My favorite moments in the 72nd Tony Award broadcast were moving, inspiring, funny and weird. Click on any of the photographs to read the captions explaining the moment.Videos below.
1. The drama students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, singing “Seasons of Love” from Rent, right after the Tony for Excellence in Theater Education was given to their drama teacher, Melody Herzfeld, who sheltered 65 students in her office for two hours during the mass shooting on Valentine’s Day.
2. “I’m one of the oldest ever to have stood on this platform receiving this award, but what a thrill to be in the same house as those amazing children…”– Glenda Jackson, in her acceptance speech
Bruce Springsteen reminiscing at the Tony Awards about his hometown while accompanying himself on the piano, before singing “My Hometown.”
4. “Omar Sharif,” the musical number selected from The Band’s Visit. Sometimes less is more, even on a a televised awards show
5. “When I moved to NYC, I was told to change my last name from Mendez to Matthew so that I could get work. I’m so proud to be part of a community that celebrates diversity and individuality…”- Lindsay Mendez, in her Tony acceptance speech
6. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera, each winners of lifetime achievement Tony Awards, for which we were shown clips from their careers.
7. Tony Kushner acceptance speech: We have 21 weeks to save our democracy (That’s the midterm elections)And what kind of homosexual would I be if I didn’t say Happy Birthday Judy Garland.
8. “We are all sacred, and we all belong,So let’s just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked.” — the end of a long, emotional acceptance speech by Andrew Garfield, who dedicated his award for Angels in America to the countless LGBTQ people who have fought and died to protect” the “spirit..that says no to oppression.”
9. After winning the Tony Award for directing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,John Tiffany led the audience at Radio City Musical Hall in singing Happy Birthday to his boyfriend David.
10. Nathan Lane is unfriendly to the goat from Once on this Island. The 72nd annual Tony Award was surely the first to feature both a fake reindeer and a live goat.
