Matthew López has earned his place in Broadway history…
The 44-year-old Puerto Rican playwright and screenwriter’s The Inheritance was named Best Play at the Tony Awards, earning him his first career Tony.\
Lopez’s acclaimed elegiac two-part drama about the AIDS scourge was inspired by E.M Forster’s Howards End.
López, after thanking and acknowledging three queer artists who inspired him (Forster, Terrence McNally and Miguel Pinero), noted that he was the first Latinx playwright to win a Tony Award for Best Play.
He said that while the Latinx community made up 19% of the U.S. population, the number drops to only 2% on Broadway. “This must change,” he said.
The 74th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Audra McDonald, were livestreamed exclusively on Paramount+. The presentation honored the outstanding shows, performances and artistry of the 2019-2020 Broadway season, which was brought to a halt in March 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s the complete list of honorees:
74th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS WINNERS LIST
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Lois Smith, The Inheritance
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Best Costume Design of a Play
Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Sound Design of a Play
Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
A Christmas Carol
Music: Christopher Nightingale
Best Book of a Musical
Jagged Little Pill
Diablo Cody
Best Orchestrations
Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Choreography
Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Direction of a Play
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Best Direction of a Musical
Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Adrienne Warren, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Best Revival of a Play
A Soldier’s Play Charles Fuller
Best Play
The Inheritance
Author: Matthew López
Best Musical
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Special Tony Awards were presented to:
- The Broadway Advocacy Coalition, an arts-based advocacy nonprofit dedicated to building the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to use storytelling as a way of dismantling the systems that perpetuate racism. The organization was founded in 2016 by several Black members of the Broadway community as a direct response to the nation’s pandemic of rac:ism and police brutality, and has since grown into a multidisciplinary organization which unites artists, legal experts and community advocates to create lasting impact and collaborations on policy issues ranging from criminal justice reform to education equity to immigration.
- David Byrne’s American Utopia, the Broadway theatrical concert production described by the Tony Awards administration committee as “a jubilant celebration of live music, community, and connection.” The production recently returned to Broadway for a limited engagement.
- Freestyle Love Supreme, created by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale, was developed in the basement of The Drama Bookshop in 2004 and slowly worked its way to Broadway’s Booth Theatre in 2019. Directed by Kail, the acclaimed show features a comedic improvisational musical structure, and a rotating cast. Freestyle Love Supreme will return to Broadway for a strictly limited engagement at the Booth on Thursday, October 7.
Tony Honors For Excellence in the Theater were previously announced for:
- Fred Gallo, President of PRG Scenic Technologies. Gallo, a former stagehand and production carpenter, co-founded Scenic Technologies leading to the formation of his company PRG, one of the world’s leading suppliers of scenery and automation for theatrical productions.
- Irene Gandy, the first Black female press agent member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers, and a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer for The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and a producer for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill starring Audra MacDonald.
- Beverly Jenkins, a professional stage manager for over 30 years, currently the production stage manager for the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Hadestown.
- Woodie King, Jr., founder of the New Federal Theatre, a groundbreaking company with a mission to integrate artists of color and women into the mainstream of American theater.
The 2020 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award was previously announced for:
- Actress Julie Halston for her work and advocacy in raising funding and awareness for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.