Click here to subscribe today or Login.
NEW YORK — The wild popularity of “Hamilton” on Broadway translated into huge bump in ratings for the Tony Awards — the CBS’ telecast on Sunday beat last year’s audience by more than 2 million viewers.
The broadcast drew 8.73 million viewers, up 35 percent from last year, according to preliminary ratings released Monday from the Nielsen Co. It is the largest audience for the show since 2001, the year “The Producers” won a record 12 Tonys.
“Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop stage biography of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. treasury secretary, won the 2016 Tony Award for best new musical, giving the show a total of 11 Tonys and capping an emotional night in which many in the Broadway community rallied to embrace the LGBT community after a shooting at a gay Florida nightclub.
Jeffrey Seller, producer of “Hamilton,” quoted the show’s lyrics when accepting the best musical crown. “Look around, look around. How lucky we are to be alive right now,” he said.
Broadway’s boast of being more diverse than the Oscars was proved, with black actors winning four awards in the acting categories — a history-making sweep of the musical categories — and whites winning the remaining four for plays.
“Hamilton” went into the night with 16 nominations and, in addition to taking the musical award, won best score, best book, direction, orchestration, choreography and best featured actor and actress statuettes for Renee Elise Goldsberry and Daveed Diggs.
Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Aaron Burr, won best actor in a musical and cheered Miranda for “a new vision of what’s possible.”
The show earlier won awards for costume and lighting but lost scenic design to “She Loves Me,” meaning “Hamilton” couldn’t break the record haul by “The Producers.” Still, few shows get introduced by a sitting president, as Barack and Michelle Obama did for the performance by the show’s cast.
British actress Cynthia Erivo won the best actress award for her Broadway debut in “The Color Purple.” She thanked her cast for “making me a stronger woman on that stage.” Her show, which failed to beat “Jersey Boys” for the best musical Tony Award in 2006, won the best musical revival award in 2016.
“The Humans,” about a fractious family’s get-together,” was the second most decorated show with four awards, including best new play. Playwright Stephen Karam dedicated his award to all the struggling writers. “Keep the faith,” he said.
The play also earned wins to two mainstays of the New York stage — Jayne Houdyshell and her stage husband, Reed Birney. Both won for featured roles.
Oscar- and Tony-winning producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said they were impressed with how the show managed to acknowledge the tragedy in Florida and yet keep people entertained.
The show in New York came only hours after a gunman opened fire on patrons at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, prompting Broadway performers to rush to embrace the LGBT community and leaving the show under a grim shadow.
“I thought they handled it with incredible grace, with being the epitome of what show business is about,” said Meron. “They were sending a message that the art of what this country does will not be stopped and that art can send a message — be entertaining yet underlined with a powerful message.”
Host James Corden, spoke directly to the camera when he dedicated the night to celebrating the diversity of Broadway. “Hate will never win. Together we have to make sure of that. Tonight’s show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle,” he said.
Meron compared Corden’s task as akin to Ellen DeGeneres role as host of the Emmy Awards right after 9/11. “She managed to infuse the show with humor without forgetting the tragedy,” he said. “She really showed the defiance of the art we all do and how important it is to keep on moving forward.”