NEW YORK — The 72nd annual Tony Awards, honoring Broadway musicals and plays staged during the 2017-2018 season, was held June 10 at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles and broadcast live on CBS. Top award winners included The Band’s Visit (10, including best lighting and sound design of a musical), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (6, including best scenic design of a play) and Angels in America (3).
The 2018 event also restored Sound Design as a Tony Award category, a development lauded by the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA), with Kai Harada and Gareth Fry taking home Tonys. Other winners of backstage design categories included Neil Austin and Tyler Micoleau (lighting) and David Zinn and Christine Jones (scenic design).
And while the TSDCA also issued a press release prior to the event, lamenting the lack of diversity among the 11 sound designers nominated for awards this year — “it is impossible not to notice that 11 nominees are men — with very little ethnic diversity among them,” the group said, in a statement — first-time Tony winners including Lindsay Mendez (Carousel) and Ari’el Stachel (The Band’s Visit) praised the theatrical community’s general support for inclusiveness and diversity.
And the (Backstage Design) Winners Were:
Best Lighting Design of a Play –
Neil Austin, for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Fellow Nominees:
- Paule Constable, Angels in America
- Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
- Paul Russell, Farinelli and The King
- Ben Stanton, Junk
Best Lighting Design of a Musical –
Tyler Micoleau, The Band’s Visit
Fellow Nominees:
- Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
- Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island
- Donald Holder, My Fair Lady
- Brian MacDevitt, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Best Scenic Design of a Play –
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Fellow Nominees:
- Miriam Buether, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
- Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
- Santo Loquasto, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
- Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America
Best Scenic Design of a Musical –
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Fellow Nominees:
- Dane Laffrey, Once On This Island
- Scott Pask, The Band’s Visit
- Scott Pask, Finn Ross & Adam Young, Mean Girls
- Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady
Best Sound Design of a Play –
Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Fellow Nominees:
- Adam Cork, Travesties
- Ian Dickinson, Autograph, Angels in America
- Tom Gibbons, 1984
- Dan Moses Schreier, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Sound Design of a Musical –
Kai Harada, The Band’s Visit
Fellow Nominees:
- Peter Hylenski, Once On This Island
- Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
- Brian Ronan, Mean Girls
- Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Best Costume Design of a Play –
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Fellow Nominees:
- Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
- Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
- Ann Roth, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
- Ann Roth, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Costume Design of a Musical –
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
Fellow Nominees:
- Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
- Clint Ramos, Once On This Island|
- Ann Roth, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
- David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Overall Award Winners:
Best Play –
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Fellow Nominees:
- The Children
- Farinelli and The King
- Junk
- Latin History for Morons
Best Musical –
The Band’s Visit
Fellow Nominees:
- Frozen
- Mean Girls
- SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Best Revival of a Play –
Angels in America
Fellow Nominees:
- Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
- Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
- Lobby Hero
- Travesties
Best Revival of a Musical –
Once On This Island
Fellow Nominees:
- My Fair Lady
- Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
The Band’s Visit photo by Matthew Murphy
