Written By | Staff Writer
The 79th Tony Awards, hosted by Pink at Radio City Music Hall, was not any other night
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NEW YORK
On any other night, Death of a Salesman winning six Tonys — including Best Revival of a Play — would be the headline. On any other night, Schmigadoon! winning Best Musical would spark the think-pieces. But the 79th Tony Awards, hosted by Pink at Radio City Music Hall, was not any other night.
It was the night Qween Jean became the first openly transgender woman to win a Tony Award in any category.
Her win for Best Costume Design for CATS: The Jellicle Ball drew a standing ovation that began before she reached the microphone. When she finally spoke, the house was absolutely still.
"This is for every kid who was told their dreams were too big, too strange, or too much," she said. "You are not too much. You are exactly enough.
The room erupted. Even the most jaded Broadway veterans were on their feet.
Pink Brings The House Down (Literally)
The evening began with its host — pop icon Pink, a lifelong Broadway obsessive — descending from the ceiling of Radio City dressed as Peter Pan, wire rigging and all. She transitioned into a powerhouse performance of "Lady Marmalade" joined by an ensemble of Broadway performers.
Pink later belted "All That Jazz" from Chicago alongside the show's current cast, drawing one of the night's loudest ovations.
"Broadway has always been where storytelling goes to take its biggest swings," Pink said during her opening monologue. "Tonight we celebrate the people who swing hardest." It was a line that could have been written for Qween Jean.
Death Of A Salesman Dominates
The revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman collected six Tonys, including Best Revival of a Play and Best Direction of a Play.
Category Winner
Best Leading Actor in a Play John Lithgow (Willy Loman)
Best Leading Actress in a Play Laurie Metcalf (Linda Loman)
Lithgow, 80, was visibly overcome. "I have been doing this for 52 years," he said, pausing to collect himself. "I still don't know how it works. But when a room full of strangers all feel the same thing at the same moment — there is nothing in the world like it."
Death of a salesman dominated
Schmigadoon! Earns Its Place On The Main Stage
Best Musical went to Schmigadoon! — the stage adaptation of the Apple TV+ series, transformed into a love letter to Broadway's Golden Age. The show won four awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score.
"We made a TV show and accidentally made a Broadway show," said the lead producer. "We're still a little confused about how this happened, but we're very glad it did."
Other major winners:
The Performances That Stopped Time
The ceremony was punctuated by performances that justified the form's continued existence.
The cast of CATS: The Jellicle Ball turned "Memory" into a transcendent, 10-minute theatrical experience that left virtually no eye dry. The Rocky Horror Show ensemble's "Time Warp" brought Radio City to its feet again.
But it was a quieter performance — a stripped-down number from Liberation — that cut deepest. Two actors, a piano, and eight minutes of text that felt written for this moment, this room, this night.
The Rocky Horror Show ensemble's "Time Warp"
What This Night Means
Broadway has been fighting back from the pandemic years, labor disputes, and economic pressures that have made running a show more precarious than ever. The 79th Tony Awards — messy, triumphant, and occasionally transcendent — served as a reminder of why the fight is worth having.
Qween Jean's win will be the moment that gets remembered longest. Not because of what she is, but because of what she said, and how the room received it. In a year full of cultural flashpoints, Radio City Music Hall hosted something rarer: a moment of uncomplicated, unambiguous joy.
That's Broadway at its best. That's what the Tonys are for.
