No gimmicks. No gadgets. No trippin’ down a flight of stairs. After getting some advice from Oprah, Tony host Cynthia Erivo defied gravity and opened the 78th Tony Awards by simply being herself.

The Wicked: For Good star tapped her GRAMMY, Tony, Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated vocals to celebrate what Broadway does best: bring us emotionally closer with words and music.

The night belonged to Purpose and its star Kara Young, who earned her second consecutive Tony win. At the end of her impassioned speech, which lasted longer than Cynthia Erivo singing her off, she declared, “Theater is a sacred space.”

Purpose won Best Play, giving EBONY Power 100 awardee Branden Jacob Jenkins his second consecutive win. Like Young, he gave flowers to the director of the political family drama, Phylici

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