Hello there my friends and those who might have just discovered “The Chronicles Of Piercing Ken” Lifestyle Blog. Today I’m going to be using my voice to share the winners of the 2017 Tony Awards which aired last night on CBS. The program honors the Broadway Stage and is probably my very favorite of the awards programs that airs. This might surprise you since I am more of a movie goer than a Broadway play attendee but with the movies that I enjoy the most never really getting their due, I have come to find The Tony’s quite fun. I’ve culled the full winners from the Internet and I figure if I am to use “The Chronicles” a lot more professionally that I should get on some mailing lists and have this stuff sent to me direct, but I digress; here are the winners of the 71st Annual Tony Awards (which were hosted by Kevin Spacey) May I have the envelope please…….

Best Play:
“Oslo” (WINNER)
“A Doll’s House, Part 2”
“Indecent”
“Sweat”

Best Musical:
“Dear Evan Hansen” (WINNER)
“Come From Away”
“Groundhog Day The Musical”
“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”

Best Book of a Musical:
“Dear Evan Hansen” — Steven Levenson (WINNER)
“Come From Away” — Irene Sankoff and David Hein
“Groundhog Day The Musical” — Danny Rubin
“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” — Dave Malloy

Best Original Score:
“Dear Evan Hansen” — Music & Lyrics: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (WINNER)
“Come From Away” — Music & Lyrics: Irene Sankoff and David Hein
“Groundhog Day The Musical” — Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin
“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” — Music & Lyrics: Dave Malloy

Best Revival of a Play:
“August Wilson’s Jitney” (WINNER)
“Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”
“Present Laughter”
“Six Degrees of Separation”

Best Revival of a Musical:
“Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER)
“Falsettos”
“Miss Saigon”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play:
Kevin Kline, “Present Laughter” (WINNER)
Denis Arndt, “Heisenberg”
Chris Cooper, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”
Corey Hawkins, “Six Degrees of Separation”
Jefferson Mays, “Oslo”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play:
Laurie Metcalf, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” (WINNER)
Cate Blanchett, “The Present”
Jennifer Ehle, “Oslo”
Sally Field, “The Glass Menagerie”
Laura Linney, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical:
Ben Platt, “Dear Evan Hansen”(WINNER)
Christian Borle, “Falsettos”
Josh Groban, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”
Andy Karl, “Groundhog Day The Musical”
David Hyde Pierce, “Hello, Dolly!”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical:
Bette Midler, “Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER)
Denee Benton, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”
Christine Ebersole, “War Paint”
Patti LuPone, “War Paint”
Eva Noblezada, “Miss Saigon”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play:
Michael Aronov, “Oslo” (WINNER)
Danny DeVito, “Arthur Miller’s The Price”
Nathan Lane, “The Front Page”
Richard Thomas, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”
John Douglas Thompson, “August Wilson’s Jitney”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play:
Cynthia Nixon, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” (WINNER)
Johanna Day, “Sweat”
Jayne Houdyshell, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”
Condola Rashad, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”
Michelle Wilson, “Sweat”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical:
Gavin Creel, “Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER)
Mike Faist, “Dear Evan Hansen”
Andrew Rannells, “Falsettos”
Lucas Steele, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”
Brandon Uranowitz, “Falsettos”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical:
Rachel Bay Jones, “Dear Evan Hansen” (WINNER)
Kate Baldwin, “Hello, Dolly!”
Stephanie J. Block, “Falsettos”
Jenn Colella, “Come From Away”
Mary Beth Peil, “Anastasia”

Best Scenic Design of a Play:
Nigel Hook, “The Play That Goes Wrong” (WINNER)
David Gallo, “August Wilson’s Jitney”
Douglas W. Schmidt, “The Front Page”
Michael Yeargan, “Oslo”

Best Scenic Design of a Musical:
Mimi Lien, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” (WINNER)
Rob Howell, “Groundhog Day The Musical”
David Korins, “War Paint”
Santo Loquasto, “Hello, Dolly!”

Best Costume Design of a Play:
Jane Greenwood, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” (WINNER)
Susan Hilferty, “Present Laughter”
Toni-Leslie James, “August Wilson’s Jitney”
David Zinn, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”

Best Costume Design of a Musical:
Santo Loquasto, “Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER)
Linda Cho, “Anastasia”
Paloma Young, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”
Catherine Zuber, “War Paint”

Best Lighting Design of a Play:
Christopher Akerlind, “Indecent” (WINNER)
Jane Cox, “August Wilson’s Jitney”
Donald Holder, “Oslo”
Jennifer Tipton, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”

Best Lighting Design of a Musical:
Bradley King, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” (WINNER)
Howell Binkley, “Come From Away”
Natasha Katz, “Hello, Dolly!”
Japhy Weideman, “Dear Evan Hansen”

Best Direction of a Play:
Rebecca Taichman, “Indecent” (WINNER)
Sam Gold, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “August Wilson’s Jitney”
Bartlett Sher, “Oslo”
Daniel Sullivan, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”

Best Direction of a Musical:
Christopher Ashley, “Come From Away” (WINNER)
Rachel Chavkin, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”
Michael Greif, “Dear Evan Hansen”
Matthew Warchus, “Groundhog Day The Musical”
Jerry Zaks, “Hello, Dolly!”

Best Choreography:
Andy Blankenbuehler, “Bandstand” (WINNER)
Peter Darling and Ellen Kane, “Groundhog Day The Musical”
Kelly Devine, “Come From Away”
Denis Jones, “Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical”
Sam Pinkleton, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”

Best Orchestrations:
Alex Lacamoire, “Dear Evan Hansen” (WINNER)
Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen, “Bandstand”
Larry Hochman, “Hello, Dolly!”
Dave Malloy, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre:
James Earl Jones

Special Tony Award:
Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, sound designers for “The Encounter”

Regional Theatre Tony Award:
Dallas Theater Center in Dallas, Texas

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award:
Baayork Lee

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre:
Nina Lannan and Alan Wasser

*** end of transmission ***

Piercing Ken Thoughts: Whew, that’s some list of winners isn’t it? Congratulations to all of the winners, especially “Dear Evan Hansen” (which is a play I’d love to see) and “Hello Dolly” which is a classic through and through. Sadly, when I examine my available schedule and the finances involved, I really don’t manage to get to the Broadway stuff as often as I might like. I think the last play that I saw was “Blythe Spirit” that had Angela Lansbury in it from a few years ago. It was either that, or the revival of “Sweeney Todd” but whatever came first for me the both of them were great. If you can handle the financials of a Broadway show then you must go and if you are one of our visitors from faraway lands then yes you must go. Oh and I just realized the last play that I saw – It was “Wicked”. What a show that was. Anyway, before I get too far off track – What do you think of these winners and have you seen any of these performances? Do you recommend some to the rest of our readers? Please dish and I will see you again soon.

Official Website: http://www.thetonys.com