NEW YORK (AP) — Even the ushers at Radio City Music Hall seemed thrilled to be in the room where it happened.

A few of them could be seen grooving, like everyone else at Sunday’s Tony Awards, to the “Hamilton” reunion performance — a medley of some of that blockbuster musical’s biggest songs, performed by the original cast. The occasion was the 10th Broadway anniversary of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s juggernaut that spawned multiple touring companies, a West End production and a live-capture film — and is still going strong.

But while the theater was buzzing to songs like “My Shot,” “The Schuyler Sisters,” “History Has Its Eyes on You” and “The Room Where It Happens,” some people were unfortunately NOT in the room where, er, it was happening. They were the ones who’d taken a trip to the bar or a stroll around the lobby, and were then held from entering until the next commercial break — missing perhaps the night’s most anticipated highlight.

They also missed the entire audience singing along with Jonathan Groff, aka King George, “Da-da-da, dat-da, dat, da-da-da, da-ya-da, Da-da, dat, dat, da-ya-da.” Note for next year: Exit at your own peril!

Some other notable moments from Tony night:

Lin-Manuel Miranda, center, performs a medley from “Hamilton” during the 78th Tony Awards on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Photo:

Cole Escola plans a call to Mom, thanks a Grindr date

Most award winners thank Mom, their agents, their co-stars and their spouses.

Cole Escola, one of the major stars of this Tony night, promised Mom a call, but also decided to thank “Teebo from Grindr” — the dating app — when accepting the award for lead actor in a play.

Escola is star and writer of the riotous “Oh, Mary!” — a reimagining of the life of Mary Todd Lincoln (and her beleaguered husband, Abe) that addresses the question: What if the Lincoln assassination wasn’t such a bad thing for Mary? (Mary wants to be a cabaret star, you see.) The show is seeing audiences collapse in laughter for 80 minutes every night on Broadway.

Escola, a downtown cabaret star, beat out high-wattage competitors like George Clooney and Daniel Dae Kim for the acting award. They mentioned their co-nominees in their speech, saying they had enjoyed sharing “warm salads” at pre-awards lunches.

Escola is the first nonbinary actor to win a Tony in the category.

And this guy’s still single

When “Maybe Happy Ending” writers Hue Park and Will Aronson accepted the award for best book of a musical, the first handed out, Park felt it necessary to point out that they weren’t an actual couple. “I am very much single,” he clarified, for anyone wondering.

Then later, when the duo won for best score, Park deemed a reminder necessary: “By the way, I’m still single.”

And then at the end of the night, “Maybe Happy Ending,” the charming and quirky romance between decommissioned robots in a futuristic Korea, won the big prize: best musical. Park did not get the mic. But producer Jeffrey Richards did, and he reminded the crowd: “Hue is still single.”

Broadway as home, sweet home

Cynthia Erivo, the “Wicked” star and powerhouse vocalist hosting the evening, said it first: “As they apparently say in a very fertile piece of intellectual property,” she said with a wink, “there’s no place like home. And Broadway has always been mine.”

It’s a familiar theme on Tony night: the theater community as a welcoming haven for those who may feel different or unseen. It was echoed by Harvey Fierstein, winner of a lifetime achievement award, describing how he joined the theater after being welcomed by a company in Brooklyn. And it was expressed very emotionally by Nicole Scherzinger, winning best actress in a musical for “Sunset Blvd.”

“Growing up, I always felt like I didn’t belong,” said Scherzinger, former lead singer of the pop group Pussycat Dolls who plays Norma Desmond in the minimalist version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber show. “But you all have made me feel like I belong, and I have come home at last.” Those last words echo the lyrics of one of Desmond’s big numbers, “As If We Never Said Goodbye.”

“So if there’s anyone out there who feels like they don’t belong, or your time hasn’t come, don’t give up,” Scherzinger continued. “Just keep on giving and giving because the world needs your love and your light now more than ever.”

You really COULD have heard a pin drop

There’s always lots of chatter going on during an awards show. But the way the crowd quieted down during Audra McDonald’s powerful, agonized performance of “Rose’s Turn” from “Gypsy” was striking. In the song’s quiet moments, you heard utter silence in the vast room.

McDonald, the Tonys’ most awarded actor, is clearly revered by the theater community, who cheered her with standing ovations. But the award she was up for went to Scherzinger.

‘Succession,’ succeeding again

It’s been two years since HBO’s “Succession” ended, but its stars keep turning up at awards shows — and often winning. Jeremy Strong won a Tony last year and was nominated for an Oscar this year. Kieran Culkin won an Oscar this year and is appearing on Broadway this season, though he wasn’t nominated. And now it was the turn of Sarah Snook — Emmy and Golden Globe winner — to win a Tony.

Snook, who played mercurial sibling Shiv Roy in the series, took the Tony for best actress in a play for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” in which she plays all 26 roles.

Remembering a friend

Tony winner and musical theater regular Gavin Creel, who died last year of cancer, was a friend to many in the theater community, and was remembered more than once on Tony evening.

During the early pre-show, actor Celia Keenan-Bolger was honored with the Isabelle Stevenson award, for her advocacy work in the arts. She spoke movingly of her deep friendship with Creel and their advocacy work together.

Later, singer and actor Sara Bareilles performed a soulful duet of “Tomorrow” from “Annie,” harmonizing with Erivo, during the memorial segment. That segment ended with a photo of Creel, also a dear friend to Bareilles, who teared up.

Both Bareilles and Keenan-Bolger are involved with the Gavin Creel Fellowship, an initiative that plans to provide $25,000 grants to five emerging theater actors each year.

And she is telling you she’s not going

The final award had been announced by presenter Miranda — best musical to “Maybe Happy Ending” — and the audience started to disperse. But Erivo had another idea.

Riffing on the concept of leaving, she launched into the famous “Dreamgirls” ballad “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” — with rewritten lyrics.

It was a yet another powerhouse performance from someone who has one of the best voices on the planet. The audience stopped dispersing — and started cheering.

___

For more coverage of the 2025 Tony Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/tony-awards.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

AI-assisted summaryThe Providence Journal’s High School All-States Awards Show will be held on June 18 at the Providence Performing Arts Center.Over 300 athletes will be recognized, with Player of the Year awards given in various sports.Rhode Island FC midfielder Clay Holstad will be the guest speaker at the event.PROVIDENCE — The Providence Journal is excited to announce that the annual High School All-States Awards Show will be held on Wednesday, June 18, at the Providence Performing Arts Center. This year’s show will feature Rhode Island FC midfielder Clay Holstad as its guest speaker.The show will recognize more than 300 Providence Journal first-team All-State athletes, and award Player of the Year honors to more than 30 high school athletes. In each of the three high school sports seasons, The Providence Journal names All-State teams to recognize the top student-athletes in each sport. All first-team All-Staters are also nominees for that sport’s Player of the Year award, which will be announced during the June 18 show. Several premier awards also will be given out, including overall boys and girls athletes of the year, coaches of the year and the annual courage award.”No one covers high school sports in Rhode Island better than The Providence Journal, and our sports staff has been honoring All-State athletes for more than 80 years,” said Journal sports editor Bill Corey. “We are so very much looking forward to sharing the PPAC stage with Rhode Island’s top high school athletes!”Past featured guests in the annual show have included Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Rob Gronkowski, Paul Pierce and others.This year, student-athletes will hear about Holstad’s journey. He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where he played youth and high school soccer before playing for the University of Kentucky, where is also earned a degree in chemical engineering. A second-round selection of the Columbus Crew in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, Holstad, 25, joined Rhode Island FC in 2024. Last season, he played in 33 RIFC games, scoring four goals.Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

The show would not be possible without the support of our sponsors, which this year include Tasca Automotive Group, Dave’s Fresh Marketplace, Tommy’s Clam Shack and R1 Indoor Karting Entertainment Center.

There is no admission charge to this year’s show, but all All-State first-team athletes must register to attend the event, and can bring up to six guests (also for free). High school athletic directors have forwarded the registration link to the All-State athletes. We also ask that athletes indicate how many people will be attending in their party.

Doors to the PPAC will open at 6 pm, and will feature a red-carpet experience for athletes and their families. The show starts at 7 p.m.

Braden Herrington and Davie Portman host a special edition of upNXT as they review WWE x AAA Lucha Libre: Worlds Collide! Review starts at 15 mins:

• El Hijo Del Vikingo vs Chad Gable (AAA Mega Championship)
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• Legado Del Fantasma vs El Hijo De Dr Wagner Jr, Pagano & Psycho Clown
• Ethan Page vs Je’Von Evans vs Rey Fenix vs Laredo Kid (NXT North American Championship)

The lads review the show in full and also discuss all the call backs to AAA x WCW “When Worlds Collide” from 1994, Mr. Iguana stealing the show (and our hearts), Konnan on commentary, plus MITB and more! 

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The high school baseball season in California is complete.

The records weren’t so sparkling among the final 20 teams left standing in the California (CIF) regional baseball finals, but wow, were the games competitive.

Eight of the 10 championship games were decided by a single tally. The other two were 4-0 and 3-1. The final day of the 2024-25 CIF season was indeed tight.

De La Salle (North) and St. John Bosco (South) won the highest levels, taking Division 1 championships. Check the roundup below with all the results from Saturday title games.

South — No. 1 St. John Bosco 4, No. 7 Patrick Henry 0: Freshman Brayden Krakowski and Jack Champlin combined on a three-hitter with four strikeouts as the host Braves finished the season 30-4. James Clark had a double, triple and an RBI, while Jaden Jackson, Noah Everly and Miles Clark also drove in runs. After Bosco struck for four runs in the first two frames, Jimmy Gunn pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three.

North — No. 1 De La Salle 5, No. 3 Serra 4: Host De La Salle (29-4) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win its third NorCal D1 title in four years. Nico Baumgartner walked it off with an infield single, scoring Antonio Castro with the winning run. Stanford-bound junior shortstop Tyler Spangler had a pair of run-scoring doubles and Castro and Ethan Sullivan also had two hits. Serra (28-7), which fell behind 2-0 in the first, scored four unanswered runs in the middle innings, half of those on a two-run double by Davis Minton and another on a run scoring double by Evan Bradshaw, who went 3-for-4. READ STORY

South — No. 8 Rancho Bernardo 2, No. 6 Point Loma 1: Freshman Brayden Kotera and senior Chris Bayne combined on a four hitter with three strikeouts to lead the Broncos (21-13) to the surprising championship. Along the way, Rancho Bernardo upset No. 1 Fountain Valley (4-2) and No. 4 Eastlake (8-5). Hugo Gonzalez had three hits and Brady Strachan and Nathan Bembenek each drove in runs. Druw Frost had an RBI double for Point Loma (22-13-1), which beat the Broncos twice earlier in the year, 10-2 and 3-1.

North — No. 1 Yuba City 3, No. 2 Saint Francis 2: After both teams scored twice in the first, the host Honkers scored in the bottom of the seventh to win their 14th straight game to finish 31-5. Max Guth, Ashton Decker and Brandon Pelechowicz each drove in runs and Julian Garcia and Cesar Guzar had two hits each. Guth’s single in the seventh won it. Saint Francis, which got RBIs from Gino Cappellazzo and Henry Dommer, finished 22-11.

South — No. 5 University City 3, No. 2 Mt. Carmel 1: Jayden Parker had a two-run double and AJ Curry doubled in a run, keying the victory for University City (23-12) in another all San Diego Section final. Curry pitched four innings and struck out nine, while sophomore Thiago Quillin fired three scoreless innings. Carson Weber had two hits and an RBI for Mt. Carmel (23-13).

North — No. 3 Rancho Cotate 2, No. 1 Roseville 1: Camden Henington and Jeff Derammelaere combined on a two-hitter with seven strikeouts for the Cougars (19-13), who advanced out of the North Coast Section as the 15th seed. They got RBI signles from Luke Morie and Derammelaere. Austin Chang drove home Roseville’s only run and pitchers Cyrus Young, Colton Wolfe and Dustin Holcomb combined to give up just five hits and two earned runs. Roseville finished 23-11.

South — No. 2 Ridgeview 1, No. 1 Banning 0: Adrian Bravo drove home the only run of the game with a double in the top of the seventh and winning pitcher Joel Guitierrez did the rest, allowing three hits, walking none and strike out five. Losing pitcher Matthew Gonzalez allowed just hits and one run while going the distance.

North — No. 5 Menlo School 2, No. 3 Santa Clara 1: Ben Salama and Fletcher Cahill, a freshman, drove in rush in the fourth inning and pitchers Jackson Flanagan, Liam Widner, Salma and Jack Freehill made it stand up for the Knights (24-8), who finished the season winning 21 of their last 22. They also snapped a 20-game win streak for Santa Clara (29-4), which scored in the sixth on an RBI single by Drew Diffenderfer. Jaxton Chao and John Kepner combined to allow five hits and struck out five, but came up short.

South — No. 3 Pioneer 4, No. 1 Corcoran 3: The host Panthers (27-5) trailed 4-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth and scored three unanswered runs over the next two frames, but it wasn’t enough for Pioneer of Whittier which finished 20-14. The Titans won the regional title despite finishing 4-6 in league play.

North — No. 1 Etna 6, No. 2 Stevenson 5: The host Lions (21-7) put up five runs in the bottom of the first, then held on for dear life while winning their first NorCal title. Stevenson actually outhit Etna 9-4 but couldn’t quite get over the hump while scoring three in the fifth and single tallies in sixth and seventh. Tono Borgomini and Phinn Thomas each had two hits for Stevenson (21-9), which made the mammoth 440-mile drive only to come up a run short.

LYNCHBURG — In a matter of milliseconds, Turner Ashby junior Devin Smiley knew what crossing the finish line first on Saturday was going to mean.

As Smiley had the advantage around 30 meters from the finish line in the boys 100-meter dash, the multi-sport Knights athlete knew he was about to etch his name into the history books.

“I thought about it before I crossed the finish line,” Smiley said. “I thought about, ‘I’m about to be the state champion.’”

With a blistering time of 10.90 seconds, Smiley was a state champion.

“I’m just really thankful to see how far I came,” Smiley said. “In indoor [track], I felt like I was going to win but I didn’t, so I feel amazing. … I’m just thankful.”

Later that day, Smiley became the state champion in the 200-meter dash by setting an all-time meet record time of 21.41, and his victories were a pair of many notable highlights by local track stars at the Virginia High School League Class 3 state meet at Liberty University.

“It just feels amazing,” Smiley said. “To break a state record is amazing.”

Smiley had much of his family in attendance to watch him become a two-time track and field state champion, and whether it’s his family or other runners watching on, the support fuels his fire.

“It helps me run faster to know people are supporting me and want to see me do well,” Smiley said.

Another Valley standout who earned a pair of state title victories was Broadway senior Tristan Yoder, who set an all-time meet record in the 3200-meter run with a time of 9:06 and captured first in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:13.

“Winning the team title in cross country was a really cool day,” Yoder said. “I’d say, individually, as far as Broadway performances, I’d say this is my best one. … Today, my goal was to just go out and dominantly win the 32 and 16, and that’s how I felt I did. I was really happy with it.”

Yoder’s wins played a major role in the Broadway boys placing third in the final team results.

In both races, Yoder hung back in the pack and waited for his moment to pounce.

Then, he turned on the jets and cruised to dominant wins in both events.

“It’s hard to go out and lead the whole race,” Yoder said. “I wanted to make sure I won both. Just finding a spot where my opponents are the weakest and just going. … My coach always says, ‘Make sure it’s the last move of the race.’”

Another state title-winning performance came from Spotswood senior Madison Doss, who captured the crown in the girls long jump with a first-place mark of 17-11.5.

“I never really thought I’d make it back to where I was,” Doss said. “Not that I wasn’t progressing well and having a great season. I had a really big [personal-record] and just had a really good day. Coming into finals, I was ranked second-to-last. To have that big jump and have confidence in myself and really feel like I was fully back was really great. That’s how I want to go out.”

It’s a story of a comeback from Doss after suffering a significant ACL injury nearly two years ago, one she never expected to fully overcome.

On Saturday in Lynchburg, Doss was able to reflect on a rollercoaster of the last two years for her that culminated with a state championship victory.

“One bump in the road should never fully knock you down,” Doss said. “You just keep on moving. I think that’s kind of helped me over the last year-and-a-half. To have that show up this weekend as well, I think it definitely made me reflect and be like, ‘This is what I’ve done the last year-and-a-half, what’s one more day? I can do this today just as much as I have the last year.’”

On the first day of events, Spotswood’s girls 4×800-meter relay team of freshmen Lillian Myers, Hayley Mancini, Anna Lowe, and Marykate Miller placed fourth with a combined time of 9:50.

Turner Ashby junior Jeffrey Jackson became the state champion in the boys shot put with a mark of 55-4.

After taking the state crown in shot put the day prior, Jackson posted a fifth-place effort in the boys discus throw with a mark of 156-5.

East Rockingham senior Alliyah McNair took state runner-up in the girls discus throw with a mark of 123 feet, while her fellow senior teammate Shanna Robertson nabbed 10th in the girls pole vault, marking at 9-6.

McNair, a three-sport athlete in volleyball, track, and tennis, later took fifth for the Eagles in the girls shot put with a mark of 34-0.5.

“You can always want to have more and always look back on it and see the things you could’ve done differently,” McNair said. “At the end of the day, it’s how you perform at that time and how you perform under the pressure of it. I’m very proud of myself for being able to go out there and get fifth in shot and get second in discus. On top of that, playing tennis, I didn’t get as much practice time. Being able to accomplish that is really big to me.”

Two spots ahead of McNair in shot put was Spotswood senior Jenna Townsend, who took third with a mark of 35-7.

“Going in ranked third definitely took a lot of pressure off of me,” Townsend said. “I’m not completely satisfied, but it’s all right. I have a state ring already. It was definitely hard but we still got top three. That’s all I kind of wanted — top three.”

Turner Ashby junior Alana Dennis took seventh in the girls triple jump with a mark of 35-1.75.

Broadway’s boys 4×800-meter relay squad of seniors Gavin Diehl, Asher Ryan, Grayson Jacquez, and Yoder earned fifth with a total time of 8:06.

On the second day of events, East Rockingham senior Xavia Brown placed sixth in the boys long jump, leaping to a mark of 21-1.75. The Eagles standout later finished ninth in the boys 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.91.

Spotswood senior Ashland Dickel earned state runner-up in the girls 3200-meter run with a time of 11:02, while her freshman teammate, Mancini, took fourth with a time of 11:23.

“I’m glad with how the two-mile [3200-meter] went,” Ashland said. “It wasn’t my [personal-record] but I’m glad I got second and it was fun racing with [first-place finisher Kiera Lowman (Alleghany)].”

Finishing strongly in second behind Yoder in the boys 3200-meter run was Spotswood senior Peyton Kenee, who clocked in a time of 9:19 in his final race of a decorated career with the Trailblazers.

“If anything, it’s somber,” Kenee said. “Four years of running pretty much every day, coming to an end is pretty sad. I’m also really [proud] of how far I’ve come. From running 5:05 [mile times] as a freshman and now I’m running 9:19s for two-miles. It’s such a big jump and I’m so appreciative of how far I’ve come and getting second [in the 3200] today was just the cherry on top.”

Behind Yoder and Kenee, East Rockingham junior Cade Yancey finished fifth with a time of 9:35 while Broadway senior Jaiden Santos Nguyen was close behind in sixth with a time of 9:36.

Rocktown junior Jaleel De La Cruz came home eighth in the boys 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.01.

While she led much of the race, Spotswood senior Marika Dickel took fourth in the girls 1600-meter run with a time of 5:00. Lillian Myers took seventh with a time of 5:12 and Ashland Dickel earned eighth with a time of 5:13.

“I’m happy with the [1600] but also a little disappointed that I was so close to breaking five [minutes],” Marika said. “It was a good end to high school running and I think it shows promise for the future.”

Trailing Yoder in the boys 1600-meter run was East Rockingham senior Hayden Fox, who claimed third with a time of 4:19.

Meanwhile, East Rockingham sophomore Hayden Paulette placed eighth in the girls long jump with a mark of 17-0.75.

Broadway junior Uriah Rutan placed state runner-up in the boys 400-meter dash, clocking in at 48.94, and later earned sixth in the boys 200-meter dash with a time of 22.15.

Rounding out the day was Spotswood’s girls 4×400-meter relay team of Doss, junior Carla Argueta-Romero, sophomore Macey Myers, and Marika Dickel placing fourth with a combined time of 4:06.

In the final team results, Broadway scored 38 points to place third behind runner-up Western Albemarle (47) and state champion Fauqier (63). Turner Ashby tied Grafton for fourth place with 34 points.

For the girls, Spotswood took fourth with 47 points, behind third place Western Albemarle (55), runner-up Abingdon (65) and state champion Heritage (99).