You saw the Tony Awards but only BroadwayBox can bring you inside five of the Tony Awards' biggest, most exciting parties: Dear Evan Hansen, The Great Comet, Come From Away, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the DKC/O&M after-after party, complete with Dolly disco.
11:45 PM Editor Josh Ferri and photographer Jenny Anderson (of our Backstage and Classic NY Film series) arrive at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Broadway home, The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, where the companies of The Little Foxes and the Tony Award-winning Best Revival of a Play, Jitney enjoy a laid-back atmosphere. The two companies (and other MTC folks) come together for a Tony screening and after party full of pizza and cakes.
“Stay in touch with God, keep your seat belt fastened, and enjoy the ride.” Jitney standout Anthony Chisholm.
“A great party needs a lot of Beyonce music!” Little Foxes star Francesca Carpanini
“Francesca loves Beyonce, Beyonce, Beyonce, so I’ll go with that.” Co-star Michael Benz
“I’m just so happy for all the actors that keep August Wilson’s words alive, and I think this is a testament to the power of Mr. Wilson and the community he creates. I’m elated and I’m thrilled to recognize his genius.” Jitney star Brandon J. Dirden
12:30 AM Welcome to the Rock….or Red Eye Grill, where the tight-knit company of the hit musical Come From Away
makes the most of the gorgeous New York night with an indoor-outdoor soiree. Around 1 AM, the musical’s Tony Award-winning director, Christopher Ashley, walks in to howling cheers from the entire party.
“The highlight of my evening was being with my cast. We are a family. I know it sounds cheesy but I love each and every one of those people. We all looked at each other before we did our number. It’s so beautiful to be in a musical where you get to be onstage and watch your friends slay their numbers. Part of it is that we are a little bit older and we don’t have ego anymore. We just want to be onstage and watch people do great work.” Come from Away star Astrid Van Wieren
“Well the last two Tony Awards I was involved in we won, but I feel like we still won. I am blessed enough to be in Come from Away. We are having a great time, and I’ve never been a part of something so electric.” Come from Away star Chad Kimball
“Anna Wintour dressed me so that helped. This was the first one I tried on then I tried on a bunch of other ones and just came back to this one. It felt right.” Come from Away Tony-nominated star Jenn Colella
“Seeing the cast perform was absolutely amazing. They did so well. To see them stepping in time with the Rockettes was a dream come true for a lot of people.” Come From Away Tony-nominated co-writer Irene Sankoff
“The most important thing in my Tony night clutch is my phone charger.” Come From Away Tony-nominated choreographer Kelly Devine
1:15 AM The party got turnt as we go from Newfoundland to War & Peace Russia. The bash for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
is lit AF. The DJ at 583 Park Ave has everyone on the first floor dancing, the drinks are flowing, and people are having a great time! Looking on from the open second floor above, stars Josh Groban, Denee Benton, Lucas Steele and others chat with Dave Malloy and the musical’s Tony-winning creatives.
“I think we don’t have enough time to be boring in the theatre. I got one night, why don’t I just go full-out?” Great Comet Tony-nominated choreographer Sam Pinkleton on his awesome Tony outfit
“Three things a great party needs are good music, good booze, and good people.” Jay Armstrong Johnson
“It was really validating to receive the reaction from the audience, even when we were coming up on the elevator. To see the audience gasp with this look of disbelief, and all the applause during the middle of it and the end—it was an extraordinary moment that makes it all worth it for me.” Great Comet Tony-nominated star Lucas Steele
1:50 AM We arrive at the Empire Hotel just as Dear Evan Hansen’s Tony Award-winning Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Rachel Bay Jones enters. Upstairs on the roof of the Empire, the young hip crowd at the Tony-winning Best Musical gets down on the dance floor and enjoys an entire candy bar buffet alongside guests like Tony winners Cynthia Erivo and Andy Blankenbuehler and the stars of Bandstand, Laura Osnes and Corey Cott. As guests leave the party, they are presented with polo shirts that are exact replicas of Evan’s.
“Relish the moment; make sure you have fun; and take rest when you need it.” Tony winner Cynthia Erivo on advice for first-time winners
“An awesome Tony party needs Squigs at the party” Nathan Johnson
“Literally it’s the first thing that came to my mind: chicken fingers. It’s the hugest day and I’ve only eaten animal crackers and I saw those chicken fingers and said, ‘Yes!’” Laura Osnes
“This is the first time we’ve done an after-Tonys party, so I feel like I’m learning. We are following Nate and Laura. They are our gurus.” Meghan Cott
“A great Tony party is anything that allows people to talk and congratulate each other. If there’s areas you can look people in the eye and give them love, that’s all that matters—also good free food and drinks.” Corey Cott
2:45 AM Time to head over to the Carlyle Hotel, the home of Rick Miramontez's exclusive and iconic DKC/O&M bash, and as always, it is the place Broadway goes to party on Tony night. At every turn you see Tony winners, Tony nominees, this year’s Tony host (Kevin Spacey), and the Broadway big shots that make it all happen behind the scenes. Upstairs the casts of O&M clients Hello, Dolly!, Cats
, Evan Hansen, and Sunset Boulevard laugh over the night, take selfies with their shiny new awards, and generally just charm the hell out of each other.
“15 years ago I made my Broadway debut with Sutton Foster and I watched her win a Tony. When I saw her come out and I saw the category, I just thought, ‘How unbelievably full circle.’ Then when we walked off after my speech, we literally went five feet and held each other. I was just holding onto her. It was just the most surreal, synchronistic thing I could experience in the theatre.” Hello, Dolly! Tony winner Gavin Creel on being presented his Tony by former Millie co-star Sutton Foster
“Well, I blacked out when I walked onstage to present an award and saw John Legend sitting there. Then seeing my brother perform on the Tonys is so surreal. It was amazing.” Riverdale star Casey Cott
“We have never gotten into an Olivier party. I think that’s the main difference [between an Olivier and a Tony party].” Play That Goes Wrong star Charlie Russell
“We turned up at the Olivier party WITH AN OLIVIER, and they said, ‘Sorry. Too many people. You can’t come in.’” Play That Goes Wrong star Dave Hearn
“The highlight of my night is Gavin Creel winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. I love that man with my whole heart. He is the kindest, most generous, funniest, gassiest man on Broadway. I am the luckiest. He makes this job a constant delight.” Hello, Dolly! star Taylor Trensch
4 AM Downstairs at the Disco Dolly (named for the Tony Award-winning Best Revival and its Tony-winning star Bette Midler), you could see the stars of The Play That Goes Wrong going full out on the dance floor near Indecent star Katrina Lenk, Darren Criss, and Oslo Tony winner Michael Aronov.
“My Tony highlight was when Gavin Creel talked about the University of Michigan…and I only say that because I knew Benj and Justin were going to win. Those two things together.” Darren Criss
“I should have brought a charger and I didn’t. The most important thing in my new clutch is lipstick…maybe my Metrocard?” Present Laughter star Tedra Millan
4:30 AM(ish) Soon, it’s lights up, and the party makes its way to the lobby where piece by piece people fall away and the Tony Awards 2017 officially comes to an end.
