, a musical about a lonely high school student who pretends to have been a friend of a classmate who committed suicide, won six awards during Sunday's annual Tony Awards ceremony.
The surprise hit of the 2016-17 season took home Tonys for best musical, best book (the combination of the show's music, lyrics and story) for playwright Steven Levenson, best score, orchestrations, best leading actor in a musical for Broadway newcomer Ben Platt, and best featured actress for Rachel Bay Jones.
The Tony Award for best play went to , an examination of the negotiations that led to the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace accords; cast member Michael Aronov won the for Tony for best featured actor.
Three well-known Hollywood actors took home Tony Awards Sunday. Kevin Kline took home his third Tony for playing the lead in Noel Coward's ; Laurie Metcalf, a three-time Emmy Award winner for her work on the television comedy , won her first Tony as leading actress in a play for , a sequel of the Henrik Ibsen classic; and Cynthia Nixon, a star of the 1990s television comedy , won her third Tony, this one for featured actress in a play for her role in the Lillian Hellman classic .
The highlight of the night was 71-year-old actress/singer Bette Midler winning her first competitive Tony as leading actress in a musical for , which won for best revival for a musical. Midler's award came 50 years after her she made her Broadway debut in. She won a special Tony Award in 1974.
Veteran actor James Earl Jones received the lifetime achievement award.
The Tony Awards, named after Antoinette Perry, an actress and director and co-founder of the American Theater Wing, celebrates the best plays and musicals of New York City's Broadway theater district during the previous season.