Latest news with #BrandenJacobs-Jenkins'
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Business Recorder
Pulitzer drama ‘Purpose' takes top play at Broadway's 2025 Tonys
NEW YORK: The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'Purpose' won the 2025 best play award at the annual Tony Awards during a gala ceremony on Sunday night, capping a record-grossing post-pandemic Broadway theater season. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play follows a family whose carefully constructed legacy unravels when their youngest son returns home with an unexpected guest, exposing buried secrets and faith-based conflict. Buoyed by a post-pandemic rebound, the 2024-25 season grossed a record $1.89 billion in revenue and drew 14.7 million attendees, the Broadway League said. Host Cynthia Erivo, the 'Wicked' film star, opened the show at Radio City Music Hall with a walk to the stage from the dressing room that mimicked actor Tom Francis' viral post-intermission live outdoor Manhattan stroll as he sings the title song in 'Sunset Blvd.' TV's 'Succession' star Sarah Snook, who made her Broadway debut this season, won best leading actress in a play for her tour-de-force performance of more than two dozen roles in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray.' Francis Jue won best actor in a featured role in a play for 'Yellow Face.' He thanked the Asian American actors who came before him and addressed the next generation: 'This community sees you and I hope that encourages you to be brave, and to dream and to dream big.' The original cast of 'Hamilton,' including the show's creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, reunited to perform an electric medley in honor of the musical's 10th anniversary. 'Stranger Things' play wins Tony Awards, setting stage for TV series finale The number also served as a re-introduction to Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, a role he will resume in the production later this year for a limited time. Kara Young, who was nominated for a Tony in the role of featured actress in a play four years in a row, won for the second year in a row for her role in the 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'Purpose.' Natalie Venetia Belcon won the award for best featured actress in a musical for her role as Cuban singer Omara Portuondo in 'Buena Vista Social Club.' Other awards remained to be announced. Alongside the creative highs this year were economic realities plaguing producers and audiences alike. Premium seats for some productions run upwards from $400, prompting concern that Broadway is increasingly out of reach for casual and younger theater lovers. Even with lotteries and rush ticket programs, demand-driven pricing has become the norm. Rising production costs a factor Jason Laks, president of The Broadway League, said in a statement that rising costs have affected every facet of production, making it harder and harder to bring live theater to the stage. The Broadway League presents the awards along with the American Theatre Wing. This season showcased a wide range of voices and perspectives, with many shows being led by Asian American, Black, Middle Eastern and Hispanic actors and resulting in some historic nominations. Four-time Tony-winning actor and writer Harvey Fierstein received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the Theater. 'I dedicate this award to the people in the dark,' he said, 'and I offer my most profound thanks to the people in my community.' Tony winner Celia Keenan-Bolger received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for her dedication to advocacy work through the arts, including helping to found the Gavin Creel Fellowship, which Keenan-Bolger said will benefit young actors who don't come from money when they arrive in New York City, as Creel requested. Creel died at age 48 from a rare form of cancer in September. Darren Criss, a Tony nominee this year for 'Maybe Happy Ending,' and Renée Elise Goldsberry, who won a 2016 Tony for her performance in 'Hamilton,' announced technical awards in a pre-show ceremony which included best original score for 'Maybe Happy Ending'; best costume design for 'Death Becomes Her'; best scenic design for a musical for 'Maybe Happy Ending' and best lighting for 'Sunset Blvd.'
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Tony Awards 2025 Full and Final Winners List: ‘Purpose' wins best new play; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins makes history
At the 2025 Tony Awards held on Sunday night, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Purpose took home the prestigious Best New Play trophy, capping off a landmark year for the acclaimed playwright. The drawing-room drama about a successful Black family confronting buried truths during a snowed-in gathering has already won the Pulitzer Prize, and its triumph at the Tonys marks a rare double honour. Jacobs-Jenkins made history as the first Black playwright to win Best New Play at the Tonys since August Wilson's Fences in 1987. Just a year ago, Jacobs-Jenkins won the Tony for Best Revival of a Play for Appropriate. In his acceptance speech, he urged audiences and the industry to support regional theatre, noting that Purpose was developed in Chicago. Another milestone moment came for Kara Young, who became the first Black performer to win two Tony Awards in consecutive years. She earned the Featured Actress in a Play award for her role in Purpose, making it her fourth consecutive Tony nomination. Young gave thanks to her parents, Jacobs-Jenkins, her fellow cast members, and director Phylicia Rashad. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Australian actress Sarah Snook won Leading Actress in a Play for her demanding performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray, where she plays all 26 characters. 'I don't feel alone any night that I do this show,' she said, crediting her team on and off stage. In the Best Actor in a Play category, downtown cabaret star Cole Escola beat out Hollywood names including George Clooney and Daniel Dae Kim for their outrageous portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!. The play's director, Sam Pinkleton, also won Best Direction and thanked Escola for inspiring him to "do what you love, not what you think people want to see." Francis Jue won Best Featured Actor in a Play for Yellow Face, wearing a tuxedo gifted by another Asian actor in solidarity. In an emotional speech, he said, 'I'm only here because of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of wonderful, deserving Asian artists who came before me,' adding, 'To those who don't feel seen—I see you.' In the musical categories, British actor Jak Malone won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his gender-bending role in Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical. Malone, who plays a woman in each performance, used his platform to advocate for trans rights. Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day, a sharply written satire about liberal parents clashing over a school's vaccine policy, won Best Revival of a Play. Originally staged off-Broadway in 2019, the play found new resonance in today's post-pandemic world. The night also included a show-stopping moment from the original cast of Hamilton, who reunited for a special medley to celebrate the musical's 10th anniversary. Dressed in all black, Lin-Manuel Miranda and his castmates performed fan favourites like 'My Shot,' 'The Schuyler Sisters,' and 'The Room Where It Happens,' marking a decade of cultural impact on Broadway. Best play English The Hills of California John Proctor is the Villain Oh, Mary! Purpose – WINNER Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her Audra McDonald, Gypsy Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard – WINNER! Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER! Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard Jonathan Groff, Just in Time James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins Best revival of a musical Floyd Collins Gypsy Pirates! The Penzance Musical Sunset Boulevard – WINNER! Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck Cole Escola, Oh, Mary! – WINNER! Jon Michael Hill, Purpose Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face Harry Lennix, Purpose Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Best direction of a musical Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER! David Cromer, Dead Outlaw Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Boulevard Best direction of a play Knud Adams, English Sam Mendes, The Hills of California Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! – WINNER! Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray Best revival of a play Eureka Day – WINNER! Romeo + Juliet Our Town Yellow Face Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club – WINNER! Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical Joy Woods, Gypsy Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play Tala Ashe, English Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day Marjan Neshat, English Fina Strazza, John Proctor is the Villain Kara Young, Purpose – WINNER! Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw Danny Burstein, Gypsy Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical – WINNER! Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play Glenn Davis, Purpose Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor is the Villain Francis Jue, Yellow Face – WINNER! Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary! Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California Mia Farrow, The Roommate LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose Sadie Sink, John Proctor is the Villain Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray – WINNER! Best book of a musical Marco Ramirez, Buena Vista Social Club Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER! David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical Best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theatre David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, Death Becomes Her Will Aronson (music and lyrics) and Hue Park (lyrics), Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER! David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical Best sound design of a play Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow – WINNER! Palmer Hefferan, John Proctor is the Villain Daniel Kluger, Good Night, and Good Luck Nick Powell, The Hills of California Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray Best sound design of a musical Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club – WINNER! Adam Fisher, Sunset Boulevard Peter Hylenski, Just in Time Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins Best orchestrations Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending Bruce Coughlin, Floyd Collins Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club – WINNER! Best choreography Joshua Bergasse, Smash Camille A. Brown, Gypsy Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club – WINNER! Best lighting design of a musical Jack Knowles, Sunset Boulevard – WINNER! Tyler Micoleau, Buena Vista Social Club Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, Floyd Collins Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her Best lighting design of a play Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow – WINNER! Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, Good Night, and Good Luck Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, John Proctor is the Villain Nick Schlieper, The Picture of Dorian Gray Best scenic design of a play Marsha Ginsberg, English Rob Howell, The Hills of California Marg Horwell and David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow – WINNER! Scott Pask, Good Night, and Good Luck Best scenic design of a musical Rachel Hauck, Swept Away Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending – WINNER! Arnulfo Maldonado, Buena Vista Social Club Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her Derek McLane, Just in Time Best costume design of a play Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good Luck Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray – WINNER! Rob Howell, The Hills of California Holly Pierson, Oh, Mary! Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Best costume design of a musical Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical Clint Ramos, Maybe Happy Ending Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her – WINNER! Catherine Zuber, Just in Time Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Alert: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' ‘Purpose,' about pressures within a prominent Black family, wins the best new play Tony Award
NEW YORK (AP) — Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' 'Purpose,' about pressures within a prominent Black family, wins the best new play Tony Award.
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
How to watch the 2025 Tony Awards hosted by Cynthia Erivo
Burning questions abound ahead of Sunday's 78th Tony Awards, hosted for the first time by Cynthia Erivo and broadcast live from New York's Radio City Music Hall. Will Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Pulitzer-winning 'Purpose' win best play over comedian Cole Escola's bawdy 'Oh, Mary!'? Will George Clooney pull off a win for best performance by an actor in a leading role? Will 'Maybe Happy Ending' get a truly happy ending by taking the statuette for best musical? It is, after all, leading the pack with 10 nominations, tied with 'Buena Vista Social Club' and 'Death Becomes Her.' This season has been arguably one of the best in recent years for Broadway shows, with fine offerings including 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' 'Dead Outlaw,' 'Real Women Have Curves: The Musical' and 'Yellow Face.' Actors hoping to take home a Tony include Darren Criss, Daniel Dae Kim, Mia Farrow, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Sadie Sink, Sarah Snook, Jeremy Jordan, Conrad Ricamora and Bob Odenkirk. This year will also feature a 10th anniversary reunion performance by the cast of 'Hamilton,' as well as a variety of spirited performances by this year's crop of musical nominees. So, how to watch it all? Criss — who was nominated for the first time this year — and Tony-winner Renée Elise Goldsberry will host a live pre-show, 'The Tony Awards: Act One,' which begins at 3:40 p.m. Pacific and can be viewed for free on Pluto TV, by clicking on the 'live music' channel. The main ceremony is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Pacific, directly after the pre-show. It will air live on CBS and be available to stream for subscribers of Paramount+ with Showtime. If you're a regular Paramount+ subscriber, you won't be able to watch the show until the following day, when it will be featured as a special on-demand option. If you don't have Paramount+, fear not. The streamer is offering a seven-day free trial. If you keep the service past the allotted time, it costs $12.99 per month. The regular Paramount+ plan without Showtime — called Paramount+ Essential — costs $7.99 per month.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Purpose' wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Tony Awards next?
Just four days after earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Play and five more citations for its cast members, Purpose has just won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Today's announcement of the finalists and winner by Columbia University described Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' work as "a play about the complex dynamics and legacy of an upper-middle class African American family whose patriarch was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement. A skillful blend of drama and comedy that probes how different generations define heritage." More from GoldDerby Netflix sets release date for Noah Baumbach's 'Jay Kelly': See George Clooney in first photo David Fincher and the genre-bending return of 'Love, Death + Robots' 'Squid Game' drops final season preview, Jenna Ortega and Robert De Niro team for David O. Russell's latest, and more of today's top news stories Cole Escola's Oh, Mary! also received recognition as a finalist for the Pulitzer. Columbia described the play as "a zany portrait of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln's family life, whose outrageous humor also serves as an empathetic celebration of anyone who's been marginalized or misunderstood." Escola's riotous spoof took off-Broadway and now Broadway by storm and earned Tony nominations for Best Play, two of its cast members, costume design, and director Sam Pinkleton. The Best Play category at the 2025 Tonys now boasts two winners and one finalist for the Pulitzer, as nominee English by Sanaz Toossi received the honor back in 2023. This lineup, which also features Kimberly Belflower's John Proctor Is the Villain and Jez Butterworth's The Hills of California, is now one of the most luminous groups in Tony history. Two years ago, the Best Play category boasted three Pulitzer winners: Fat Ham by James Ijames, Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis, and Cost of Living by Martyna Majok. This year is also only the third time in Tony history where two Pulitzer winners have been nominated in the same year. This first happened in 1956 when The Diary of Anne Frank and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof both earned Tony nominations (the former won) and then occurred once more in 2004 when Anna in the Tropics and I Am My Own Wife were both nominated (the latter prevailed). SEE Tony Talk: Breaking down those surprise nominations and early winner predictions for 'Maybe Happy Ending,' 'Sunset Boulevard,' and more Now that Purpose has claimed one of the most coveted titles in American letters, does it have a better chance at winning the Tony Award for Best Play? Not necessarily, according to Tony history. Over the past 77 years, there have been 37 winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama also nominated at the Tonys, from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman at the third annual ceremony, to Guirgis, Ijames, and Majok's plays in 2023. Of those 37 works, 17 won both the Pulitzer and the Tony, a sizable number but not quite a majority. Like Oh, Mary!, there have been 15 previous finalists for the Pulitzer that have also been nominated at the Tony Awards. The first was Neil Simon's Broadway Bound in 1987, which starred the late Linda Lavin in her Tony-winning role, and the most recent was Tracy Letts' The Minutes in 2022. Of those 15, six went on to win the Tony, a slightly lower rate of victory than for the Pulitzer winners. Jacobs-Jenkins' recognition does suggest that the contest for Best Play might be a lot more competitive than many theater fans recognize. An overwhelming majority of our users are currently predicting Oh, Mary! to win, according to our combined odds, but Purpose fits the mold of serious, intellectual works that grapple with history that often prevail amongst Tony voters; farces and other comedies win far less frequently. But there are exceptions to this trend, as recent, weighty works like Lynn Nottage's Sweat and Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced have lost, too. An upset could be brewing, though, as one of our experts and one of our editors currently predict the win for Purpose. SEE Instant Tony odds: 'Oh, Mary!' and 'Maybe Happy Ending' are the extremely early shows to beat Ironically, all three playwrights recognized by Pulitzers today are 2025 Tony nominees. In addition to Jacobs-Jenkins and Escola, Itamar Moses was shortlisted for his off-Broadway work The Ally. Columbia described it as "a timely drama about activitism, conflicting expectations, and moral responsibility on a college campus, probing American identity and the contradictions within progressive politics using richly drawn characters with deep emotional resonance." Though The Ally has not bowed on Broadway, Moses received a Tony nomination this year in the Best Musical Book category for his libretto for Best Musical nominee Dead Outlaw. He is already leading our odds in the race and may receive an extra bump with the announcement. Moses previously received the Tony in the same category for The Band's Visit. 1. Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller – 1949 2. The Teahouse of the August Moon, John Patrick – 1954 3. The Diary of Anne Frank, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett – 1956 4. Long Day's Journey into Night, Eugene O'Neill – 1957 5. J. B., Archibald MacLeish – 1959 6. The Subject Was Roses, Frank D. Gilroy – 1965 7. The Great White Hope, Howard Sacklet – 1969 8. That Championship Season, Jason Miller – 1973 9. Fences, August Wilson – 1987 10. The Heidi Chronicles, Wendy Wasserstein – 1989 11. Lost in Yonkers, Neil Simon – 1991 12. Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Tony Kushner – 1993 13. Proof, David Auburn – 2001 14. I Am My Own Wife, Doug Wright – 2004 15. Doubt, John Patrick Shanley – 2005 16. August: Osage County, Tracy Letts – 2008 17. Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris – 2012 SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' 'It should be illegal how much fun I'm having': Lea Salonga on playing Mrs. Lovett and more in 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' 'Death Becomes Her' star Jennifer Simard is ready to be a leading lady: 'I don't feel pressure, I feel joy' Click here to read the full article.
