It wasn’t arduous to identify J. Harrison Ghee on the official Tony Awards after-party outdoors the United Palace theater in Washington Heights on Sunday night time — they towered over a lot of the gang in a vibrant blue robe, with a statuette in hand and a path of well-wishers shut behind. After their groundbreaking win for greatest main actor in a musical — they grew to become the primary out nonbinary performer to win within the class — the robe shade, it appeared, was fortuitous.
“I felt like this is such a Cinderella moment,” they stated.
Tons of of the ceremony’s attendees spilled out, shortly after 11 p.m., nearly instantly into the occasion: a tented extension of the fuchsia carpet and its lush floral backdrop, with catering that mirrored each the culinary traditions of the neighborhood’s surrounding communities (paella, ceviche, mango on sticks) and likewise the speedy starvation of nominees who had sat snackless for hours. (About 800 hamburgers from Shake Shack had been gone inside 90 minutes.)
The Tonys, which rejoice Broadway’s greatest performs and musicals, had been held uptown for the primary time this yr on the United Palace — an ornate film home at 176th Road in Washington Heights, practically eight miles north of Occasions Sq.. The theater is tucked throughout the largely Dominican neighborhood the place Lin-Manuel Miranda shot the 2021 movie adaptation of his musical “In the Heights.”
“To show off one of the cultural gems of the city to a national audience is super exciting,” Heather Hitchens, the president and chief government of the American Theater Wing, which places on the Tonys with the Broadway League, stated in an interview on Saturday.
“The after-party is always important, but to celebrate that we made it through a season and we gave some awards out and actually had a telecast?” she stated, persevering with, “We haven’t been able to do that for so long.”
Sunday’s ceremony was actually an uncommon one. With the Writers Guild of America nonetheless on strike, the present featured unscripted commentary from presenters, plentiful musical performances from the yr’s productions — plus Lea Michele’s rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from final season’s “Funny Girl” — and a wordless opening dance quantity by Ariana DeBose, the present’s host.
“It went so smoothly,” stated Bonnie Milligan, a Tony Award winner for greatest featured actress in a musical for her efficiency as a scheming aunt within the offbeat musical “Kimberly Akimbo,” which was the highest winner of the night time with 5 trophies total. “So many people were able to speak in solidarity with the strike.”
With an extended checklist of celebrations nonetheless forward, most of the night time’s winners and nominees stayed on the official after-party solely briefly earlier than shifting on to smaller soirees hosted by particular person productions throughout town.
Julia Lester, a nominee for her flip as Little Purple Using Hood within the revival of “Into the Woods,” was leaving together with her father as many attendees had been nonetheless arriving. Ms. Lester stated she was “just seeing where the night takes me.” She wore a voluminous inexperienced ball robe, sheer elbow-length gloves, a black choker and a bow in her pink curly hair. “I’m wearing a hoop skirt, so I can’t do that much. Sitting down was a nightmare.”
Jordan Roth, the president of Jujamcyn Theaters, donned a glowing scarlet outfit meant to elicit, he stated, “Big Red Riding Hood.” His after-party plans, he added, would prolong “until the hood falls off, which is literally impossible. It’s pinned, glued, sewn — I probably won’t be able to take it off to go to sleep.”
By 12:30 a.m., many had left the official after-party, and many of the nominees started heading to the Carlyle Lodge on the Higher East Aspect, the place the theater publicist Rick Miramontez — wearing a white blazer with red-and-white striped shorts — was internet hosting his famed late-night shindig for a number of hundred friends with the producer John Gore.
“This is the party,” Mr. Brady proclaimed from a sofa nestled alongside an open bar close to the resort’s entrance.
Kolton Krouse, who starred in a current revival of “Bob Fosse’s Dancin’” and makes use of the pronouns they and them, additionally opted for business-on-top-party-on-the-bottom, sporting a black blazer that hardly coated their torso atop gold heels.
“Congratulations!” they stated, lunging to cease Jessica Chastain, who was carrying a caped, sunshine-yellow Gucci robe, her lengthy pink hair in a excessive ponytail, as she swept in round 12:30 a.m. — accompanied by her grandmother, Marilyn Herst.
“I bring her with me to all the parties,” stated Ms. Chastain, who was nominated for greatest main actress in a play for her efficiency because the housewife Nora Helmer in Jamie Lloyd’s bare-bones revival of “A Doll’s House.”
The English actress Jodie Comer had received the class for her efficiency as a lawyer who defends males accused of sexual assault within the one-woman present “Prima Facie,” however you wouldn’t realize it by Ms. Chastain’s cadre of photographers, who quickly clogged the passageway between the higher lounge and a bar space, and a receiving line of these congratulating the actress after the play’s last efficiency this previous weekend.
“I hope it’s not over forever,” Ms. Chastain stated as shutters clicked away.
Buckets of Moet & Chandon champagne had been positioned across the room, whereas waiters in white blazers ferried silver trays of sliders and cartons of French fries round 4 rooms. On aspect tables sat slender trays of nuts and chips, which nominees appreciatively munched.
In a again room alongside a bar, a cabaret singer crooned Frank Sinatra’s “Nice ‘n’ Easy” accompanied by a pianist and a cellist. (The Tony-winning soprano Kelli O’Hara, in a feathery white robe, bopped to the music.)
The occasion started to choose up round 1 a.m. Ben Platt, accompanied by his fiancé, Noah Galvin, in an identical black go well with, received a hug from Micaela Diamond, his co-star in “Parade,” which received greatest revival of a musical. Ms. Lester — whose night time had apparently taken her to the Carlyle — was deep in dialog in a nook with Julie Benko, the “Funny Girl” alternate for Michele’s Fanny Brice.
Attendees mentioned the fantastic thing about the United Palace, a blinding remnant of the golden age of cinema, which many had been inside for the primary time that night time.
“I am so in love with that house,” Mr. Brady stated.
Shortly earlier than 3 a.m., most of the performers started heading out, although the occasion would final till after 4 a.m.
“I’m excited to have a shot at the Tonys next year,” Mr. Brady, “The Wiz” star-to-be, stated round 2:30 a.m., earlier than heading for the door.
“In the bigger sense, I’m excited about making history with such a melanated cast, a mostly Black creative team.”
