Broadway's wins, losses at Sunday's Tony Awards

SALT LAKE CITY — "Maybe Happy Ending" got the happy ending it deserved at Sunday's 78th Tony Awards.

The Broadway musical is a charming breath of fresh air, as two helper-bots discover each other in Seoul, South Korea, and end up teaching the audience how to be human.

The show, which stars Darren Criss, of TV "Glee" fame, dominated Sunday night's Tony Awards, winning six trophies — including best musical and best leading actor in a musical. I saw this show in May and couldn't stop smiling all night. This show is all about heart and connection. I never thought I would learn so much about being a human from a robot.

It's rare on Broadway to see such a fresh, heartwarming show not based on a movie, TV show or popular book.

"Maybe Happy Ending" was a happy surprise. But it won't be a secret anymore. With that many wins, this show is bound to grow in popularity and continue its run on Broadway. Sadly, the production didn't serve the audience well by performing the song "Never Fly Away" for the world to see. If you truly want a glimpse of why I adored "Maybe Happy Ending," listen to "Rainy Day We Met" or "World Within My Room."

I was shocked to see "Gypsy" lose the best revival of a musical Tony award. The fresh take on the Arthur Laurents classic is full of powerhouse performances from Audra McDonald and Joy Woods. And don't forget Leslie Margherita singing "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" — she about stole the show.

I grew up listening to the "Gypsy" soundtrack on many road trips to Utah, so I have an obvious affection for the show. McDonald's take on "Rose's Turn" during the broadcast was moving and powerful. Unfortunately McDonald, the most decorated Tony winner of all time, lost the Tony for leading actress in a musical to Nicole Scherzinger of "Sunset Boulevard," the show that also beat "Gypsy" for best revival of a musical.

Unfortunately, I missed "Sunset Boulevard" this season. After hearing Nicole Scherzinger's beautiful rendition of "As If We'd Never Said Goodbye," I wish I had snagged tickets. And her moving speech after winning the Tony for best actress in a musical was a highlight of the night. There is so much more to Scherzinger than I thought. I've always known she has the pipes, but tonight I learned she has the heart.

Other highlights of the 78th Tony Awards

• Two dozen original Broadway cast members of "Hamilton" reunited to sing a mash-up of songs from the hit musical. I found myself dancing and singing along the entire time to snippets of "Non-Stop," "My Shot," "The Schuyler Sisters," "You'll Be Back," "The Room Where It Happens," and "History Has Its Eyes on You."
• This year's "In Memoriam," featuring Sara Bareilles and host Cynthia Erivo, was magnificent. I'm not sure how Bareilles was able to sing "Tomorrow," as it was a tribute to her best friend, Gavin Creel. Watching her heartbreak as his face flashed on the screen at the end of the song broke my heart.
• "Real Women Have Curves" seems like a lot of fun. After watching the performance, I want to plan another trip to New York City.
• Jak Malone from "Operation Mincemeat" was so well deserving of the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. His performance was a revelation. His song, "Dear Bill," touched my heart and unexpectedly had me in tears. He joined his castmates in a rousing performance of "Born to Lead." Don't miss "Operation Mincemeat." It's direct from the West End with the original cast from the U.K. You'll laugh. You'll cry. It's a jolly good time.

Lowlights

• The broadcast was riddled with sound issues. Poor Keanu Reeves and Charli D'Amelio's (of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" fame) microphones barely worked and I couldn't hear who actually won best actress in a play. The sound issues continued during many of the musical numbers.
• I miss the days of Neil Patrick Harris, Hugh Jackman or even Rosie O'Donnell grabbing my attention during the opening number. Cynthia Erivo as host just didn't do it for me. It was kind of a yawn. And for the haters who think that was the point of her opening number, I hear you. I still miss the old days.
• Please, no more in-show commercials. Darren Criss plugging tea while seemingly changing in his dressing room was awkward.

A few noticeable snubs

• Helen J Shen deserved a nomination for her brilliant acting in "Maybe Happy Ending." Unfortunately, she was left out of the pack of leading actresses in the musical category. Kudos to her co-star, Darren Criss, calling her out during his Tony acceptance speech, saying she deserved to share it with him
• "Smash," the much-anticipated musical loosely based on the 2012 NBC show, only received two nominations, took home no wins and was barely mentioned in the broadcast at all. While this wasn't my favorite musical this year (mainly because I really wanted it to be more like the TV show), there were several performances I think were ignored by Tony voters, including Caroline Bowman's take on "Just Keep Moving the Line."
• Hollywood stars were shut out of the nominations, like Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal of "Othello" and Rachel Zegler of "Romeo + Juliet," Jim Parsons of "Our Town," and Robert Downey Jr. from "McNeal." But that didn't stop the parade of stars on stage on Broadway's biggest night. The broadcast featured many George Clooney cameos, as well as Oprah, Keanu Reeves and Sadie Sink.

The 78th Tony Awards proved that Broadway is indeed back.

The 2024-2025 season was the highest-grossing in recorded Broadway history, with a $1.89 billion gross and 14.7 million people seeing a show this year. The Great White Way has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic, but audiences are back and that is obviously due to fantastic theater playing on Broadway.

Related topics