LEILA FADEL, HOST:
There are new Tony Award winners. Last night's ceremony, hosted by Cynthia Erivo, comes at the end of Broadway's highest-grossing season ever, taking in almost $1.9 billion. Jeff Lunden, who covers theater for NPR, is with us to talk about the night. Hi, Jeff.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: OK. So how did the evening go, and who were the biggest winners?
LUNDEN: Well, I thought it was a very entertaining ending to one of the best seasons in recent memory. Cynthia Erivo proved to be an engaging host. She handled a lot of comedy and, of course, showed off her pipes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CYNTHIA ERIVO: (Singing) Sometimes, all you need, hey, is a song.
LUNDEN: The biggest winner of the evening was a tiny musical, "Maybe Happy Ending," which features four actors. It took six Tonys, including best musical. The show was developed in South Korea by a pair of writers making their Broadway debut, and it's a delicate, off-kilter story about a pair of retired robots who fall in love. When "Maybe Happy Ending" opened on Broadway, it seemed like a long shot to even find an audience, but it got rave reviews, and now it's selling out.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DARREN CRISS AND UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (Singing) Never fly away, little robot. Don't you want to stay, little robot?
LUNDEN: You can hear Darren Criss, who won a Tony in that clip from the show.
FADEL: I love that. Didn't think it could find an audience, and here it is. There was a real competition for best actress in a musical. Who took that award?
LUNDEN: Well, the big question was whether Audra McDonald - who got a record-breaking 11th Tony nomination - would win for "Gypsy," or former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, making her Broadway debut, would win for "Sunset Boulevard."
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NICOLE SCHERZINGER: (Singing) We'll have magic in the making. Yes, everything's as if we never said goodbye.
LUNDEN: And as you can figure out, it was Scherzinger. And the reimagined production of "Sunset Boulevard," filled with live video, was named best revival of a musical.
FADEL: And a couple of other people making their Broadway debuts were winners, too, right?
LUNDEN: Yes. Sarah Snook from "Succession" won best actress in a play for portraying 26 characters in "The Picture Of Dorian Gray," and Cole Escola won best actor for playing Mary Todd Lincoln in their self-described stupid comedy "Oh, Mary!" With the win, they join a famous Broadway actor who played a more serious version of the character.
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COLE ESCOLA: Wow. Julie Harris has a Tony for playing Mary Todd Lincoln.
FADEL: So the best play category was actually pretty stacked. In addition to "Oh, Mary!," there were two Pulitzer Prize winners up for the award. Who won?
LUNDEN: That was a very competitive, excellent group of plays. Sanaz Toossi's Pulitzer-winning play "English" was a nominee, as was Kimberly Belflower's "John Proctor Is The Villain." But the winner was Branden Jacobs-Jenkins for "Purpose." The play won this year's Pulitzer, and it's about a troubled family that was at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Think Jesse Jackson. Jacobs-Jenkins won a Tony last year, as did one of the actors in the play, Kara Young.
FADEL: Jeff Lunden covers theater for NPR. Thank you, Jeff.
LUNDEN: Thank you, Leila.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WITH ONE LOOK")
SCHERZINGER: (Singing) When I look your way, you'll hear what I say. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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