NEW YORK (AP) A small-scale, intimate musical about hard-won cultural understanding was an altogether apt Tony winner on a night where tolerance and inclusion were constant themes.
The Bands Visit, about an Egyptian police band that gets stranded in a remote Israeli desert town, forcing both sides to get to know each other, triumphed over much flashier shows to win best musical Sunday night and a total of 10 awards. The closest runner-up, with six, was the blockbuster London import Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which won best play.
One by one, the winners of The Bands Visit referenced the shows themes of acceptance and finding a common humanity. Tony Shalhoub, named best actor in a musical, spoke of his fathers arrival at Ellis Island from Lebanon in 1920. May we, their descendants, never lose sight of what they taught us, he said. Ariel Stachel, who won for best featured actor, praised the show for telling a small story about Arabs and Israelis getting along, at a time that we need that more than ever. Addressing his parents in the audience, Stachel, whose father was born in Israel, confessed that for so many years of my life I pretended I was not a Middle Eastern person.
The show also won awards for its luminous lead actress, Katrina Lenk, and its director, book and score, among others.
The Middle East conflict, immigration, LGBT equality, gun control many social issues came up, explicitly or implicitly, during the ceremony, which was hosted with a light (and musical) touch by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban. The nights first big winner, Andrew Garfield, best actor in a play for Angels in America, earned hearty cheers when he declared, Lets just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked. He was referring to last weeks Supreme Court decision in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of religious objections.
Garfield dedicated the award, his first Tony, to the LGBTQ community, for a spirit that says no to oppression.
