Chicago was truly represented at last night’s Tony Awards with our very own Kinky Boots and Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? taking home numerous awards, including “Best Musical” and “Best Revival of a Play.” Kinky Boots’ multiple wins (including “Best Score” for Cyndi Lauper, “Best Lead Actor in a Musical” for Billy Porter, and “Best Choreography” for Jerry Mitchell) should come to no surprise to Broadway In Chicago audiences as it was definitely a fan favorite when its pre-Broadway world premiere hit the Bank of America Theatre last season.
It was the wins for Steppenwolf’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf that were exceptionally inspiring for the Chicago theatre community. “A special nod to the Chicago community where Steppenwolf has had its home for the last 37 years.” Martha Lavey called it when accepting the award for “Best Revival of a Play.”
“I share this with the actors in Chicago and in storefronts,” said “Best Lead Actor in a Play” winner Tracy Letts. “We are the ones who say it to their faces and we have a unique responsibility.” You can watch the entirety of his inspiring acceptance speech here.
Broadway In Chicago Vice President and Chair of the League of Chicago Theatres Board of Directors Eileen LaCario called it “a true tribute that only someone as well spoken and respected as [Lavey and Letts] could deliver. [They] took [their] moment and turned it into our moment.”
It was another amazing night for Broadway, once again hosted by the affable Neil Patrick Harris. Check out the rousing opening number and the full winners list after the jump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BraXq07kkM
Winners of the 2013 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards
BEST PLAY: “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang
BEST MUSICAL: “Kinky Boots”
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL: “Pippin”
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL: “Matilda the Musical” by Dennis Kelly
BEST LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY: Tracy Letts, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Cicely Tyson, “The Trip to Bountiful”
BEST LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: Billy Porter, “Kinky Boots”
BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Patina Miller, “Pippin”
BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY: Courtney B. Vance, “Lucky Guy”
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Judith Light, “The Assembled Parties”
BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: Gabriel Ebert, “Matilda the Musical”
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Andrea Martin, “Pippin”
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY: John Lee Beatty, “The Nance”
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL: Rob Howell, “Matilda the Musical”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY: Ann Roth, “The Nance”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL: William Ivey Long, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY: Pam MacKinnon, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL: Diane Paulus, “Pippin”
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Jerry Mitchell, “Kinky Boots”
BEST ORCHESTRATIONS: Stephen Oremus, “Kinky Boots”
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY: Leon Rothenberg, “The Nance”
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL: John Shivers, “Kinky Boots”
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATRE: Bernard Gersten, Paul Libin and Ming Cho Lee
ISABELLE STEVENSON AWARD: Larry Kramer
REGIONAL THEATRE AWARD: Huntington Theatre Company of Boston
