'Hadestown,' Bryan Cranston big winners at the Tony Awards

Posted By: Staff
June 10, 2019 @ 6:00 am
ABC Entertainment

Bryan Cranston wins at the 2019 Tony Awards; John P. Filo/CBS

Bryan Cranston wins at the 2019 Tony Awards; John P. Filo/CBS(NEW YORK) — Hadestown was the big winner at the 2019 Tony Awards, broadcast live from New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Sunday. The production grabbed eight trophies, including best musical, Best Featured Actor for Andre De Shields and Best Director for Rachel Chavkin. The Ferryman took home four awards.

Veteran Broadway and film star Elaine May won her first Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Play for The Waverly Galery. Stephanie J. Block was named best actress in a musical for The Cher Show and Tootsie‘s Santino Fontana for best actor. Celia Keenan-Bolger walked off with Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play honors for the Broadway adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play went to Bryan Cranston for his portrayal of Howard Beal in the Broadway adaptation of the 1976 film Network. It was the second win in as many chances for the Cranston, who also won in in 2012 for All the Way.

“Finally, a straight old white man gets a break,” Cranston joked as he picked up the award. He ended his speech on a serious note, however, noting the real news people are under attack. “Media is not the enemy of the people,” he said, “Demagoguery is the enemy of the people.”

Cranston also figured into host James Corden’s opening number about the importance of theater in the age of streaming TV. When the host of CBS’ The Late Late Show caught the actor sneaking off to the bathroom during the song, Cranston yelled, “I’m bloated as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” — a parody of the “I’m mad as hell” signature line from Network.

While picking up her award for directing Hadestown, Chavkin lamented being the only female nominated in the category, and called for more diversity on Broadway, declaring that women and people of color “are ready to go.”

Ali Stroker, the first wheelchair-using actress in a Broadway show and the first to be nominated for a Tony Award, won for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Oklahoma! The musical also took home the award for Best Revival of a Musical. She dedicated the award to “every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation or a challenge who has been waiting to see themselves represented, you are.”