NEW YORK — It was a big night for AAPI artists at the 78th Tony Awards ceremony, held June 9 at Radio City Music Hall.
“Maybe Happy Ending,” a South Korean musical with lyrics written by Hue Park, music composed by Will Aronson, and book written by Park and Aronson, received 10 nominations and won six Tonys:
Best Musical. Also nominated were “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Dead Outlaw,” “Death Becomes Her,” and “Operation Mincemeat.”
Best Book of a Musical for Park and Aronson. Also nominated were “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Dead Outlaw,” “Death Becomes Her,” and “Operation Mincemeat.”
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre for Park and Aronson. Also nominated were “Dead Outlaw,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Operation Mincemeat,” and “Real Women Have Curves.”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Darren Criss. Also nominated were Andrew Durand for “Dead Outlaw,” Tom Francis for “Sunset Blvd.,” Jonathan Groff for “Just in Time,” James Monroe Iglehart for “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,” and Jeremy Jordan for “Floyd Collins.” Criss. a Filipino American, is the first AAPI to win in this category.
Criss, who rose to fame starring on the TV series “Glee,” won Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for his leading role in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.”
“The real hero for this remarkable journey is my wife, Mia, who took a massive swing on allowing me to do this,” Criss said in his acceptance speech. “To allow this crazy upheaval in our life, to make this logistically possible, and for bearing the brunt of raising two tiny friends under three, so that I could raise a singing robot at the Belasco Theatre eight times a week.”
He gave a shout-out to his co-star Helen J. Shen for making a “Broadway debut for the books.”
Best Direction of a Musical for Michael Arden. Also nominated were Saheem Ali for “Buena Vista Social Club,” David Cromer for “Dead Outlaw,” Christopher Gattelli for “Death Becomes Her,” and Jamie Lloyd for “Sunset Blvd.”
Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Dane Laffrey and George Reeve. Also nominated were Rachel Hauck for “Swept Away,” Arnulfo Maldonado for “Buena Vista Social Club,” Derek McLane for “Death Becomes Her” and for “Just in Time.”
“Maybe Happy Ending” was also nominated for Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Sound Design of a Musical, Best Orchestrations, and Best Costume Design of a Musical.
Nicole Scherzinger won Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for “Sunset Blvd.” Also nominated were Megan Hilty for “Death Becomes Her,” Audra McDonald for “Gypsy,” Jasmine Amy Rogers for “BOOP! The Musical,” and Jennifer Simard for “Death Becomes Her.” Scherzinger is the former lead vocalist of The Pussycat Dolls.
In her acceptance speech, Scherzinger said, “I just have to thank God for carrying me every step of the way. I give you all the glory.”
She also thanked the Tony Awards “for making this little Hawaiian-Ukrainian-Filipino girl’s dream come true” and her mother, who ”gave everything up for me.”
Francis Jue won Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for David Henry Hwang’s “Yellow Face.” Also nominated were Glenn Davis for “Purpose,” Gabriel Ebert for “John Proctor Is the Villain,” Bob Odenkirk for “Glengarry Glen Ross,” and Conrad Ricamora for “Oh, Mary!”
Jue, who received a standing ovation, said, “I am only here because of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of wonderful, deserving Asian artists who came before me and never got the opportunity I had.”
He said he was wearing a tuxedo purchased in 1976 by the late actor Alvin Ing for the opening of “Pacific Overtures” on Broadway. “When he gave it to me, he told me he wanted me to wear it when I accepted my Tony Award.”
Daniel Dae Kim was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for “Yellow Face.” The Tony went to Cole Escola for “Oh, Mary!” Also nominated were George Clooney for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” Jon Michael Hall for “Purpose,” Harry Lennix for “Purpose,” and Louis McCartney for “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”
“Yellow Face,” a comedy about an Asian American playwright who mistakenly hires a white actor for an Asian role, was also nominated for Best Revival of a Play. The Tony went to “Eureka Day.” Also nominated were “Thornton Wilder’s Our Town” and “Romeo + Juliet.”
Marco Paguia won Best Orchestrations for “Buena Vista Social Club.” Also nominated were Aronson for “Maybe Happy Ending,” Bruce Coughlin for “Floyd Collins,” Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber for “Just in Time,” David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber for “Sunset Blvd.”