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Angelina Jolie may well receive the award for most enthusiastic audience member. The A-list star sat front row at the Tony Awards on Sunday and jumped to her feet with every win for “The Outsiders,” a realistic adaptation of SE Hinton’s coming-of-age novel that she produced and that she could see. crowned best musical of the season. And she kept that energy up when the cameras weren’t rolling, exchanging pleasantries with Billy Porter and posing for photos with Idina Menzel during commercial breaks.
Other attendees at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, where this year’s ceremony was held, were eager to make the most of the brief, non-televised moments between the awards. Ben Platt chatted with Nick Jonas, Brooke Shields (clad in yellow crocs) caught up with Cynthia Erivo, and Jennifer Hudson chatted with Danai Gurira.
Viewers at home witnessed the heartfelt speeches, standing ovations for surprise anchor Hillary Clinton and wild musical performances (yes, it actually rained during the rumble of “The Outsiders,” prompting the stage crew to to quickly clean the floor during the next commercial break). . But there are plenty doesn’t broadcast.
Here’s what you didn’t see on TV at the 2024 Tony Awards, where “Stereophonic” was the most decorated show, “Merrily We Roll Along” cemented its triumphant return and Daniel Radcliffe, the boy who survived, eventually becoming a Tony winner for his fifth time on Broadway.
“Empire State of Mind” brought the house down, even though Jay-Z wasn’t in the room
In the most electric moment of the evening, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed “Empire State of Mind” as part of a “Hell’s Kitchen” medley. Except audience members didn’t actually see Jay-Z rap in person. As Keys was propelled to the piano to kick off the rousing number, instantly bringing the entire room to its feet, the stage seemingly couldn’t hold the entire “Hell’s Kitchen” company. And two megawatt musicians. Jay-Z and Keys performed the final verses as a duet from the lobby of the David H. Koch Theater, which was projected on the screen behind the musical’s dancers. A concrete jungle that dreams are (somehow) made of?
A little rudeness never killed anyone
Don’t feel bad if you missed the first and only beep of the night. After all, it happened during “Act One” of the ceremony, which aired on the Pluto TV streaming platform. (The main event aired on CBS.) The perpetrator of the crime was Cody Spencer of “The Outsiders,” who tearfully accepted the award for musical sound design — and forgot he was on TV in direct. “I can’t believe I’m crying in front of so many fucking people I know,” he said while accepting the trophy. He immediately realized he would be censored, so he charmingly added a “-Oops.” But by then, Pluto TV had already cut off the rest of his speech.
Daniel Radcliffe and his wife Erin Darke arrive at the Carlyle Hotel after party
Variety via Getty Images
Choose a theater already!
There are inevitable growing pains that come with four location changes in four years. Yes, the Tony Awards have been touring the city since 2019, including stops at the United Palace in Washington Heights, Broadway’s Winter Garden Theater and Radio City Music Hall. However, this venue was nowhere near big enough to host Broadway’s biggest night. It had 2,500 seats (not all of which were occupied), a fraction of Radio City Music Hall’s 6,000-person capacity limit. As a result, several Hollywood stars who weren’t on Broadway this season — but still wanted to attend the ceremony — were turned away. And those who were the tickets granted did not have the best view. The place was so cramped that Anna Wintour had crummy seats at the back of the orchestra while “An Enemy of the People” star Jeremy Strong’s parents watched because of nosebleeds. Even Erivo, Jolie and Sarah Paulson, who were all seated in the front row, sometimes couldn’t see the stage because the camera operators blocked their view. The bailiffs also seemed stressed, yelling at people to “put your phone away!” during speeches and performances. But we guess it’s showbiz, baby?
Ariana DeBose entertains the room during commercial breaks
Third-time host Ariana DeBose was MIA during most commercial breaks (probably busy with several outfit changes and last-minute dance rehearsals). But she came out around the second hour to greet the crowd. “I just came out to see how you were doing. You seemed calm,” she said before lamenting that she had too much time to kill. “These commercial breaks are so long! Are we really close? Everyone laughed and applauded when the announcer promised that there were only 30 seconds left until the show returned. Still, it seemed like forever to DeBose, who leaned down and put her hands on her knees to run out time. But ever the professional, she immediately sprung into action to welcome viewers home to the TV show.
The Carlyle Hotel remains the place to see and be seen
Anna Wintour and Jeremy Strong were two of the first to step out at Lincoln Center as soon as the final prize was handed out — but neither of them made it to the famous afterparty at the Carlyle. Among the first to arrive at the swanky Upper East Side hotel were “Mother Play” nominee Jim Parsons and Billy Eichner, who crossed paths at the bar. Other Broadway favorites like Paulson, Jeffrey Wright, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Tovah Feldshuh and new Tony winner Kara Young (for “Purlie Victorious”) mingled over martinis, Moet, tiny sliders and salty fries . Billy Porter, who received an honorary Tony, showed up around 2 a.m., but he wasn’t the last to make an entrance. After attending their respective parties, “Merrily” co-stars and first-time Tony winners Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff, along with “Cabaret” nominee Eddie Redmayne, stopped by the party and kept the party until late at night.