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The 77th Annual Tony Awards took place Sunday night and featured several firsts, standout performances and fashion moments.
Ariana DeBose hosted the ceremony, which aired live from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on CBS and Paramount+.
Below, find a list of memorable moments from the show, and see a list of winners and red carpet photos from the 2024 Tony Awards.
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Ariana DeBose Tells Nominees “This Party’s for You” With Opening Number
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions Ariana DeBose kicked off the show with a dance-heavy opening number in which she celebrated this year’s nominees and the struggles and “journey” that led them to the Broadway awards. “This party’s for you,” DeBose told the nominees during the performance, which she choreographed with Julius Anthony Rubio. DeBose also produced this year’s ceremony. Wearing a gold, striped sparkly dress with matching gold hairpiece, DeBose asked this year’s first-time nominees to “make some noise.” The number opened with a close-up on a “Broadway Times” newspaper blaring the headline “SHE’S BACK!!!” above a picture of DeBose, with the paper passed around until it reached DeBose. She ended her performance on a tall, round riser with a backdrop that resembled the Tony Award and then fell backward off of it. Read more. — Hilary Lewis
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Alicia Keys and Jay-Z Perform “Empire State of Mind”
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed their hit “Empire State of Mind” as part of a colorful and energetic number showcasing Keys’ best musical contender, Hell’s Kitchen. Keys was wheeled out onstage playing piano and kicked off singing the song, before trading verses with Maleah Joi Moon, who would go on to win a Tony as star of the musical loosely based on Keys’ life growing up in New York. Keys raised a first in the air and got the crowd on its feet singing before throwing it over to Jay-Z. “Had to do something crazy, it’s my home town,” Keys yelled. Jay-Z then appeared on a video screen, shown standing on a set of stairs and rapping his lyrics from the song, before Keys joined him. The two have performed the song together multiple times since it was released in 2009. Read more. — Caitlin Huston
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Dede Ayite Becomes First Black Woman to Win Best Costume Design of a Play
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions Dede Ayite has become the first Black woman to win a Tony for best costume design of a play. Though nominated for her work on a few shows, Ayite won for her work on the now-closed Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. The show, which opened in October 2023 and closed the following month, is set in a bustling Harlem salon where West African immigrant hair braiders create masterpiece hairstyles for local women amid uncertain circumstances and ultimately face the community to confront being outsiders in a place they call home. During her acceptance speech, Ayite, who was also nominated in the same category for her work on Appropriate and in the best costume design of a musical category for Hell’s Kitchen, thanked her family, including her brother cheering her on from Ghana, and her collaborators. She also thanked playwright Jocelyn Bioh, “who wrote such a beautiful piece” as well as the costume shops and makers, saying of the latter, “without them I would not be here and the show would not look as amazing as it does.” Read more. — Hilary Lewis
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First-Time Winners Sweep Acting Categories
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions Among the stars who won their first Tonys on Sunday night: Daniel Radcliffe took home the Tony for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for Merrily We Roll Along. Sarah Paulson won best performance by actress in a leading role in a play for Appropriate. And Jeremy Strong won the award for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play for An Enemy of the People.
Sarah Paulson Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions The other acting categories also boasted all first-timers: Jonathan Groff (Merrily We Roll Along) for best lead actor in a musical; Maleah Joi Moon (Hell’s Kitchen) for best lead actress in a musical; Kara Young (Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch) for best featured actress in a play; Will Brill (Stereophonic) for best featured actor in a play; and Kecia Lewis (Hell’s Kitchen) for best featured actress in a musical. — Kimberly Nordyke
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'Suffs' Writer Shaina Taub Urges People to Organize to Create Change
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions The Tony Awards telecast on CBS was largely free of political commentary, apart from an impassioned speech by best score winner Shaina Taub, accepting for her musical Suffs, the Hillary Clinton-backed production about women getting the right to vote.
“This is a hard year in our country, and I just hope that we can remember that when we organize, when we come together, we are capable of making real change and progress in this country for equality and justice,” Taub said. “And so I hope we can all do that together.”
Clinton also spoke about the importance of voting when she introduced a performance from Suffs.
In the Act One preshow, Taub, accepting for best book of a musical, offered similar exhortations, “If you’re inspired by the story of Suffs, make sure everyone you know is registered to vote, and vote, vote, vote like your life depends on it.”
In the press room, she elaborated on her frustrations around the current political environment and why she was calling on people to take action.
“I think, right now, it’s a hard year in the country, people are feeling a lot of cynicism and despair, myself included, often especially seeing women’s rights being rolled back, and see reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, being threatened on the state level and the state level and the federal level, and not being able to count on Supreme Court to protect our right anymore,” she said. “And what I hope us can do is remind us that when ordinary American citizens come together to coalition build and organize for justice and equality and our rights, we get things done.”
In Act One, accepting the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his work as an activist and spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ communities, Billy Porter said the U.S. was at a “crossroads,” and more specifically at a “moment that will decide whether democracy lives or dies.” He then invoked the late John Lewis, saying, “Never give up hope, never give into hate … go out there and get into some good trouble. Love always wins. … When we fight, we always win.”
Also in Act One, George C. Wolfe, receiving a lifetime achievement award, said, “As we go through this incredibly complicated time, it’s very important that we approach it not with fear and not with trepidation, but with knowing that we work with the dynamic of celebrating, exploring the powerful, fragile dynamic that is the human heart.” — Hilary Lewis
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Brooke Shields Wears Crocs Shoes to Tony Awards
Image Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Brooke Shields chose to forgo the standard red carpet shoe attire — for a good reason. Ditching the typical high heels associated with high-profile events, the actress wore clogs-style Crocs under her yellow dress. The shoes were the same color as her sequined gown. She showed off the shoes to photographers on Sunday night. “I got my Crocs! I couldn’t do this in heels!” she said in a red carpet interview with People. The reason for the comfort attire? A day before the Tonys, Shields noted on Instagram that she was recovering from “double foot toe surgery.” Read more. — Kimberly Nordyke
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