NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The American, grown-up musical 鈥淭he Band鈥檚 Visit鈥� outmuscled the acclaimed and sprawling British import 鈥淗arry Potter and the Cursed Child鈥� for the most Tony Awards on Sunday, capturing 10 statuettes, including best musical.
It鈥檚 based on a 2007 Israeli film of the same name and centers on members of an Egyptian police orchestra booked to play a concert at an Israeli city who accidentally end up in the wrong town. Its embrace of foreign cultures working together found a sweet spot with Tony voters.
鈥淚n 鈥楾he Band鈥檚 Visit,鈥� music gives people hope and makes borders disappear,鈥� producer Orin Wolf said upon accepting the best new musical crown, saying It offers a message of unity in a world that 鈥渕ore and more seems bent on amplifying our differences.鈥�
Tony Shalhoub won as best leading man in a musical for his work on 鈥淭he Band鈥檚 Visit,鈥� connecting the win to his family鈥檚 long history of immigration from Lebanon, and the show鈥檚 Katrina Lenk, who won best actress in a musical, said the production 鈥渇illed her stupid little heart with so much joy.鈥�
鈥淭he Band鈥檚 Visit鈥� also won statuettes for best direction, orchestration, sound design, best book and score, lighting and featured actor Ari鈥檈l Stachel, who gave a heartfelt speech about his past.
鈥淔or so many years of my life I pretended I was not a Middle Eastern person,鈥� he said, addressing his parents in the audience. He thanked the creators of the show 鈥渇or being courageous for telling a small story about Arabs and Israelis getting along at a time that we need that more than ever.鈥�
The show鈥檚 director, David Cromer, said the musical is also about loneliness and despair, and asked everyone to reach out to anyone for whom 鈥渄espair is overwhelming.鈥�
The two-part spectacle 鈥淗arry Potter and the Cursed Child鈥� captured six, including best play, book, lighting, sound design, orchestrations and director for John Tiffany, who asked the crowd to sing 鈥淗appy Birthday鈥� to his boyfriend. They obliged.
A British revival of 鈥淎ngels in America,鈥� Tony Kushner鈥檚 monumental, two-part drama about AIDS, life and love during the 1980s, grabbed three big awards, including best play revival and acting trophies for Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane.
Kushner took the stage and pointed out there were 21 weeks until the midterm elections in the United States: 鈥淭wenty-one weeks to save our democracy, to heal our country and to heal our planet.鈥�
Garfield won his first Tony, for best leading actor in a play, dedicating the win to the LGBTQ community, who he said fought and died for the right to love. He said the play is a rejection of bigotry, shame and oppression.
鈥淲e are all sacred and we all belong,鈥� Garfield said. He then referenced last week鈥檚 U.S. Supreme Court decision which ruled in favor of a baker鈥檚 right to deny a gay couple a wedding cake based on his beliefs.
鈥�(Let鈥檚) just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked,鈥� he said, to rousing applause. Lane, who won for best featured actor in a play, said 鈥淎ngels鈥� still speaks to society in the midst of 鈥減olitical insanity.鈥�
In one of the ceremony鈥檚 most mesmerizing moments, Melody Herzfeld, the heroic drama teacher who nurtured many of the young people demanding change following the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida, was honored from the Tony Award stage.
Herzfeld, the one-woman drama department at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was cheered by the crowd at Radio City Music Hall. Herzfeld saved 65 lives by barricading students into a small classroom closet on Valentine鈥檚 Day when police say a former student went on a school rampage, killing 17 people.
She then later encouraged many of her pupils to lead the nationwide movement for gun reform. Members of Herzfeld鈥檚 drama department took the Tony stage to serenade her with 鈥淪easons of Love鈥� from the musical 鈥淩ent.鈥�
In other wins, Glenda Jackson added to her impressive resume with a Tony Award for best actress in a play for her work in a revival of Edward Albee鈥檚 鈥淭hree Tall Women.鈥� That show also yielded the featured actress win to 鈥淩osanne鈥� star Laurie Metcalf.
Billy Joel gave his friend Bruce Springsteen a special Tony Award. 鈥淭his is deeply appreciated, and thanks for making me feel so welcome on your block,鈥� The Boss said. Later, Springsteen performed 鈥淢y Hometown鈥� on the piano from his sold-out one-man show, 鈥淪pringsteen on Broadway.鈥� (De Niro, who took the stage to introduce Springsteen鈥檚 performance, started off with an expletive directed at President Donald Trump, which garnered him a sustained standing ovation from the crowd.)
Co-hosts Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles kicked the show off with a self-parodying duet on piano for all the losers out there 鈥� including them.
Neither Bareilles nor Groban have won a Grammy or a Tony despite selling millions of albums and appearing on Broadway. They turned that into a playful song. 鈥淟et鈥檚 not forget that 90 percent of us leave empty-handed tonight. So this is for the people who lose/Most of us have been in your shoes,鈥� they sang in the upbeat opening number.
Two of the shows going into the night with the leading number of nominations 鈥� Tina Fey鈥檚 鈥淢ean Girls鈥� and 鈥淪pongeBob SquarePants,鈥� with 12 nods each 鈥� found the night tough. 鈥淢ean Girls鈥� won nothing and 鈥淪pongeBob SquarePants鈥� got only one for best set design.
The revival of 鈥淐arousel鈥� won two awards 鈥� choreography and for Lindsay Mendez, who won best featured actress in a musical. She accepted in tears, recounting that when she moved to New York, she was told to change her last name to Matthews or she wouldn鈥檛 work. She said she was happy to be in a production that 鈥渃elebrates diversity and individuality.鈥� To all artists out there, she said: 鈥淛ust be your true self and the world will take note.鈥�
One of the show highlights was the lively performance by the cast of 鈥淥nce on This Island鈥� that included a sand-filled beach, real water and a goat. Onstage guests were volunteers and staffers from three organizations that bring relief to areas impacted by natural disasters. The show went on to win best musical revival, beating 鈥淢y Fair Lady鈥� and 鈥淐arousel.鈥�
Getting buzz from appearing on the telecast can dictate a show鈥檚 future, both on Broadway and on tour. Broadway producers will be thankful this year that the telecast won鈥檛 have to compete with any NBA Finals or Stanley Cup playoff games.
For most of the previous awards season, shows like the Oscars and Golden Globes have acknowledged the issue of sexual misconduct and abuse of power. The Tonys didn鈥檛 specifically address that, but did touch on gun violence, depression, politics and inclusion.
The show was a sort of victory lap for a Broadway season that saw grosses hit another record high by pulling in $1.7 billion 鈥� up 17.1 percent over last season鈥檚 $1.45 billion. Attendance was also up, coming in a 13.79 million, an increase of 3.9 percent at last season鈥檚 13.27 million.
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