Entertainment history was made for the several Black winners of “Purpose,” which was named Best Play at the 78th annual Tony Awards held Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. 

The winners for “Purpose” included playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, actress Kara Young, and producers Debra Martin Chase, LaChanze, and Rashad V. Chambers. With six Tony nominations, the play about a Black family active in politics and civil rights was a major contender going into the ceremony and led to wins in two Tony categories. Producers Chase’s and LaChanze’s victories for “Purpose” have now cemented their status as the most celebrated Black producers of Broadway shows in the 21st century.

Tony-winning actress Cynthia Erivo hosted the ceremony, telecast in the United States on CBS and livestreamed on Paramount+ With Showtime.

The musical “Buena Vista Social Club,” which follows the careers of musicians over several decades in Havana, won four of its 10 Tony nominations. One of those wins was for Trinidad-born Natalie Venetia Belcon, who won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. “Buena Vista Social Club” is about the crucial artists who made the Grammy-winning 1997 album “Buena Vista Social Club.”

“Maybe Happy Ending,” which was tied for the most nominations (10) for the ceremony, ended up winning the most prizes: six, including Best Musical. 

The Broadway revival of “Gypsy” starring Broadway favorite Audra McDonald and featuring a Black-majority principal cast had five Tony nominations but was shut out of winning any of the awards.

“Purpose” is a drama about the Jenks family, a prominent Black clan in Chicago, and what happens when they have a family reunion. With his Best Play Tony Award for the production, Jacobs-Jenkins becomes the first Black playwright to win two consecutive Tony Awards. In 2024, Jacobs-Jenkins won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for “Appropriate.” Jacobs-Jenkins and “Purpose” also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama this year.

In his acceptance speech, Jacobs-Jenkins urged the audience to think local when it comes to the arts.

“I encourage everyone to support their local theaters,” he said. “A lot of great things happen in New York, but a lot more happens out in the regions.” 

Tony-nominated “Purpose” co-star Glenn Davis, co-artistic director for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company (one of the companies that produced “Purpose), also gave a brief acceptance speech in the Best Play category, although the Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s “Purpose” Tony Award is for the company as a whole.

Martin Chase and LaChanze have each now won four consecutive Tony Awards as producers. Martin Chase previously won Tony Awards for “A Strange Loop” (Best Musical) in 2022; “Topdog/Underdog” (Best Revival of a Play) in 2023; and “The Outsiders” (Best Musical) in 2024. LaChanze also won Tony Awards in the same categories for “Topdog/Underdog” and “The Outsiders,” as well as for “Kimberly Akimbo” (Best Musical) in 2023. In 2006, LaChanze also won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, for the original Broadway production of “The Color Purple.” “Purpose” producer Chambers was one of the Tony-winning producers of “Topdog/Underdog.”

Young, who plays Aziza in “Purpose,” won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play, and in doing so, made history by being the first Black performer to win nominations for her first four Broadway roles. Young was previously nominated in the same category for “Cost of Living” in 2023 and “Clyde’s” (her Broadway debut) in 2022.

In her acceptance speech, Young encouraged the audience to respect the arts. 

“In this world [in which] we are so divided, theater is a sacred space … that we have to honor and treasure and that makes us united,” she said.

The other Tony nominations for “Purpose” were for Jon Michael Hill and Harry Lennix (each nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play); LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play); and Davis (Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play).

“Buena Vista Social Club” co-star Belcon, who plays the adult Omara Portuondo, said during her acceptance speech that the last time she was on the Tony Awards stage was in 2004, when she performed with the ensemble cast of the Tony-winning musical “Avenue Q.

“This such an incredible honor,” Belcon said. “And to come back this way and to portray this woman in this band, I thank you all so much.”

“Death Becomes Her” costume designer Paul Tazewell won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical. (This category and some other Tony Awards technical categories were not televised.) With this victory, Tazewell became the first Black person to win a Tony Award and an Academy Award in the same year. Earlier this year, Tazewell won the Oscar for Best Costume Design for the Universal Pictures musical “Wicked,” the movie version of the long-running Broadway show. 

Meanwhile, the Tony Awards did not directly address the controversy over Tony-winning actress Patti LuPone’s New Yorker interview insults of Black actresses Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis, which resulted in more than 500 Broadway professionals signing an open letter in May to dis-invite Lupone from the ceremony. Lupone did not attend the Tony Awards this year, but she issued a public apology statement on May 31.

Oprah Winfrey, who presented the award for Best Actress In a Musical, appeared to be addressing the Lupone controversy when she said in her introduction. “This astounding year in live theater turns to the women whose work sparked lively conversations among theater fans. Lot of talking going on.” 

Although McDonald didn’t win for her “Gypsy” Tony nomination, she still holds the record for the performer with the most Tony nominations (11) and the most Tony Awards (six) in competitive categories. Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris each received six Tony Awards in their lifetimes, but five were in competitive categories, and one was a Special Tony Award, which is a noncompetitive prize.

Erivo kept her hosting duties light-hearted. She opened the show with a performance of her original tune “Sometimes All You Need Is a Song”; duetted with Sara Bareilles on “Tomorrow” for the In Memoriam segment; and closed the show with the “Dreamgirls” anthem “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.” McDonald sang “Rose’s Turn” from “Gypsy.” The ensemble cast of “Buena Vista Social Club” performed “Candela,” featuring Tony winner Belcon on lead vocals.

Another ceremony highlight was the original Broadway principal cast of “Hamilton” reuniting for a “Hamilton” medley, which included Tony winners Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Daveed Diggs, as well as Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, and Ariana DeBose. 

The Tony Awards are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The nominations and winners are voted for by a select group of people in the Broadway community.

A complete list of winners can be found at the official Tony Awards website.