Five of the Most Inspiring Quotes From the 2019 Tonys

Written by Tiffany Wilkie

June 10, 2019

The 73rd Annual Tony Awards (a.k.a. Broadway’s biggest night) brought together the best and brightest of Broadway. From flashy musical performances to women and POC winning major awards to memorable speeches, here are the five of the most inspiring moments of the night:

1. André De Shields Winning Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Hadestown:

André De Shields is an actor, singer, director, and choreographer. His Broadway credits include Warp!, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Play On!, The Full Monty, Impressionism and the title role in The Wiz. He is currently performing on Broadway, playing the role of Hermes in the musical, Hadestown.

2. Producer of Hadestown, Mara Isaacs, Accepting the Award For Best Musical:

Hadestown: The Myth. The Musical is a stage musical adaptation of the 2010 folk opera concept album by the same name by Anaïs Mitchell.  It premiered off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop on May 6, 2016, and ran through July 31. Following productions in Edmonton and London, the show premiered in previews on Broadway in March 2019. The show was developed for the stage and directed by Rachel Chavkin. Like the original concept album, Hadestown tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus journeys to the underworld to rescue his fiancée Eurydice. The Broadway production opened to critical acclaim and received numerous awards and nominations.

3. Terrence McNally Accepting the 2019 Tonys’ Lifetime Achievement Award 

 

McNally has been described as “a probing and enduring dramatist” and “one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced”. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class, as well as the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime.

4. Ali Stroker Accepting Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for Oklahoma 

Ali Stroker is an American actress and singer. She is the first actress who uses a wheelchair for mobility to appear on a Broadway stage and to be nominated for and win a Tony Award. Stroker was a finalist on the second season of The Glee Project and later appeared as a guest star on Glee in 2013. She played the role of Anna in Deaf West’s 2015 revival of Spring Awakening.

5. Rachel Chavkin Winning Best Direction of a Musical for Hadestown 

Chavkin earned a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts (2008).  Chavkin directed Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, which ran Off-Broadway in 2013-2014. Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 received the 2013 Obie Award, Special Citation. Under her direction, the musical opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on November 14, 2016. At the 71st Tony Awards, the musical received twelve nominations, the highest number for the 2016-17 season, including a nomination for Chavkin for Best Director of a Musical. Chavkin directed the folk opera Hadestown, written by Anaïs Mitchell, which opened officially at the Off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop on May 23, 2016. Following productions in Edmonton and London, Hadestown opened on Broadway in April 2019 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.



Need some advice? We’ve got you covered.

Tiffany Wilkie is the Senior Director of Social Media Marketing and Content for Performerstuff.com She received a B.A. in Theatre Arts (with a concentration in Communication) from Mars Hill University and an additional B.A. in Theatre Education from the University of Central Florida. Tiffany is a teacher, marketing guru, director, casting producer, and Zelda fanatic.