5 Best Moments From the 2016 Tonys Press Room

“Tonight wasn’t all about ”Hamilton” — there were also commercial breaks.”

The Tonys press room is one of the best places in New York City to celebrate the biggest night on Broadway. Sure, one perk is that the journalists get the opportunity to chat with each of the winners while they're still at the peak of their I-just-won-a-Tony euphoria, but it's also some of the highest-density theater-nerd-dom you'll find in the city.

This year was no exception. There were poignant moments as the night's winners reflected on the role of the arts in times of tragedy, delightful quotes like Andrew Lloyd Webber's "I'm a member of the House of Lords in Britain for some reason. I don't know why," and a whole lot of show-geek solidarity.


1. A Somber Tonys Opening

The Late Late Show's James Corden hosted the 2016 Tony Awards.
The Late Late Show's James Corden hosted the 2016 Tony Awards.
(© David Gordon)

The Tony Awards are the most joyful night of the theater, but this year, Broadway's best and brightest approached the evening with heavy hearts following the morning's mass shooting in Orlando. In one subtle homage, the evening's performers and nominees all showed their solidarity with the victims and their families with silver ribbons pinned to their lapels.

As host, funny man James Corden opened the Broadcast with a solemn message about exactly what Broadway has to say in the face of the tragedy. "You're not on your own right now," he said to all those affected. "Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality, and gender is equal, is embraced, and is loved. Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that. Tonight's show stands as a symbol and celebration of that principle."


2. Broadway Stars Talk the Importance of the Arts

Newly minted Tony winner, Hamilton's Leslie Odom Jr.
Newly minted Tony winner, Hamilton's Leslie Odom Jr.
(© David Gordon)

Continuing in the vein of Corden's moving Tonys opening, several of the night's honorees were thinking about the importance of the arts in times of tragedy. Tony winner Frank Langella, after mentioning the horrific events in a rewritten Tony speech, continued his heartfelt consideration of the topic in the press room. "It's real life and I just felt I had to say something about it," he explained to the reporters, referring to his Tony speech, which concluded, "I'm standing in a room full of the most generous human beings on earth and we will be with you every step of the way."

"This community has always been about inclusion," echoed Heather Hitchens, executive director of the American Theatre Wing, when she spoke to the press. "I think the importance of going on with the show is that hate doesn't win." Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had just announced his education initiative the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, emphasized the importance of arts education for just that reason, saying, "No child was ever born to hate."

Adding his thoughts to the conversation, Leslie Odom Jr. stated, "Something like that happens and immediately all of this seems silly…and then we had a show today and there are people in that room, you know it, who spent every dime they had to be there, there are people in that room who have been waiting for nine months…So that was refocusing because I said we can't let him take that from those people. We can't have that…That is hope…That is a bastion of hope for somebody. So that's what we were today."


3. The Hamilton Crew Cannot Get Enough of One Another

Hamilton Tony winners Leslie Odom Jr. and Renée Elise Goldsberry show off their trophies.
Hamilton Tony winners Leslie Odom Jr. and Renée Elise Goldsberry show off their trophies.
(© David Gordon)

"When one of us wins we all win, because we are one," said Best Featured Actress in a Musical winner Renée Elise Goldsberry in her acceptance speech, and in the press room it quickly became clear that her sentiment is shared by every person in Hamilton's cast and creative team. The majority of each team member's speech was spent extolling the rest of their Ham fam:

"The cabinet [Hamilton writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire] have changed my artistic world completely and I'm so grateful."—Andy Blankenbuehler

"Most importantly I feel the brotherhood of my fellow cabinet members."—Alex Lacamoire

"One of the essential gifts that Lin has given all of us, every member of this company, is that he wrote the words on the page and then had trust and faith for us to try to realize and actualize."—Thomas Kail

"I thought that you get [a Tony] because you're just so fabulous on your own that you can sort of work your way into getting one of these. And I didn't realize what a team of people it would take. I'm leaning on the support of a lot of people…my castmates."—Leslie Odom Jr.

"When I first went to an audition for this show and since then, I had a constant prayer in my heart and that is just that I would hold on to this job…I'm surrounded in the cast by the most talented people in the world and I just wanted to stay in the room with them."—Renée Elise Goldsberry


4. Michael Arden as Christopher Fitzgerald

2016 Tony nominees Christopher Fitzgerald and Michael Arden.
2016 Tony nominees Christopher Fitzgerald and Michael Arden.
(© David Gordon/Seth Walters)

For the majority of viewers at home, it likely made little impact when, as the Best Director of a Musical nominees were announced, Waitress Featured Actor nominee Christopher Fitzgerald appeared on camera in the place of Spring Awakening's Michael Arden. After all, neither Fitzgerald nor Arden are yet well-known to audiences outside the theater community. However, in the Tonys press room, each and every person knows the two artists by both face and name.

So we were pretty taken aback and, in fact, a little horrified to see the mixup. But Fitzi was on his game and quickly set our minds at ease with a barely perceptible shake of the head and his signature smirk: a combination of gestures that clearly said, "Micheal Arden's a talented guy, but I told you that you were 'never ever ever gettin' rid of me.'"


5. Daveed Diggs Gives Oakland a Shout-Out Every Night

Daveed Diggs won a 2016 Tony Award for his Broadway debut in Hamilton.
Daveed Diggs won a 2016 Tony Award for his Broadway debut in Hamilton.
(© David Gordon)

Best Supporting Actor Tony winner Daveed Diggs is a proud, outspoken native of California's Bay Area and he's infusing as much of that OakIand flavor into each and every Hamilton performance as he possibly can. The press room was delighted to learn that not only is the character of Thomas Jefferson based on Diggs' Oakland-native father ("Like, come on, there's no way that that should be real, that I should get to read lines written for Thomas Jefferson, be like, 'Yeah that's my father — except maybe that's way too real'"), but also he makes an overt reference to the Bay every evening.

"There's a moment [in the song "My Shot"] where everybody freezes," Diggs said, "and whenever I had people from Oakland in the audience I would throw up my "W" in the freeze, right, and see if anybody noticed. And now I do it every night and I still haven't gotten a note on it." He continued, "I probably shouldn't have said that but — so maybe I won't get to do it anymore." (So, shhh, nobody tell.)