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Hip-Hop Musical “Hamilton” Wins 11 Tony Awards

Jessica Testa

What do you get when you put a hip-hop score, a story about America’s Founding Fathers and a diverse cast of Broadway creatives together?

The world has become obsessed with hip-hop musical Hamilton, with endless sold out shows, tributes from across the music industry, live performances on talk shows and beyond. Now, it has received the highest accolades in the musical world (having already nabbed a Grammy), smashing the Tony Awards, winning 11 awards  out of a total 16 nominations. These included Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical, while many individuals involved in the musical were also honoured.

The creatives scooped up many of their awards including Andy Blankenbuehler for Best Choreography, Paul Tazewell for Best Costume Design of a Musical and Howell Binkley for Best Lighting of a musical. Director Thomas Kail accepted his award for Best Direction of a Musical while composer and Miranda’s “right hand man” Alex Lacamoire won for Best Orchestrations.

Most of the nominated actors who work tirelessly to perform every night now have Tony wins to their names. Leslie Odom Jr won Best Leading Actor in a Musical against his Hamilton co-star, who also wrote the musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda, for his role as former American vice president Aaron Burr. Renee Elise Goldsberry, who plays the oldest Schuyler sister and Hamilton sister-in-law Angelica Schuyler, took home the award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Daveed Diggs snagged the award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the roles of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette.

One of the most talked about speeches on the night was Miranda’s moving sonnet after winning Best Score of a Musical, in which he paid tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting. “The show is proof that history remembers,” he said. “We live in times when hate and fear seem stronger. We rise and fall in light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer.”

The cast also performed on the night, using two songs from the song, History Has Its Eyes on You and Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down). They then closed the ceremony with a surprise performance of The Schuyler Sisters.

See Miranda’s acceptance speech for Best Book of a Musical below.

Image: Billboard