New York
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop-flavored biography about the first U.S. treasury secretary won 11 Tonys, just short of breaking the 12-Tony record held by The Producers.
Jeffrey Seller, producer of Hamilton, quoted the show’s lyrics when accepting the award. “Look around, look around. How lucky we are to be alive right now,” he said.
Hamilton went into the night with 16 nominations and, in addition to taking the musical award, won best score, best book, direction, orchestration, choreography and best featured actor and actress statuettes for Renee Elise Goldsberry and Daveed Diggs.
Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Aaron Burr, won best actor and thanks Miranda for “a new vision of what’s possible.” He thanked his wife, actress Nicolette Robinson, and his parents.
The show earlier won awards for costume and lighting but lost scenic design to She Loves Me, meaning Hamilton couldn’t break the 12-statuette record haul by The Producers. Still, few shows get introduced by a sitting president, as Barack and Michelle Obama did for the performance by the show’s cast.
The awards show unspooled with a heavy heart a night after a gunman killed 50 people at a gay Florida nightclub, prompting a Broadway tribute to the victims at the top of the show and a smattering of references to tolerance throughout it.
Host James Corden, his back to the audience, spoke to viewers when he dedicated the night to celebrating the diversity of Broadway. “Hate will never win. Together we have to make sure of that. Tonight’s show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle,” he said.
Miranda, the star and creator of Hamilton, won for best score and book, and read from onstage a sonnet, referencing tragedy and urging “love and love and love….”