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Tony Awards 2021: See the full list of winners

The 74th annual Tony Awards were finally handed out on Sunday, another milestone for Broadway as the theater industry reemerges from the long pandemic shutdown.

The sparkly, spectacle-laden stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge! won 10 awards in total, including Best Musical, during a night celebrating not just the nominated shows but the return of Broadway as a whole, hoping to entice theatergoers to come back as productions reopen and new shows join them. Moulin Rouge! The Musical's Tonys tally also included awards for leading actor Aaron Tveit, featured actor Danny Burstein, and prizes for choreography, costumes, and director Alex Timbers.

The Inheritance, Matthew Lopez's two-part play inspired by Howards End and following generations of gay men affected by the AIDS crisis, won the award for Best Play, along with prizes for director Stephen Daldry and featured actors Andrew Burnap and Lois Smith (her win, at age 90, makes her the oldest performer to win a Tony).

David Alan Grier and Burstein both won first-time Tony Awards for their featured roles in A Soldier's Play (which also won Best Revival of a Play) and Moulin Rouge!, respectively. Burstein, who won on his seventh nomination, thanked the Broadway community for their support following the death of his wife, fellow Broadway star Rebecca Luker, last December from complications of ALS. "You were all there for us," he said. "It meant the world to us, and it's something I'll never forget."

Adrienne Warrenn, Aaron Tveit, and Danny Burstein
Adrienne Warrenn, Aaron Tveit, and Danny Burstein

Theo Wargo/Getty Images (3)

Lauren Patten, winning for her featured role in the musical Jagged Little Pill, addressed the recent controversy around the show's depiction of her character's gender identity, for which producers have apologized. "I want to thank my trans and nonbinary friends and colleagues who have engaged with me in difficult conversations that have joined me in dialogue about my character, Jo," Patten said. "I believe that the future for the change we need to see on Broadway comes from these kinds of conversations that are full of honesty and empathy and respect for our shared humanity. And I am so excited to see the action that comes from them and to see where that leads our future as theatre artists in this country."

The award for lead actress in a musical went to Adrienne Warren for playing Tina Turner in Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, while Mary-Louise Parker won the lead actress in a play prize for The Sound Inside. And in one of the many twists from this unusual theater season, Tveit was the sole nominee in the lead actor in a musical category for his Moulin Rouge! role, but still needed to capture 60 percent of the vote to win — which he did.

In what might have been the night's biggest surprise, Slave Play, Jeremy O. Harris' searing Broadway debut exploring race, sex, and power, got shut out despite earning 12 nominations, making it the most nominated play in Tonys' history.

It's been a very long road to get to this Tonys night: COVID-19 forced theaters in New York to close in March 2020, right in the middle of the 2019-2020 theatrical season. That shortened timeline meant fewer productions were eligible than usual — just four musicals, 10 new plays, and four revivals of plays. Nominations were announced in October 2020, but voting wasn't held until March of this year.

The winners were revealed across two shows and platforms — the Tonys ceremony itself on Paramount+, hosted by Audra McDonald, followed by a concert special called The Tony Awards Present: Broadway's Back! hosted by Leslie Odom Jr. on CBS. The night also featured performances from the three Best Musical nominees — Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and Tina - The Tina Turner Musical — as well reunions of cast members from Wicked and Hairspray, a show-stopping rendition of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls from Jennifer Holliday, and David Byrne (one of the night's special Tony honorees) taking the stage for a number from American Utopia. The night then ended with a performance from Lin-Manuel Miranda and members of Freestyle Love Supreme, rapping and singing a recap the show we all just watched.

Check out the full list of winners below.

Best Play
Grand Horizons
WINNER: The Inheritance
Sea Wall/A Life
Slave Play
The Sound Inside

Best Musical
Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Revival of a Play
Betrayal
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
WINNER: A Soldier's Play

Best Book of a Musical
WINNER: Diablo Cody, Jagged Little Pill
John Logan, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
WINNER: A Christmas Carol, Music: Christopher Nightingale
The Inheritance, Music: Paul Englishby
The Rose Tattoo, Music: Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb
Slave Play, Music: Lindsay Jones
The Sound Inside, Music: Daniel Kluger

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Ian Barford, Linda Vista
WINNER: Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea Wall/A Life
Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal
Tom Sturridge, Sea Wall/A Life
Blair Underwood, A Soldier's Play

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play
Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
Audra McDonald, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
WINNER: Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
WINNER: Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

**From The Tony Awards Rules: If the Tony Awards Nominating Committee has determined that if there is only one nominee in a category listed, such category shall be submitted to the Tony Voters which may, by the affirmative vote of sixty (60%) percent of the total ballots cast, grant an Award in that category.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Adrienne Warren, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Ato Blankson-Wood, Slave Play
James Cusati-Moyer, Slave Play
WINNER: David Alan Grier, A Soldier's Play
John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Jane Alexander, Grand Horizons
Chalia La Tour, Slave Play
Annie McNamara, Slave Play
WINNER: Lois Smith, The Inheritance
Cora Vander Broek, Linda Vista

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
WINNER: Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Derek Klena, Jagged Little Pill
Sean Allan Krill, Jagged Little Pill
Sahr Ngaujah, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Daniel J. Watts, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill
Celia Rose Gooding, Jagged Little Pill
Robyn Hurder, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
WINNER: Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
Soutra Gilmour, Betrayal
WINNER: Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Derek McLane, A Soldier's Play
Clint Ramos, Slave Play

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Costume Design of a Play
Dede Ayite, Slave Play
Dede Ayite, A Soldier's Play
Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
WINNER: Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Clint Ramos, The Rose Tattoo

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Emily Rebholz, Jagged Little Pill
Mark Thompson, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
WINNER: Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jiyoun Chang, Slave Play
Jon Clark, The Inheritance
Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
Allen Lee Hughes, A Soldier's Play
WINNER: Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Bruno Poet, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
Justin Townsend, Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti & Christopher Reid, The Inheritance
WINNER: Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol
Lindsay Jones, Slave Play
Daniel Kluger, Sea Wall/A Life
Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans, Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Nevin Steinberg, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Direction of a Play
David Cromer, The Sound Inside
WINNER: Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Kenny Leon, A Soldier's Play
Jamie Lloyd, Betrayal
Robert O'Hara, Slave Play

Best Direction of a Musical
Phyllida Lloyd, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
Diane Paulus, Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Choreography
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Anthony Van Laast, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Orchestrations
Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill
WINNER: Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Ethan Popp, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-Competitive Categories

Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Graciela Daniele

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
Julie Halston

Special Tony Awards
Broadway Advocacy Coalition
David Byrne's American Utopia
Freestyle Love Supreme

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Fred Gallo
Irene Gandy
Beverly Jenkins
New Federal Theatre (Woody King Jr., founder)

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