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

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.