Tony Takeaways: 2022 Edition
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
For the first time in two years, the Tonys came back in their familiar form of a big splashy awards show. There were highlights and surprises. I saw some things I loved and loathed.
But more importantly, it felt like this year’s ceremony laid the groundwork for what will hopefully be a transformative time for Broadway theatre. Let’s break it down.
Diversity concerns quelled as the night progressed
Early on in the show, I had some concerns over Tony voters awarding the great many BIPOC nominees. However, as the night progressed the representation got a lot better - especially with Michael R. Jackson, Myles Frost, and Joaquina Kalukango taking home trophies. I had tweeted earlier about my concerns over not recognizing the diverse population of nominees.
Given the number of times the Tonys patted itself on the back in their script throughout the night for the diversity among the nominees, it would have been awful for them not to deliver on awarding them.
I was also thrilled to see Toby Marlow win for Best Score, making it the first time an openly non-binary nominee has won a Tony. Diversity comes in many forms and this was a welcomed sight to see.
But look, I don’t think anyone should be nominated or win based on their identity. What should be happening seems to be happening and that is providing more opportunities for BIPOC, trans, and non-binary artists to be Tony eligible. The more we can get into the room, the better. And I have a feeling we’re going to see even more of that in the future.
Ariana DeBose should host every year
I thought Ariana DeBose was the perfect host. Yes, the opening number wasn’t as grand as I had hoped or what we got in the past, but that’s fine. DeBose fully understood the mission and a lot of what she said during the night obviously came directly from her experience. The moment where she paid tribute to her teacher who recently passed was incredibly touching.
If she wants to host every year, let her.
The absence of a one-show dominance was actually a good thing
I, like a lot of us, fully expected ‘A Strange Loop’ to dominate the evening. But as the night progressed and other shows got their moment on the stage, I actually liked that more. I liked that ‘Six’ and ‘MJ’ and ‘Dana H.’ were highlighted with wins. To be fully honest with you, I would not have loved it as much if ‘A Strange Loop’ hasn’t won Best Musical, but since that didn’t happen, I really liked how the evening played out overall.
Musical performances were okay
With the exception of ‘MJ’ and ‘Paradise Square’ (all credit to Frost and Kalukango), I was mostly disappointed with the performances during the ceremony. Then again, these casts didn’t get a single break and had to perform earlier in the day. I hope that changes next year and Sunday is dark on Broadway.
Questionable wins
I will go on record and say that I agreed with MOST of the winners, or didn’t have a problem with them since they were 2nd in my ranking. But there were a couple of wins that I question. The first is Phylicia Rashad. I looked at her nomination as the standard “This legend on Broadway, we have to nominate them”. But I never thought she would win. I had either Uzo Aduba or Rachel Dratch winning. But Tony voters of a certain age will sometimes unite to honor their generation of legends and this was one example.
I also will say (preparing for backlash) that I didn’t think Patti LuPone or Matt Doyle should have won either. Both give great performances in ‘Company’ but I thought the awards should have gone to L Morgan Lee and Jared Grimes. And with all due respect to Jesse Tyler Ferguson, he’s the third-best actor in an incredible cast. The award should have gone to Ron Cephas Jones.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed this year’s ceremony. But I enjoyed it because of the moments provided by those in attendance, not the format or script of the ceremony itself. I don’t like the evening being split into two different viewing formats. I don’t like that the ‘In Memorium’ ignored many BIPOC artists we lost this year. I don’t like the length of time for speeches changed with who was giving the speech and I sure as hell didn’t like Michael R. Jackson getting cut off before he got to speak when he won Best Musical.
But now we look to the future and between ‘Into the Woods’, ‘K Pop’, ‘Kimberly Akimbo’, not to mention revivals of ‘Death of a Salesman’ and ‘The Piano Lesson’ - next year’s ceremony is going to be stacked.