Broadway’s biggest night is over and done with, but we aren’t finished talking about everything that happened at the 2024 Tony Awards. After last year’s ceremony was made a bit awkward by a lack of writers due to the WGA strike, the theater awards were back in full force for 2024. Live from New York City, a whole slate of awards were passed out to honor the best and brightest of the 2023-2024 Broadway season. The evening at Lincoln Center included high octane musical performances, impassioned winner speeches and . Of course, there were also plenty of weird, wild and unexpected things as well.
Here’s a rundown of all the evening’s biggest, most memorable moments:
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The highs, lows and wildest things that happened at the 2024 Tony Awards
Low: Ariana DeBose’s opening number and monologue
After many strong opening numbers in previous award show hosting gigs (Who can forget that jump down the stairs last year or when she and Angela Bassett did “the thing”?), this year started with a thud. DeBose began with an original song titled “This Party’s for You” that was hard to hear and low energy. The set included just a few light boxes, and the choreography (by Ariana herself) was less exciting than choreo we’d see later in the show. Her opening monologue was chatty and earnest without many jokes. A slow start to the show.
Wildest: Hell’s Kitchen performance including a surprise appearance by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z
In an extremely splashy musical performance, the cast of Hell’s Kitchen wowed the audience with a medley of songs from the Alicia Keys-written musical. They were then joined on stage by Keys who performed along with the cast. This then segued into a third act in which Keys welcomed Jay-Z for a performance of “Empire State of Mind.” However, the finale was a bit strange as Jay-Z performed from outside the theater—the pair sang on steps of Lincoln Center and were telecast in.
Wildest: Will Brill thanks his therapist
In his speech after winning Best Featured Actor in a Play, Stereophonic‘s Will Brill thanked his therapist. That’s so real of him.
High: Kara Young wins her Tony after third nomination in a row
After being nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2022 for Clyde’s and 2023 for Cost of Living, Young finally took home the win this year for her work in Purlie Victorious. She earned a lengthy standing ovation and gave a rousing speech, having become the first actress of color to be nominated three years in a row.
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