'Hamilton' takes 11 Tony Awards, falls short of tying record

Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop-flavored biography about the first U.S. treasury secretary was a virtual lock on the award, having earned a record-breaking 16 nominations going into the evening.

The musical is a stage version of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set in rural Georgia that covers a lifetime of events observed by Celie, a homely, uneducated farm woman whose dreams are repeatedly shattered by the cruelty of men until she stands up for herself at the end.

Erivo, a 2010 graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, got her first big break with a production of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" followed by the lead role of in the UK tour of "Sister Act."

The New York native became the youngest person ever cast in the Broadway company of "Rent" at 17 and has said he hopes to surf a similar wave of youthful energy this time with "Hamilton."

The musical adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of female empowerment opened Thursday.

True to form, the set here consists mostly of wooden chairs, which are used to create a bathtub, a juke joint, a jail and much more.

Tonys host James Corden took a few pokes at presumptive presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, introducing some new fictitious openings on Broadway.

Stephen Karam's play is composed entirely of a single 90-minute, real-time scene set during a Thanksgiving dinner in a run-down New York apartment.

There are odd noises throughout the play — mechanical rumbles, click-clacks, running footsteps, the crashes of pots and pans.

A bold, pared-down version of "A View From the Bridge" has won the Tony Award for best play revival.

During nearly two tense hours without intermission, the barefoot cast members warily circle one another under bright lights, while a dissonant soundtrack increases the tension and unease.

In "The Father," French playwright Florian Zeller — with a translation by Christopher Hampton — tells the story of a retired Parisian engineer whose mind is breaking, illustrated by the same characters in his life turning up played by different actors and the disappearance of physical items from his home.

During his long career on stage and in TV and film, Langella has specialized in meaty heroic parts, including Zorro, Leonardo da Vinci, Valmont, Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes.

Lange, 67, is a two-time Academy Award winner and three-time Emmy winner who has lately connected with millennials, thanks to four seasons aboard "American Horror Story," playing a washed-up Southern belle, a freak show ringmaster, a nun and a witch.

The award caps a busy year for Kail, which included directing two off-Broadway plays, a triumphant Grease:

Dutch visionary Ivo Van Hove has won his first Tony Award for directing an imaginative revival of Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge."

During nearly two tense hours without intermission, the barefoot cast members warily circle one another under bright lights, while a dissonant soundtrack increases the tension and unease.

Miranda, who previously won the same award for the score to his "In the Heights," has been praised for the music, which ranges from pop ballads to sexy R&B to rap battles over fiscal policy, with lyrical nods to Gilbert and Sullivan, Jason Robert Brown, "South Pacific" and the Notorious B.I.G.

Not surprisingly, the cast album debuted as the No. 1 Broadway Cast Album, but it also debuted as the No. 3 Rap Album and No. 9 on the Top Current Albums chart, something cast recordings rarely do.

Daveed Diggs took the Tony for featured actor in a musical for his dual roles as Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette, leaping off a table while employing a thick French accent at one moment and facing off against a Founding Father in a rap duel in the next.

In Stephen Karam's powerful play "The Humans," she plays a woman desperate to hold onto her marriage and give a semblance of normalcy as things fall apart during a Thanksgiving dinner.

Houdyshell received a Career Achievement Drama Desk Award in 2013.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, nominated for best original score for "School of Rock," said a show about teaching music to kids takes him back to his roots, in U.S. theater anyway.

"[...] to do something about a school and about a teacher teaching kids to play music is very, very close to my heart," he said.

The man of the night, "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, said from the red carpet he learned of the Orlando tragedy after Tony rehearsals were completed so working condolences into any stage presentations may not happen, but the victims were clearly on his mind.

Jeffrey Seller, lead producer of "Hamilton," began what is sure to be a big evening with a heavy heart, extending condolences to the shooting tragedy in Orlando.

An hour before the show, host James Corden came out to quickly greet the audience, with many already in their seats, dressed in a terry cloth bathrobe, socks and a towel turban on his head.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, showed up on the Tony Awards red carpet to express solidarity with the Orlando shooting victims and celebrate Broadway at the same time.

There was an obvious stepped-up security presence outside the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side, with explosive-sniffing dogs and a critical response team at the ready.

On a sunny but blustery day, water bottles on silver platters were being offered to guests on the red carpet.

The shooting at an Orlando nightclub has prompted the cast of "Hamilton" to drop their Revolutionary War muskets during their performance Sunday at the Tony Awards.