SURPRISE: “Once on This Island”
Director Michael Arden’s spirited production of “Once on This Island” pulled off an upset win in the Best Musical Revival category — over more the more traditional (and equally well-reviewed) competitors, “My Fair Lady” and “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel.”
SNUB: Tina Fey
CBS was so counting on the “30 Rock” star to win Best Book of a Musical for the adaptation of her own hit movie “Mean Girls” that it moved the category to its primetime broadcast — but Itamar Moses won instead for the script for eventual Best Musical winner “The Band’s Visit.”
SURPRISE: Tony Shalhoub
The “Monk” star and Broadway veteran won his first Tony Award for the musical “The Band’s Visit” — beating out equally stellar competitors like Joshua Henry for “Carousel” and Ethan Slater for “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.”
SNUB: “Mean Girls”
The adaptation of the 2004 high school-set hit came in with 12 nominations, including Best Musical, but walked away empty-handed. (Even the 12-times-nominated “SpongeBob SquarePants” won for best scenic design.)
SURPRISE: Lindsay Mendez
The featured actress in “Carousel” pulled off an upset over more established stars like Diana Rigg for “My Fair Lady” and her co-star, opera singer Renee Fleming.
SNUB: Norbert Leo Butz
Many Broadway fans were expecting Butz to win his third Tony as featured actor in a musical playing Eliza Doolittle’s Cockney father in “My Fair Lady.” But he lost to Ari’el Stachel for “The Band’s Visit.”
SURPRISE: Robert De Niro
CBS censors were on the ball but everyone else was pretty stunned that the two-time Oscar winner dropped a couple F-bombs before introducing Bruce Springsteen. “It’s no longer ‘Down With Trump,’ it’s ‘F— Trump,’” the actor said.
