Nine Wins for The Broadway Collection at the 2016 Tony Awards
New York, NY– June 13 2016- The Broadway Collection received top honors at the 70th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Late Late Night Show host and former Tony Award winner, James Corden at the Beacon Theater in New York the evening of June 12. Presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, the Tony Awards are the most prestigious accolade in American theatre and pay tribute to the season’s best new productions. Broadway Collection members collectively received 43 nominations, winning a fantastic nine of 24 general awards, impressive in light of the record-breaking 16 nominations and 11 awards for 2016’s predicted, landslide winner, Hamilton.
A record number of theater lovers tuned into the ceremony, totaling a 33% spike in ratings over 2015 viewership, according to CBS, which signals a re-energized interest in Broadway. The Broadway Collection Tony winners of the evening were Roundabout Theater Company and The Color Purple.
With a collective 27 nominations between the revivals of musical She Loves Me, and plays Ugly Lies The Bone, The Humans, Noises Off, Thérèse Raquin and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Roundabout Theater Company, in it’s 50th Anniversary Season, took home seven total awards.
Jessica Lange picked up the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role In A Play for her portrayal of the tortured, main character Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night. The production also won Best Lighting Design of a Play by Tony Awards winner Natasha Katz. Best Scenic Design in a Musical went to David Rockwell, for the unfolding set of Roundabout Theater Company’s She Love’s Me revival at Studio 54.
An additional Roundabout Theater Company winner was The Humans, for: Best Play, Best Scenic Design of a Play, and Best Performance by both an Actor and an Actress in a Play, for a total of four awards granted to the show.
The Color Purple also scored big, landing the Tony Awards for both Best Revival of a Musical and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, which went to London stage transfer Cynthia Erivo. Erivo originally portrayed main character Celie in London’s Menier Chocolate Factory production. Oprah Winfrey, a producer, was on stage with the cast and creative team, as the award for Best Revival of a Musical was presented.
Aside from the winners, nominations received by the Broadway Collection for the 2016 Tony Awards went to American Psycho for Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design, Tuck Everlasting for Best Costume Design, and Fiddler on the Roof for Best Revival of a Musical. Danny Burstein, who portrays Fiddler’s lead character Tevye, was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, as was Alex Brightman for his role in School of Rock. That production was nominated for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score Written for the Theater. Nominations for Best Choreography of a Musical went to Fiddler on the Roof, Dames at Sea, and On Your Feet, among other Broadway Collection, 2016 Tony nominees.