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‘Moulin Rouge!’ wins big as Tony Awards return to Broadway

AFP . New York
28 Sep 2021 00:00:00 | Update: 28 Sep 2021 01:39:43
‘Moulin Rouge!’ wins big as Tony Awards return to Broadway
US-Scottish singer-songwriter David Byrne (3Lbottom) and the cast of America Utopia attend the 74th Annual Tony Awards at the Winter Garden Theater on September 26, 2021, in New York City– AFP Photo

Broadway on Sunday finally honoured its best and brightest at the Tony Awards, more than a year late due to the coronavirus pandemic, with jukebox musical ‘Moulin Rouge!’ sweeping the competition with 10 trophies.

The event took on a new look this year: most of the awards were handed out in a two-hour ceremony livestreamed before the main event -- a concert celebrating the return of live theatre in New York after an 18-month hiatus.

“Everyone here is vaxxed and tested, and everyone is wearing a mask -- every Broadway theatre is going to look like this for a while and that’s ok,” host Leslie Odom Jr said at the start of the concert gala at the Winter Garden Theatre.

‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ -- a stage adaptation of the popular 2001 Baz Luhrmann film of the same name about the famed Paris nightclub -- won for best musical, best actor and best actor in a featured role, as well as a host of technical honours.

The cast served up a colourful, sassy medley of hits from the show at their home theater, as did the cast of ‘Jagged Little Pill,’ a musical inspired by Alanis Morissette’s seminal 1995 album of the same name.

Adrienne Warren, who won the Tony for best actress in a musical for her portrayal of Tina Turner in ‘Tina,’ gave a rousing performance with her castmates.

The concert also featured classic duets from popular musicals ‘Rent,’ ‘Wicked,’ ‘Ragtime’ and ‘Hamilton,’ featuring a stream of Broadway A-listers.

The Tony for best play went to ‘The Inheritance,’ a reimagining of the EM Forster novel ‘Howards End’ set in modern-day New York. The play won a total of four awards, including best director for Stephen Daldry.

‘A Soldier’s Play,’ a look at racism in the US military, won the award for best revival of a play -- and also scored an acting trophy for David Alan Grier, one of several first-time winners of the night.

A revival of ‘A Christmas Carol’ took home five prizes.

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