Lin-Manuel Miranda, star and creator of the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda, star and creator of the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton
Hamilton continued its reign on Broadway and pop culture on Sunday night, taking home 11 of the prestigious Tony Awards.
The critically-acclaimed musical made history in May when it was nominated for 16 Tony Awards, the most in the history of the awards, which are used to commemorate excellence . The work, which stars and was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, uses rapped lyrics and a multiethnic cast to tell the life story of United States Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
Hamilton's 11 Tony Awards include Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Direction of a Musical (Thomas Kail), Best Choreography, Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Leslie Odom Jr.), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Best Costume Design of a Musical (Paul Tazewell), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Daveed Diggs), Best Lighting Design (Howell Binkley), Best Choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler), and Best Orchestrations (Alex Lacamoire).
The show was nominated in every category, including two categories that had Hamilton actors competing against each other.
While Hamilton's 16 nominations broke the record for nominations, its 11 victories falls one short of The Producers, the Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan musical that set a record with 12 Tony Awards in 2001.
The musical has become the biggest in recent Broadway memory. Shows are regularly sold out or months in advance. It received the Grammy for the Best Musical Theater Album, Miranda earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the play has received dozens of other awards. Miranda also appeared in a freestyle video with President Barack Obama.
Miranda has reportedly told confidants that he plans to leave the show in July to pursue other projects. If that's the case, he certainly made a bang before he left, and plenty of people will be looking forward to whatever he has coming up next.
