THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
September 30, 2021 - October 6, 2021 • 15
Arts & Entertainment Theater page 15 | Dance page 16 | Music page 17 | Jazz page 20
Pg. 18 Your Stars
Black performers front & center at 74th annual Tonys (Photo by Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Audra McDonald (L) and Brian Stokes Mitchell perform onstage during the 74th annual Tony Awards at Winter Garden Theatre Sept. 26, 2021 in New York City.
By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews Inclusion reigned supreme at the 74th annual Tony Awards! Recognizing productions from the 2020 season, which was abruptly cut off by the pandemic, the awards show consisted of two ceremonies: the first, hosted by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and shown on Paramount+; and the second, titled “Broadway’s Back!” and broadcast on both Paramount+ and CBS, hosted by Leslie Odom Jr. The glorious evening was held at the Winter Garden Theatre and it was packed with Broadway celebrities. This year the Tony Awards put Black folks front and center, not only with its hosts, but with special awards. The Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre went to Irene Gandy, a press agent and Broadway producer; Woodie King Jr. for Woodie King Jr.’s New Federal Theatre; and Beverly Jenkins, a professional stage manager for over 30 years on Broadway. A Special Tony Award went to Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC), a non-profit organization which advocates for equity and inclusion for Blacks
Tarik Davis, Christopher Jackson, James Monroe Iglehart, Leslie Odom Jr., Wayne Brady, Aneesa Folds, Lin Manuel-Miranda, and Chris Sullivan perform onstage with the group Freestyle Love Supreme.
on Broadway, working in all matters from criminal justice reform to education reform to immigration. Tony Award winners for the night began with David Alan Grier winning best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play for “A Soldier’s Play,” in which he brilliantly played Sergeant Vernon Waters. Anyone who saw Grier’s stellar performance knew that this was a well-deserved Tony. Grier humbly thanked director Kenny Leon for making him his first call when casting “A Soldier’s Play.” He was also glad to acknowledge the late Negro Ensemble Company director Douglas Turner Ward: “This is unbelievable. It means so much, Douglas Turner Ward cast me into the show. Doug came to see the play and was on stage answering questions, though he could barely speak because he was ravaged by cancer. I paused my dinner break to listen, he had the same passion, teaching and energy. He answered every question. It was amazing. It was awesome. I think of Adolph Caesar who was Serg with me in the movie version.” “A Soldier’s Play” also won best revival of a play for direc-
tor Kenny Leon and playwright Charles Fuller. Leon, who received a standing ovation, immediately began his speech calling out the names of those we have lost to police murders. He called out Breonna Taylor three times and George Floyd twice, exclaiming, “We will never ever forget you.” He poignantly continued, “We opened ‘A Soldier’s Play’ the same week we lost Kobi Bryant and his beautiful daughter Gigi. All lives are precious. I’m a graduate of CAU, a HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia and I want to say to all those students, present and yet to come, yes you can! To all the people in this room, we can do better. Charles Fuller wrote this play, no dis to Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, we need Ntozake sitting at the table, Melvin Van Peebles—we need to do better.” Now, with this win and the fact that seven shows will come to Broadway this season by Black playwrights, Leon was asked where are we at on Broadway? “As artists our job is to impact the world through storytelling. I don’t think we’ve come far enough, but this reset has given us the opportunity to start anew. The proof is in the pudding, what will it look like next year at this time? We have
seven plays this season, but where will it go? We have to be part of the solution. It’s a wonderful beginning and it’s going to take all of us, the young and the old folks.” Leon, a founding member of Black Theatre United (BTU)—shared, “We did the New Deal for Broadway and we’re relentless, these organizations [BTU, BAC] have no intention of stopping from doing the work. They are committed and fierce. It’s our job to protect our future and to give our young people a chance. There are a lot of wonderful things that our young people are doing. It’s on us adults to get rid of this systemic racism. It’s on all of us adults to make our nest better.” Adrienne Warren received the Tony Award for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical for her portrayal of Tina Turner in “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” and it was a stunning moment! Warren emotionally thanked her family. She thanked Tina Turner, “for trusting me to bring her story home.” She thanked the cast. Warren, also a founding member of BAC, said, “The world has been screaming for change…I want to prepare this space for those who look like
me. There are countless people working tirelessly to see that you can be here. I’ve gotten so much encouragement through this journey. This has been a six-year journey. I’m extremely moved by this. When I started this show I thought I had so much to prove, now I want to make things better for those who come after me.” Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s president Britton Smith accepted the Special Tony Honors from Pulitzer Prize winning Black female playwright Lynn Nottage, who will have two productions on Broadway this season—the play “Clyde’s” and “MJ: The Musical.” Nottage was greeted by the capacity crowd with a standing ovation. Smith was candid as he said, “I’m only standing here because George Floyd and a pandemic brought us to a point to say enough is enough and for Black people to speak up! My biggest fear is that when Broadway comes back that opening will close.” Addressing the Broadway audience in the room, he said, “When this room decides to move behind us that’s when we’ll earn the phrase Black Lives Matters.” Talking about what this Tony See TONYS on page 20
