How spectacular were The 2023 Tony Awards!?
After a thrilling night hosted by Ariana DeBose at New York's United Palace in Washington Heights, the Broadway community was ready to celebrate the 76th Annual Tony Awards! Who is ready to follow along for our annual All-Access Tony Awards Party Scrapbook!? Enjoy our timeline of the night's festivities all over Manhattan to celebrate Broadway's biggest night.
11:20pm: Following the big show, we entered the official after party for the night. It was a New Yorker feast with a number of amazing food options to choose from for the evening. The Shake Shack truck had eager attendees in line for a burger. The night's VIPs were enjoying fresh fruit along with their champagne. The Broadway Bar in the center of the Plaza Tent was bustling with excitement. The Tony medallion drink stirrers were a lovely touch!
12:30am: The team arrived back in Midtown at Tanner's Smith's to celebrate with 5 time winner Kimberly Akimbo. It was so thrilling to have the lively crowd ready with their love and support at the door for every special guest that entered the party! Blaring on the speakers? Spice Girls' "Spice Up Your Life" - as it should! One of the show's nominees, Justin Cooley arrived to great cheers as people snapped photos of his party entrance on their phones.
Dancing in the front door next was Jeanine Tesori with her Tony Award for Best Score. She joined her lyricist and the musical's Tony Award winning book writer David Lindsay-Abaire who had arrived with his two Tony Awards!
Madonna's "Vogue" was playing and we saw none other that another Tony winner - the fantastic Bonnie Milligan celebrating her Best Featured Actress in a Musical win with her mother in a quieter corner of Tanner Smith's. When asked how she felt when she head her name called "It felt like a dream and all I could think of is - oh please don't trip!"
1:00am: Across Broadway we traveled to Haswell Green's for the Leopoldstadt celebration. Guests were celebrating the show's 4 Tony Award wins including Best Play. It was super celebratory inside the venue. A live band was playing "Summer of '69" and revelers were in the best spirits as we walked in. To the left of the bandstand while they were then playing "I Love Rock & Roll", we found Tony Award winner for Best Featured Actor in a Play, Brandon Uranowitz. When we asked Brandon how it felt when his name was called to accept his first Tony Award, Brandon responded "I completely blacked out. I don't remember anything. I remember nothing."
1:15am: We traveled a few blocks south to the excitement on West 47th Street! Our first stop was at the Edison Ballroom to celebrate with the Shucked. The dance floor was the place to be as Motown hits filled the room.
We caught up with the creator of Shucked's book, Mr. Robert Horn and asked him what it was like to see the cast perform on the telecast. "It was so thrilling to watch this little show perform on The Tony Awards. And to have the audience respond the way they did and it was just so exciting. I was like a proud papa. Truly truly was. They knocked it out of the park."
We were just about to jump to the next party when none other than Best Featured Actor in a Musical winner Alex Newell arrived with their Tony Award!
1:25am: Right next door, we climbed the stairs up to the Edison Rooftop to join the company of & Juliet. Another dance floor that was off the charts lit in a hue of hot pink
2:00am: Time for the divine O&M celebration at The Carlyle on East Side. It is and was THE place to be. Famous Broadway faces, nominees, winners and Broadway community guests filled the iconic staple of the East Side. Entering Bemelman's Bar, Jim Caruso was serenading guests to standards with Matt Baker on piano and Tom Hubbard on bass.
Trays of champagne were being passed. The mood was so celebratory and so lovely as stars from Broadway's sparkliest shows greeted each other after an exciting night of performances and historic wins.
The second floor had a fabulous disco dance floor with a DJ playing hit after after hit. Stars greeted guests and friends at corner tables and couches throughout the space.
At 3am, back in Bemelman's Bar, Max Von Essen was singing "New York, New York" and yes included key changes! The partygoers were all singing along by that final iconic Kander and Ebb chorus.
By 3:46am, the lights were turned on and it was on to the next party!
4:00am: Up the stairs we went to Darren Criss and Julianne Hough's 2nd Annual Pebble Bar After After Party. Darren was on keys singing and playing Billy Joel to Elton John.
5:15am: The end to a truly marvelous 2023 Tony Awards night of celebrations. Cheers to the upcoming season!
