Tony Awards 2021: The full list of winners, from Moulin Rouge! The Musical to Jagged Little Pill

Only four musicals, 10 plays and four revivals of plays were up for awards this year

Lois Smith and Aaron Tveit with their awards at the 74th Tony Awards (Getty Images)

Moulin Rouge! The Musical swept the 74th Tony Awards presented on Sunday to celebrate exemplary stage  performances and the return to Broadway following an 18-month Covid-induced shutdown.

There were fewer category of nominees at the Tonys this year due to a shortened 2019-20 theatrical season after a nationwide lockdown was imposed in March 2020 to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Only four musicals, 10 plays and four revivals of plays were up for awards in 2021.

Director Alex Timbers’s stage adaptation of the 2001 film, Moulin Rouge! The Musical won a total of 10 Tonys, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical.

The star of Moulin Rouge!, Aaron Tveit was the only nominee in the leading role category and took home his award after the actor secured the mandatory 60% affirmative vote to win.

The 37-year-old actor expressed gratitude for the cast and crew of Moulin Rouge!, while tearfully accepting his award. He also thanked the casting directors and artists who jump-started his career.

“We are so privileged to get to do this, to be on Broadway, to have a life in the theatre, to distract, to tell the stories that represent the many and not the few, by the many and not the few, for the many and not the few,” Tveit said.

David Burstein, recognised for his featured role in Moulin Rouge!, won the award on his seventh nomination. He thanked fans for their support after the death of his wife and fellow Broadway actor, Rebecca Luker.

The award for lead actress in a musical was given to Adrienne Warren, who plays the legendary Tina Turner in Tina - The Tina Turner Musical. The production received a total of 12 nominations (including one for Best Musical).

Mary-Louise Parker’s performance in Adam Rapp’s play, The Sound Inside won the actress the award for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Play.

Meanwhile, Lois Smith took home the award for her featured role in The Inheritance — Matthew Howard’s two-part play inspired by E M Forster’s novel Howards End —making the 90-year-old actress the oldest Tony recipient in history.

Howard’s depiction of the lives of gay men in the 21st century also won the Tony for best play, securing four wins in total.

Lauren Patten won the award for her featured role in Jagged Little Pill, named after Alanis Morisette’s 1995 album. The Broadway jukebox musical, that secured a total of 15 nominations, has been in the eye of the storm after two former cast members accused its producers of harm to “the trans and non-binary community.”

Jeremy O Harris’ Slave Play didn’t receive a single award despite being up for 12 of them, making it the most nominated play in the history of the Tonys.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best play

Grand Horizons

The Inheritance - WINNER

Sea Wall/A Life

Slave Play

The Sound Inside

Best Musical

Jagged Little Pill

Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Revival of a Play

Betrayal

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

A Soldier’s Play - WINNER

Best Book of a Musical

Diablo Cody, Jagged Little Pill - WINNER

John Logan, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Christopher Nightingale, A Christmas Carol - WINNER

Paul Englishby, The Inheritance

Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb, The Rose Tattoo

Lindsay Jones, Slave Play

Daniel Kluge, The Sound Inside

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Ian Barford, Linda Vista

Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance -WINNER

Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea Wall/A Life

Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal

Tom Sturridge, Sea Wall/A Life

Blair Underwood, A Soldier’s Play

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play

Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton

Audra McDonald, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside - WINNER

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

**From The Tony Awards Rules: If the Tony Awards Nominating Committee has determined that if there is only one nominee in a category listed, such category shall be submitted to the Tony Voters which may, by the affirmative vote of sixty (60%) percent of the total ballots cast, grant an Award in that category.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill

Adrienne Warren, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical - WINNER

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Ato Blankson-Wood, Slave Play

James Cusati-Moyer, Slave Play

David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play - WINNER

John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance

Paul Hilton, The Inheritance

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Jane Alexander, Grand Horizons

Chalia La Tour, Slave Play

Annie McNamara, Slave Play

Lois Smith, The Inheritance - WINNER

Cora Vander Broek, Linda Vista

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Derek Klena, Jagged Little Pill

Sean Allan Krill, Jagged Little Pill

Sahr Ngaujah, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Daniel J. Watts, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill

Celia Rose Gooding, Jagged Little Pill

Robyn Hurder, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill - WINNER

Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Bob Crowley, The Inheritance

Soutra Gilmour, Betrayal

Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol - WINNER

Derek McLane, A Soldier’s Play

Clint Ramos, Slave Play

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, Jagged Little Pill

Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Costume Design of a Play

Dede Ayite, Slave Play

Dede Ayite, A Soldier’s Play

Bob Crowley, The Inheritance

Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol - WINNER

Clint Ramos, The Rose Tattoo

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Emily Rebholz, Jagged Little Pill

Mark Thompson, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jiyoun Chang, Slave Play

Jon Clark, The Inheritance

Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside

Allen Lee Hughes, A Soldier’s Play

Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol - WINNER

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Bruno Poet, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Justin Townsend, Jagged Little Pill

Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Best Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti & Christopher Reid, The Inheritance

Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol - WINNER

Lindsay Jones, Slave Play

Daniel Kluger, Sea Wall/A Life

Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Jonathan Deans, Jagged Little Pill

Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Nevin Steinberg, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Direction of a Play

David Cromer, The Sound Inside

Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance - WINNER

Kenny Leon, A Soldier’s Play

Jamie Lloyd, Betrayal

Robert O’Hara, Slave Play

Best Direction of a Musical

Phyllida Lloyd, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Diane Paulus, Jagged Little Pill

Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Best Choreography

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Jagged Little Pill

Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! The Musical - WINNER

Anthony Van Laast, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Orchestrations

Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill

WINNER: Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Ethan Popp, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical