The 71st Annual Tony Awards aired live from Radio City Music Hall, the evening of June 11th.
Below are some highlights from the Winners Room:
BETTE MIDLER: WINNER FOR BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL (HELLO, DOLLY!)
Q: Do you have advice for aspiring young actresses?
Bette: I think you should watch people, I think you should watch everyone, without judging. Watch them and see how they behave because acting is behavior and lying. And to judge a person, stops you from being able to incorporate what it is that they have to offer to a performance. Also perseverance. It takes a lot. You have to be strong minded… it takes tremendous discipline. I’ve never seen such dedication, I’ve never seen such willingness to put yourself through such stress, because its terribly stressful.
Q: Did you talk with any past Dolly’s?
Bette: I spoke to Carol Channing, I went to Carol Channing in Palm Desert, and she was very helpful. And her son who had been a child at the time, he had been on the road with her, and remembered so much of what went down. He was very very helpful. Lovely man. Jerry Herman, I spoke to on the phone…the music is so timeless. You hum them, you sing them, you… they are like friends.
REBECCA TAICHMAN: WINNER FOR BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY (INDECENT)
Q: How do you feel as a female director in this theatre community and showing that women are just as powerful and talented as men?
Rebecca: I think I never dared dream, because I was an unlikely candidate for this. I remember watching the 1998 Tony Awards and Julie Taymor won (for Best Director of a Play), and I thought “WOW”… And I think what is visible can become possible. And I hope this encourages women all over, every color and taste and style and viewpoint.. I’d love to see those numbers shift. If this is any part of that, then that’s an even more beautiful thing.
BENJ PASEK AND JUSTIN PAUL: WINNERS FOR BEST SCORE OF A MUSICAL, BEST MUSICAL (DEAR EVAN HANSEN)
Q: Who were some of your inspirations growing up?
Benj and Justin: We’ve been so lucky to get to meet a lot of people..Jeff Marks. We interned with him for a summer, and he changed our lives. He gave a loan that allowed us to stay in the city and work over the summer, and he made us promise to pay him back if we had a show on Broadway before we were 30. And we thought he lost his mind…. And then we were able to pay him back…. Steven Schwartz… these are writers who we idolized growing up… Steven Schwartz came to every preview of any show that we’ve ever done. And gives us notes on how we can improve…
Benj Pasek: You know that quote from Girls? Like.. Rent is the reason I moved to New York city? It kinda is the reason I moved here. My teacher had a Rent poster on his wall, and to be a really awkward, lonely gay kid, and see rent on my English teacher’s wall, was such a source of inspiration, and possibility, of what art can do and represent. So Jonathan Larsen. That changed my life.
GAVIN CREEL: WINNER FOR BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL (HELLO, DOLLY!)
Q: How did you feel receiving your award from Sutton Foster?
Gavin: This is a moment that I will never forget. Sutton’s very special to me, because my Broadway debut… my Broadway debut was Thoroughly Modern Milly 15 years ago and I remember they did “Forget About the Boy” on the Tony Awards. And I came out and put my arms in the air, and made$2,000 which was awesome… But I watched her win the tony…to have Sutton… she feels like a real pal. It feels surreal.
Q: How did you find those funny moments?
Gavin: Jerry Zaks. First word Jerry. Second word Zaks. And Taylor Trensch. Are responsible.. Anything you think I’m doing on stage that is funny, is because of them.
Q: Do you have advice for young actors?
Gavin: …to be a theatre actor in this business… is to be alive. Is to look at yourself.
CYNTHIA NIXON: WINNER FOR BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY (LILLIAN HELMAN’S THE LITTLE FOXES)
Cynthia discussing her Tony winning role: …{Birdie} is all about relating to other people and trying to explain herself to them. And so in the same way that audiences will warm to Birdie, an actress will warm to Birdie. Regina is more resilient and independent and self-sufficient and opaque…. The thing about Regina she doesn’t apologize, she doesn’t excuse herself.
Talking about her co-star, Laura Linney: …It’s been a real wonderful moment of sisterhood. And exploring these characters on our own and sometimes together.