (“I think it should be left up to the states to decide” in response to being asked why they facetiously stated they don’t read) to their speech where they promised to call their mother… when they can.

If, like me and many others, you’ve been following Escola for nearly two decades, the night was a particularly poignant moment in watching an artistic genius recognized at the highest level in their field.

But it wasn’t just Escola, who became the first out nonbinary person to win an acting Tony for a play. The 78th annual Tony Awards (the highest-rated since before the pandemic) showcased the breadth of what winner Darren Criss called a “notably diverse and exquisite Broadway season.” That was reflected in the victors throughout the night. Lead Actor and Lead Actress in a musical were both picked up by Filipino-Americans (Criss and Scherzinger), Featured Actress in a musical went to Trinidadian-born Natalie Venetia Belcon, while Featured Actress in play went to Harlem-born and raised Kara Young and Featured Actor in a Play went to Chinese-American B’way veteran Francis Jue. Performances from shows like The Buena Vista Social Club, Real Women Have Curves and Gypsy put a necessary spotlight on the diverse season that Criss spoke to.

It was an ultimately triumphant night from an entertainment perspective, too — from Cynthia Erivo’s opening number to witnessing Keanu Reeves’s deeply relatable delight in having Jonathan Groff’s crotch in his face to Oprah Winfrey shading Patti LuPone to Jennifer Simard preemptively flashing a “THAT WAS RUDE” sign ahead of her category being called — but nothing compared to the screams of joy let out at Radio City Music Hall in watching Escola, a favorite among so many New York communities, triumph… and look so damn good doing it (wearing custom Wiederhoeft, styled by David Moses).

Escola’s popularity has permeated beyond the confines of Broadway, bringing together the worlds of Rosie O’Donnell and Kylie Jenner into the same sacred space.

(I also want to note that my meme, intended to highlight Escola’s speech, was riddled with errors and unintended omissions. “Jen” is actually Jenn, Jenn Harris, in fact. “Dakota” is Decoteau and “T-Bow” is Thibault.

I’m frankly surprised I spelled “Ben” correctly — or so I think I did! If that wasn’t enough mistakes, I also mistakenly missed Escola shout-ing out “John and Claudia,” AKA John Early and Claudia O’Doherty. “Evan. If this happens again. I will freak out. Publicly.” That’s what John Early told me when I texted an apology.)

Beyond Escola’s win, the moment of the night, for me anyway, happened during the pre-show, or Act I as it was being billed, witnessing Harvey Fierstein pick up his Lifetime Achievement Award. There’s connectivity between the two. As writer Ben Zauzmer pointed out on Twitter, Escola is the first person to win Best Actor in a Play for a play that they themselves wrote since Fierstein won for Torch Song Trilogy in 1983. Now, it should be a jailable offense that Fierstein’s speech was not featured in the telecast, but I also recognize that the already bloated three-hour-plus show was in need of trims, not additions.

“It was 1982 and not only did I arrive on Broadway, but so did AIDS,” Fierstein told the rapt audience.

“This was no time to hide. We needed to go to war. And it was a war that cost us much too dearly. I might never really understand how I survived those years or the years that led me to be standing on this stage accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award, but what I find most humbling is the thought that somehow my journey means something to you. There’s no way to really thank even a tiny percentage of the people responsible — no one does theater alone — but I must call out my mother who dragged us to opera and ballet and Broadway as often as she could afford and my brother who’s sitting over there, who used my shows as a personality test for his dates. If they freaked out seeing his drag queen brother, they were history. But I’d like to leave you with this thought: As many of you know, there’s nothing quite like bathing in the applause of a curtain call. But when I bow, I bow to the audience. With gratitude. Knowing that without them, I might as well be lip syncing show tunes in my bedroom mirror. And so, I dedicate this award to the people in the dark and offer my most profound thanks to all of you, my community.”

Beyond Erivo’s opener and the In Memoriam which poignantly featured Erivo and Sara Bareilles covering Annie’s “Tomorrow,” the other most memorable moments of the night weren’t the performances, but the speeches.

Outside of Fierstein’s, the most memorable speech came from Gary Edwin Robinson, longtime head of the theatre arts program at Boys and Girls High School, who picked up the Excellence in Theatre Education Award. His commanding presence and James Earl Jones-esque voice reverberated throughout the theater from the moment he stepped on stage and commanded our attention with a simple “good evening.” He continued:

“I am Mr. Robinson, and I proudly teach theater. The first time I performed at Radio City Music Hall, I was 15 years old. I was singing with the Old City High School Chorus. When I returned to this great stage, I was singing choral backup for Miss Diana Ross on her Take Me Higher Tour. Proverbs 22:6: ‘Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ I was born for the theater… My platform as a theater educator is career focused. I love working with my students to help them find the theater in themselves. When they shout, ‘I got it, Mr. Robinson, I found it!’ — that is what brings me the joy of teaching theater. They are ready to see the many different pathways to a career in theater. They're open to all the possibilities.”

And then there was Celia Keenan-Bolger, picking up the Isabelle Stevenson Award.

“We are living through big, challenging times where the act, any act of resistance or kindness or engagement can feel insufficient. In honoring me, you're sending a message that the work of community care matters. The writer Clarissa Pinkola Estés says, ‘Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.’ And the truth is, every single one of us, you here, you at home, we can all engage with this work, we can look inside of our communities for what needs doing, find some friends, and try to make our corner of the world a little bit better. My dear friend, Gavin Creel, who was my co-conspirator and champion in this work — we held each other's hands, fighting for marriage equality, volunteering for political campaigns, advocating with the New York Civil Liberties Union, feeding hospital workers through the pandemic and on, and on, and on. Before he left this earthly plane, I asked him if we started a foundation for him, what he would want it to benefit, and he said plainly, ‘For young actors who don't come from money to have support when they move to New York City…’ I am one among many helpers in this community, and I am constantly amazed by our ability to show up and answer the call. This award feels like spiritual encouragement for me to keep caring and directing our collective energy towards helping the most vulnerable among us so that we can shine our mighty compassionate light and make this world a better place.”

The speeches continued to triumph during the televised show as well.

“20 years ago, wonderful actor, singer Alvin Ing gave me this tux,” Francis Jue told the audience after picking up his award for Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Yellow Face.

“He had it made for himself for the opening of Pacific Overtures on Broadway in 1976. And when he gave it to me, he told me that he wanted me to wear it when I accepted my Tony Award. I’m only here because of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of wonderful, deserving Asian artists who came before me and never got the opportunities that I’ve had.”

Next came a speech from Jak Malone as he picked up the award for Featured Actor in a Musical for his debut Broadway bow in Operation Mincemeat. “The last thing I wanted to say is this,” he said.

“Eight times a week, I walk out on that stage and tell the audience that I’m a woman. I’m not one, and I only convey it through simple adjustments to posture, voice, and energy. But night after night, audiences believe in Hester. They weep for her, they invest in her, they love her for her old romantic heart. If you watched our show and found yourself believing in Hester, well then I am so glad to tell you, intentionally or otherwise, you might have just bid farewell to cynicism, to outdated ideas, to that rotten old binary, and opened yourself up to a world that is out there in glorious technicolor and isn’t going away anytime soon.”

Later, when Michael Arden won Best Director of a Musical:

“To everyone in this community, I say: Keep taking risks. Keep telling stories that probe for deeper truths, that inspire hope, because the darker it gets, the more we need your light. As Daddy Sondheim said, ‘Give us more to see.’ And if there are any queer people watching tonight: Happy Pride.”

Nicole Scherzinger thanked God, while Darren Criss thanked his wife; Natalie Venetia Belcon shouted out Jason Mamoa, while Michael Arden invoked “Daddy Sondheim.” It all made so much sense. I wrote about the thankless job of hosting back in January, and I think Erivo circumvented this terrifically by frontloading her talents and keeping the energy buoyant and the train on the tracks.

The jokes were not only funny, but they landed (thanks to Alex Edelman’s writing) and the opening number (penned by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Marc Shaiman, and Scott Wittman) was energizing and celebratory.

The night didn’t have a ton of the kind of viral thrills that permeate the theater-verse, but it did a proper job of centering the performers and performances that make theater crank. I still wish there was a better solve for spotlighting the breadth of talent that was nominated. It would have been a thrill to see folks like Jasmine Amy Rogers, Jennifer Simard and Tom Francis being able to share the talents that they were nominated for, but in an imperfect format, this Tony Awards managed to offer up the gay fantasia that the clamoring audience yearned for. Above all, it made me want to go to the theater.

That, and it gave the culture “Daddy Sondheim” as new nomenclature to chew on. Hooray for that!