It wasn’t hard to spot J. Harrison Gee at the official Tony Awards after-party outside the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights on Sunday night. They wore bright blue dresses, held statuettes, and towered above most of the audience. The footprints of those wishing goodwill are close behind. The first non-binary performer to win in this category after winning the groundbreaking Best Actor in a Musical award, the color of the gown seems to have been a coincidence.
“This just felt like a Cinderella moment,” they said.
Hundreds of ceremony attendees poured into the party almost directly after 11 p.m. Tents were pitched against a backdrop of fuchsia carpets and their lush blossoms, the culinary traditions of both neighboring communities (paella, ceviche, stick mango), and the candidates who sat for hours without snacking. Immediate hunger. (About 800 Shake Shack burgers were gone in less than 90 minutes.)
Tony’s, a celebration of Broadway’s best plays and musicals, took place for the first time this year at Uptown’s United Palace. The United Palace is a glitzy movie theater on 176th Street in Washington Heights, almost 13 miles north of Times Square. The theater is located in the predominantly Dominican neighborhood where Lin-Manuel Miranda shot the 2021 film adaptation of his musical In the Heights.
“It’s very exciting to showcase one of our city’s cultural gems to a national audience,” said Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theater Wing, which will host Tony on Broadway League. said in an interview. Saturday.
“The afterparty is always important, but have you given away some awards or actually televised it to celebrate winning the season?” I couldn’t do that,” he continued.
Sunday’s ceremony was certainly an anomaly. With the Writers Guild of America strike continuing, the show will feature unscripted commentary by presenters, a wealth of musical performances from the year’s work, and Lea Michelle’s “Don’t Rain” from last season’s “Funny Girl.”・On My Parade” was featured. A wordless opening dance number by show host Ariana DeBose.
“It went very smoothly,” said Bonnie Milligan, who won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the scheming aunt in the quirky musical Kimberly Akimbo. The film won five trophies overall, making it the night’s top winner. “So many people were able to express their solidarity with the strike.”
With a long list of celebrations still to come, many of the night’s winners and nominees spent a brief moment at the official afterparty before moving on to smaller soireees hosted by individual productions around the city. .
Julia Lester, the candidate for the role of Little Red Riding Hood in the revival of “Into the Woods,” was leaving with her father while more attendees were still arriving. She “just sees where the night takes me,” she said. She wore a voluminous green ball gown, sheer elbow-length gloves, a black choker, and ribbons in her curly red hair. She said, ‘She’s wearing a hoop skirt so I can’t go that far. Sitting was a nightmare. “
Jujamushin Theaters president Jordan Ross said he wore a bright scarlet costume to evoke “big Little Red Riding Hood.” After-party plans “will go on until the hood comes off, which is literally impossible,” he added. It’s pinned, glued, and sewn on so you probably won’t be able to take it off when you go to bed. “
By 12:30 a.m., many had left the official after-party and most of the candidates began heading to the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side. There, theater publicist Rick Miramontes wore a white blazer with a red and white pattern. He wore striped shorts—with producer John Gore, he was hosting his famous late-night shindig in front of hundreds of guests.
“this is of It’s a party,” Brady proclaimed on the couch next to the open bar near the hotel entrance.
Colton Krauss, who starred in a recent revival of “Bob Diane’s Dancing” and who uses them and their synonyms, also wore a top-hiding black blazer, party over business, and under. I chose the style of partying on top. on gold heels.
“Congratulations!” they said, as Jessica Chastain, wearing a sunshine yellow Gucci dress with a cape and long red hair in a high ponytail, was accompanied by her grandmother, Marilyn Hurst, at 12:30 a.m. It came around the time, and I rushed to stop it.
“I take her to every party,” Chastain said. Chastain played her housewife Nora Helmer in Jamie Lloyd’s watered-down revival of “A Doll’s House,” for which she was nominated for Best Actress in a Play.
British actress Jodie Comer won the award for her performance as a lawyer defending a man accused of sexual assault in the one-woman play Prima Facié, but Chastain’s camera executives you wouldn’t know In the aisle between the upper lounge and bar area, a line of people formed to congratulate the actress after last weekend’s play’s final performance.
“I hope this situation never ends,” said Chastain, snapping a shutter.
Buckets of Moët & Chandon champagne were placed throughout the room, and waiters in white blazers carried silver trays of sliders and cartons of French fries to the four rooms. On the side table was a long, narrow tray of nuts and chips that the candidates were happily munching on.
In a back room by the bar, a cabaret singer was singing Frank Sinatra’s “Nice and Easy,” accompanied by a pianist and cellist. (Tony Award-winning soprano singer Kelly O’Hara wore a feathery white dress and bounced to the music.)
As the party began to heat up around 1 a.m., Ben Platt, accompanied by his fiancée Noah Galvin, wore matching black suits and starred in his Oscar-winning “Parade” co-star Mikaela. I got a hug from Diamond. Lester was apparently taken to Carlisle that night, where she had a deep corner conversation with “Funny Girl” Julie Benko, who stands in for Michelle’s Fanny Brice.
Attendees debated the beauty of the United Palace, a dazzling remnant of the golden age of cinema, many of which were inside for the first time that night.
“I love that house,” Brady said.
A little before 3:00 a.m., many of the performers began to leave, but the party was to continue until just after 4:00 a.m.
“I’m excited to challenge Tony’s next year,” said “Whiz” star candidate Brady before making his way to the front door around 2:30 a.m.
“In a big way, I’m thrilled to be making history with such a flaming cast, a mostly black creative team.”
