Scroll To Top
Arts & Entertainment

Tony winners include plays by Edward Albee, Noël Coward

Tony winners include plays by Edward Albee, Noël Coward

Support The Advocate
LGBTQ+ stories are more important than ever. Join us in fighting for our future. Support our journalism.

Once again it was great to be gay at the Tony Awards. The frothy musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, conceived by Dick Scanlan, won the evening with six trophies at Sunday's 56th annual Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress. Out playwright Edward Albee beat out tough competition--including Ivan Turgenev--to take Best Play for his The Goat or Who is Sylvia? while Private Lives, by the late Noel Coward, took Best Revival, Play. Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods bested the vaunted London production of Oklahoma! for Best Revival, Musical. The evening's loser was the CBS network, which, in its efforts to keep the show on time, forced first-time Tony winner Elaine Stritch offstage for a commercial break during her emotional acceptance speech for Elaine Stritch at Liberty, which received the Special Theatrical Event prize. She told reporters backstage that she was "very, very upset. It's spoiled it for me. I know CBS can't let anyone give the Gettysburg Address just because they won a Tony award. But they should have given me my time." Here is a complete list of winners of the 56th annual Tony Awards: Best Play: The Goat or Who is Sylvia? Best Musical: Thoroughly Modern Millie Best Book of a Musical: Greg Kotis, Urinetown Best Score of a Musical: Mark Hollmann, Greg Kotis, Urinetown Best Revival, Play: Private Lives Best Revival, Musical: Into the Woods Best Actor, Play: Alan Bates, Fortune's Fool Best Actress, Play: Lindsay Duncan, Private Lives Best Actor, Musical: John Lithgow, Sweet Smell of Success Best Actress, Musical: Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie Best Featured Actor, Play: Frank Langella, Fortune's Fool Best Featured Actress, Play, Katie Finneran, Noises Off Best Featured Actor, Musical: Shuler Hensley, Oklahoma! Best Featured Actress, Musical: Harriet Harris, Thoroughly Modern Millie Best Director, Play: Mary Zimmerman, Metamorphoses Best Director, Musical: John Rando, Urinetown Best Set Design: Tim Hatley, Private Lives Best Costume Design: Martin Pakledinaz, Thoroughly Modern Millie Best Lighting Design: Brian MacDevitt, Into the Woods Best Choreography: Rob Ashford, Thoroughly Modern Millie Best Orchestrations: Doug Besterman, Ralph Burns, Thoroughly Modern Millie Lifetime Achievement in the Theater: Julie Harris, Robert Whitehead Special Theatrical Event: Elaine Stritch at Liberty Regional Theater: Williamstown [Mass.] Theatre Festival

The Advocates with Sonia BaghdadyOut / Advocate Magazine - Jonathan Groff & Wayne Brady

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Advocate.com Editors