Tonys recap: Jay-Z and Alicia Keys perform, Jeremy Strong and Daniel Radcliffe win
It didn’t take long for Alicia Keys and Jay-Z to put the 2024 Tony Awards into an “Empire State of Mind.”
The star-powered pair punctuated the first performance in Sunday’s ceremony at the Lincoln Center with a rousing rendition of their 2009 mega-hit “Empire State of Mind.”
After the cast of “Hell’s Kitchen” performed a medley of songs from the Keys-created musical, Keys herself sat down at the piano and began singing her and Jay-Z’s ubiquitous New York City anthem, which is featured in the show.
“Had to do something crazy,” Keys declared. “It’s my hometown!”
Jay-Z then joined her onstage, earning a standing ovation from the audience at David H. Koch Theater.
“Hell’s Kitchen,” Keys’ semi-autobiographical musical about her 1990s upbringing in Manhattan, tied for the most nominations at Sunday’s ceremony with 13.
The performance served as a fitting start to a 77th Tony Awards filled with Hollywood flair.
The first award of the night went to Jeremy Strong, who won Best Actor in a Play for “An Enemy of the People,” in which he portrays a whistleblower who warns a town reluctant to listen about contaminated spa water. It was the first Tony nomination, and win, for Strong, who already owned an Emmy for “Succession.”
Daniel Radcliffe, best known for playing the title wizard in the “Harry Potter” films, won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for “Merrily We Roll Along,” also marking his first Tony in as many nominations.
“This has been one of the best experiences of my life,” Radcliffe said of starring in the musical.
Those wins followed an upbeat opening number starring and co-choreographed by Ariana DeBose, who hosted the Tonys for a third consecutive year. The performance included the lyrics, “This party’s for you!”
“Truth is told onstage every night and twice on matinee days,” DeBose said during her opening monologue. “We are in a global moment. Headlines are frankly terrifying most of the time, but the theater is a safe place for us all. In the most trying of times, art is imperative because art reflects society and provides context for the very real situations that we find ourselves in today.”
Sarah Paulson, Jonathan Groff, Rachel McAdams and Leslie Odom Jr. were among the other big names to receive acting nominations.
Odom did not win for “Purlie Victorious,” but his co-star, Kara Young, won Best Featured Actress in a Play for her slapstick portrayal of a woman caught up in the titular preacher’s plan to take back his family inheritance. It was the first Tony win for Young, who was nominated for a third year in a row.
Kecia Lewis won Best Featured Actress in a Musical for “Hell’s Kitchen.” The show’s other nominations included Best Musical, a category also featuring“The Outsiders,” a well-received adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s classic 1967 novel about rival teen gangs in Oklahoma.
Also earning 13 nods was “Stereophonic,” a rocking drama depicting the tension within a Fleetwood Mac-like band as it records a new album. Although it features music, “Stereophonic” was nominated for Best Play and was the most-nominated play in Tony history. One of its stars, Will Brill, won Best Featured Actor in a Play.
The Emmy-winning Paulson was up for Best Actress in a Play for “Appropriate,” in which she stars as a sibling whose family’s secrets come to light once they reunite after their patriarch’s death. Paulson’s “Appropriate” won Best Revival of a Play.
McAdams, known for films such as “Mean Girls” and “The Notebook,” was also nominated for Best Actress in a Play for “Mary Jane.” McAdams made her Broadway debut in the heart-rending drama, portraying a single mother taking care of a seriously ill child.
Sunday’s ceremony also included show-stopping performances from the casts of “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Stereophonic” and “The Who’s Tommy,” the latter of which featured Pete Townshend on guitar. Eddie Redmayne later took the stage for a no-holds-barred performance from his quirky “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical.
Like Radcliffe, Groff was up for “Merrily We Roll Along,” a Stephen Sondheim musical exploring the changing relationships of three friends over 20 years.
Groff’s nomination for Best Actor in a Musical was the third Tony nod of his career. He was previously a finalist — but did not win — for “Spring Awakening” and for his comedic portrayal of an eccentric King George III in“Hamilton.”
“Merrily We Roll Along” totaled seven nominations, including for Best Revival of a Musical.
The nominations further symbolized a full-circle comeback for “Merrily We Roll Along.” Long considered the late Sondheim’s greatest flop, it closed only 12 days after it debuted to rough reviews in 1981.
The musical received renewed life in the decades since, finding success Off-Broadway and on London’s West End, where it won three Olivier Awards, including Best Musical, in 2001.
Its Broadway return last fall was met with rave reviews and immense audience interest. It has made more than $35 million in 2024, making it the fourth-highest-grossing show of the year and the top-earning newcomer.
Sunday marked the first time the Tonys were held at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater on the Upper West Side. Last year’s 76th edition of the Tonys took place at the United Palace in Washington Heights, bringing a distinctive change to a ceremony that has primarily taken place in Midtown.
Last year’s show was also notable in that it ran completely unscripted due to the Hollywood writers strike that ended in September after five months. DeBose kicked off that show with a lyric-less opening number that leaned heavily into its choreography and music.
