Ah, the Tony Awards, a chance for us theater nerds around the world to tune in, watch stage heroes be rewarded, and get a sneak peek at what’s fresh on the Broadway scene. This particular year was filled with revivals galore (hello Carousel, Once on This Island, and My Fair Lady), and adaptations that had Elsa, Regina George, and SpongeBob singing. And Broadway’s biggest night out did not disappoint.
This year’s Tonys had everything: Big winners, Squidward Tentacles tap dancing, a literal tear-jerking performance by Parkland student survivors, snubs aplenty, and even a few raunchier moments that didn’t make it to air (thank you, Robert De Niro).
But what if you didn’t make curtain call at all? Never fear, because we’re here to break down the biggest moments fo the 2018 Tony Awards that you missed last night.
VIDEO: Tony Awards 2018 Red Carpet Fashion
First and foremost, it was a night dedicated to losers
We promise we’re not trying to diss the crowd by saying “losers”—that dedication came right from the evening’s hosts, Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban. As they took the stage for the first time, they addressed an elephant in the room: Neither of them have ever won a Tony.
“Did you know neither one of us has ever won anything?” they asked the audience before plunging into an opening number “for the people who lose.”
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Which was appropriate, considering all the snubs
Bareilles and Groban’s nightly mantra ended up coming in handy for a lot of nominees. At the end of the night, some shows like The Band’s Visit were holding a gaggle of trophies after taking home Best Musical and three out of the four acting awards for Tony Shalhoub, Katrina Lenk, and Ari’el Stachel. But others? Not so much.
Theo Wargo
Despite both Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical leading the pack with 12 nominations each, neither found the same success as The Band’s Visit. SpongeBob took home a single award, for Best Scenic Design, and Mean Girls left completely empty handed, which, as The Hollywood Reporter reveals, means it is tied with The Scottsboro Boys as the most-nominated show ever to go home awardless in a single year. Not so fetch.
Robert De Niro had a message for Donald Trump
When Robert De Niro hit the stage to introduce his pal Bruce Springsteen’s performance, he didn’t skirt around what he wanted to say to the world.
“I’m going to say this: F—k Trump,” he said. “It’s no longer just ‘Down With Trump; it’s, ‘F—k Trump.”
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Predictably, that got quite a rise out of the audience at Radio City Music Hall, but left home viewers scratching their heads, as CBS censored the rant from its broadcast.
“Mr. De Niro’s comments were unscripted and unexpected. The offensive language was deleted from the broadcast,” CBS said in a statement to Variety.
Twitter didn’t necessarily agree with that choice.
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In other Twitter news, Neil Patrick Harris’s comments were pretty cringe-worthy
As a musical theater vet himself, Harris was unsurprisingly watching the broadcast from home, and he live-tweeted the ceremony. What started out light and fun got extremely awkward when he made a jab at “the woman in the top hat backstage,” also known as second-time Tonys backstage host Rachel Bloom.
What makes it so awk? They’ve 100% met before.
Was it purposefully shady? We’ll let you decide.
Glenda Jackson won her first Tony at age 82
Steven Ferdman
Jackson starred in Three Tall Women (alongside Laurie Metcalf, who won a Tony for Featured Actress), and took home Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, which gives her a Triple Crown of Acting. The Triple Crown refers to actors who have a Tony, an Oscar, and an Emmy.
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Jackson won her Oscar in 1971 for Women in Love, and her Emmy in 1972 for Elizabeth R, so this Triple Crown win was a long time coming.
But the biggest tear-jerking moment came courtesy of Parkland students
The audience was left stunned when students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. performed a rendition of Rent‘s “Seasons of Love” in honor of their teacher, Melody Herzfeld, who was given the 2018 Excellence in Theatre Education Award earlier that evening.
During the Parkland school shooting earlier this year, Herzfeld hid more than 60 students in her drama classroom. The emotional performance by Herzfeld’s students led to the loudest standing ovation of the entire night.
Throughout the evening, presenters showed old elementary school theater photos of themselves, so it felt especially poignant that the most emotional moment came from just that—a group of theater kids.