“Hamilton” helped make history at the 2016 Tony Awards, as for the first time ever, actors of color won across all four acting categories in musical categories.
Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s Best Musical winner also took home trophies for three of its actors, Leslie Odom, Jr., Daveed Diggs and Renée Elise Goldsberry, with “The Color Purple” actress Cynthia Erivo rounding out the quartet of black actors taking home the night’s top awards.
The historic night hatched the hashtag #TonysSoBlack, in direct contrast to the Oscars, which had nominated zero actors of color two years in a row, immortalized in the shaming hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
“Hamilton” took home 11 awards in total, falling just short of the 12 needed to match the record of 12, set in 2001 by “The Producers.”
Miranda, a New York native whose parents are Puerto Rican, offered a poetic tribute to the victims of the Orlando massacre on Sunday in accepting his Tony Award for the hip-hop musical’s original score.
ALL THE MUSICAL THEATRE ACTING AWARDS TONIGHT WENT TO PERFORMERS OF COLOR!!!!!!! #TonysSoBlack pic.twitter.com/UUnRkg1aRZ
— t e d a r r y l ✨ (@TheTDExperience) June 13, 2016
#oscarssowhite and #tonyssoblack. Is this a sign we need to make more musicals into movies? Because I’m down.
— keren phillips (@kerenyP) June 13, 2016
#TonysSoBlack oscars take note
— Petty Crocker (@MakeItWayne15) June 13, 2016
So much diversity with people of color front & centered at the #TonyAwards is a sight to behold. What a time to be alive #TonysSoBlack
— Susie Carmichael’s Ponytails (@My_Beloved_One) June 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/Tweetsof_Steele/status/742199453818458113
Can we talk about how the Tonys overwhelmingly responded to #OscarsSoWhite with #TonysSoBlack?
— Andy (@AndyTweetsStuff) June 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/BennyV518/status/742191703591903233