2015 Tony Awards Recap—Or, A Love Letter to Team Cummoweth

After the 69th annual Tony Awards wrapped up last night, I found myself thinking: What a nice little show that was!

And super-duper props to Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming for that. Their cute but understated hosting made the evening feel chummy and intimate, even though it was a ginormous production that must have been insane to orchestrate.

I mean, we saw performances by the casts of 10 different Broadway shows; an “In Memoriam” tribute featuring more than 175 people, one of whom was Josh Groban; appearances by two New York City Ballet principals, one American Ballet Theatre soloist and one Royal Ballet soloist; and, um, a High School Musical reunion (eee!). Only Chenoweth and Cumming—the King and Queen (respectively?) of Broadway—could have made hosting that behemoth look easy. Also, they both have fantastic legs and weren’t afraid to show ’em, so, plus 1000 points.

“I said Fun Home, not ‘phone home.’ ” I die. (photo Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

We heard this circus was going to involve a LOT of dancing,
and we were not disappointed. The award for “Most Effort Put Into a Tony Performance” definitely goes to On the Town, whose cast blazed through a dancetastic medley that included Tony Yazbeck waltzing in the aisle with Chita Rivera (YES). The King and I‘s Kelli O’Hara showed us why she deserved the Tony she won later in the evening by somehow managing to polka in the world’s largest hoop skirt. (And then, in one of the night’s cutest moments, she did “the worm” offstage after giving her acceptance speech.) The cast of Something Rotten! made fun of every Broadway cliché known to man, including the bring-it-home tap finale, in the most delightful way possible. And Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope classed up the joint with a beautiful, swoony pas de deux (complete with pointe shoes, yay!) from An American in Paris.

So much pretty. (photo Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

While most of the dance-world nominees didn’t take home awards last night, big congrats to Christopher Wheeldon, who won the Tony for Best Choreography for his brilliant work on An American in Paris. Let’s take a moment to honor him, because the broadcast didn’t actually give him one. (Note to the Tonys: Best Choreographer is a big deal. GIVE US THE WHOLE DARN ACCEPTANCE SPEECH, NOT A PALTRY SNIPPET.)

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Musical

Fun Home

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Kelli O’Hara, The King and I

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Michael Cerveris, Fun Home

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Revival of a Musical

The King and I

Best Revival of a Play

Skylight

Best Play

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I

Best Direction of a Play

Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Direction of a Musical

Sam Gold, Fun Home

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Annaleigh Ashford, You Can’t Take It With You

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Christian Borle, Something Rotten!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Richard McCabe, The Audience

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Helen Mirren, The Audience

Best Book of a Musical

Lisa Kron, Fun Home

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Fun Home

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris

Best Costume Design of a Play

Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Catherine Zuber, The King and I

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Natasha Katz, An American in Paris

Best Choreography

Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Best Orchestrations

Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris