Tony Trends: 4 Takeaways From the 2017 Tony Awards

Take a look into some facts and figures from this year’s big winners.

After the curtain came down on Broadway's biggest night, Playbill sat down with the numbers. Here are four key observations from how the 2017 Tony Awards played out.

The Hamilton Effect

A year after winning for Hamilton, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire picked up awards once again in their respective categories—this time for Bandstand (which Blankenbuehler also directs) and Dear Evan Hansen. But Hamilton wasn’t the first musical that earned them Tonys; it wasn’t even the first Lin-Manuel Miranda musical to earn them Tonys. The two took home medallions in 2008 for In the Heights.



Directors Break Out

For the first time in 15 years, neither show that won for Best Direction won its respective award for the production. While Rebecca Taichman and Christopher Ashley won their first Tony Awards for directing the play Indecent and musical Come From Away, the awards for Best Play and Best Musical went to Oslo and Dear Evan Hansen. The last time this happened was in 2002, when director John Rando won for Urinetown while Thoroughly Modern Millie received Best Musical and Mary Zimmerman took home Best Direction of a Play for Metamorphoses while The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? won Best Play.

Read: THREE OF THE BIGGEST SURPRISES AT THE TONY AWARDS

EGOT Watch

With a Best Original Score win last night and an Oscar for La La Land earlier this year, Dear Evan Hansen composers are halfway to an EGOT. A fast-track to the coveted quadruple crown is possible: the cast album for the Tony-winning musical will be eligible for a Best Musical Theater Album Grammy, and the two recently penned tunes for the musical episode of The Flash.

Meanwhile, Bette Midler is just an Oscar away from EGOt-ing, while John Legend only needs an Emmy after earning a Tony as a producer for Jitney.



Evening the Playing Field

Last year, Hamilton dominated the 2016 Tony Awards with 11 wins. The musical was one of eight productions to earn an award at the 70th annual ceremony. The year before, nine shows took home trophies. This year, with a tight race for both Best Play and Best Musical, the wealth was more evenly distributed by comparison. Artists and producers of 12 productions took the stage to accept Tonys on June 11: Dear Evan Hansen, Hello, Dolly!, Indecent, The Little Foxes, The Great Comet, Oslo, Bandstand, Come From Away, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Jitney, The Play That Goes Wrong, and Present Laughter. A 13th show received a Special Tony Award: The Encounter, which recognized Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin for their sound design.

Read: THE COMPLETE LIST OF TONY WINNERS: DEAR EVAN HANSEN LEADS THE PACK