The Highs, Lows and Wildest Moments from the 2024 Tony Awards

Broadway's biggest night is over and done with, but we aren't finished talking about everything that happened at the 2024 Tony Awards. After last year's ceremony was made a bit awkward by a lack of writers due to the WGA strike, the theater awards were back in full force for 2024. Live from New York City, a whole slate of awards were passed out to honor the best and brightest of the 2023-2024 Broadway season. The evening at Lincoln Center included high octane musical performances, impassioned winner speeches and unforgettable red carpet looks . Of course, there were also plenty of weird, wild and unexpected things as well.

Here's a rundown of all the evening's biggest, most memorable moments:

Related: See the Best of the 2024 Tony Awards Red Carpet Fashions

The highs, lows and wildest things that happened at the 2024 Tony Awards

Low: Ariana DeBose's opening number and monologue

After many strong opening numbers in previous award show hosting gigs (Who can forget that jump down the stairs last year or when she and Angela Bassett did "the thing"?), this year started with a thud. DeBose began with an original song titled "This Party's for You" that was hard to hear and low energy. The set included just a few light boxes, and the choreography (by Ariana herself) was less exciting than choreo we'd see later in the show. Her opening monologue was chatty and earnest without many jokes. A slow start to the show.

Wildest: Hell's Kitchen performance including a surprise appearance by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z

In an extremely splashy musical performance, the cast of Hell's Kitchen wowed the audience with a medley of songs from the Alicia Keys-written musical. They were then joined on stage by Keys who performed along with the cast. This then segued into a third act in which Keys welcomed Jay-Z for a performance of "Empire State of Mind." However, the finale was a bit strange as Jay-Z performed from outside the theater—the pair sang on steps of Lincoln Center and were telecast in.

Wildest: Will Brill thanks his therapist

In his speech after winning Best Featured Actor in a Play, Stereophonic 's Will Brill thanked his therapist. That's so real of him.

High: Kara Young wins her Tony after third nomination in a row

After being nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2022 for Clyde's and 2023 for Cost of Living , Young finally took home the win this year for her work in Purlie Victorious . She earned a lengthy standing ovation and gave a rousing speech, having become the first actress of color to be nominated three years in a row.

High: The cast of Merrily We Roll Along perform "Old Friends"

THE show of the 2023-2024 Broadway season was Merrily We Roll Along and the cast proved why with their performance of "Old Friends" on the Tony Awards stage. Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe delivered a flawless rendition of the number with their genuine and infectious friendship on display.

Related: Check Out the Best Looks From the 2023 Tony Awards Red Carpet

High: The acrobats in the Water for Elephants performance

Water for Elephants is famously a show about a circus and the stunning dancers and acrobats were on full display during their Tonys performance. People were flipping through the air, getting tossed around and climbing flagpoles. This is the surest way to boost ticket sales.

High: Daniel Radcliffe wins a Tony

Daniel Radcliffe won his first Tony for Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in Merrily We Roll Along . In his speech, he thanked both Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez profusely, making both of his co-stars cry.

High: The Illinoise performance

Another of the night's more electric performances was that of the company of the Sufjan Stevens' dance musical Illinoise . The heartfelt performance to "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!" included the Tony-winning choreography from Justin Peck.

Low: Suffs wins Best Original Score

While Suffs is a perfectly fine Broadway show, it bumped up against both The Outsiders and Stereophonic in the Best Original Score category, both of which include more interesting and original music. This was emphasized by the performance from The Outsiders cast directly following that of Suffs later in the show. However, Suffs bested both at the Tonys in a surprising upset.

Low: Whatever Eddie Redmayne was doing in the Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club number

In one of the most baffling choices in theater history, Eddie Redmayne chose to play the Emcee of Cabaret as some kind of mix of Kermit the Frog, Gollum and Sargent Schultz. That bizarre vibe was on full display during the "Willkommen" number on the Tonys. BRB going to watch the Schitt's Creek version to cleanse my palate.

High: Bud and Doug from Gutenberg! The Musical! introduce Jim Parsons

In a show almost completely devoid of humor it was a welcome relief at the two-hour mark to see Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad reprise their roles of Bud and Doug from Gutenberg! The Musical! The pair entertainingly explained why their show was nominated in the revival category rather than just a musical and then introduced Jim Parsons who handed out the award for Best Revival of a Play to Appropriate .

High: Ariana DeBose dancing in the tribute to Chita Rivera

It was a rocky night overall for DeBose, but her finest moment was dancing to "America" from West Side Story in a tribute to Chita Rivera, who originated the role of Anita, which DeBose later won her Oscar for.

Low: Long boring speeches

As the night dragged on, the speeches seemed to get longer and longer and less and less interesting. The producers of Appropriate, Stereophonic and Merrily We Roll Along were especially bland, but the presenters were also dull. Many winners read their speeches off of crumpled pieces of paper. Even the Chita Rivera tribute was full of bland writing. Somehow last year's writerless Tonys were much more entertaining.

Wildest: Hillary Clinton's caftan

Hillary Clinton, who was a producer of the musical Suffs , stepped on the Tonys stage to introduce the musical number representing the show. She was wearing a giant gold and white caftan that was quite the departure from her usual pantsuit. I sort of loved it though.

High: The Outsiders performance

The Tonys saved the best for last when it came to the musical performances of the evening. The cast of The Outsiders performed "Tulsa '67," "Grease Got Hold" and the choreographed segment from the rumble in the most mesmerizing performance of the evening. It also happened to be introduced by Angelina Jolie, who for some reason was a producer on the show.

Wildest: Brooke Shields wears Crocs

Nothing says "in memoriam" like a pair of lemon yellow rubber booties.

High: Maleah Joi Moon wins Best Actress in a Musical

SO MUCH EMOTION! The Hell's Kitchen actress won the Tony for her Broadway debut and she was overwhelmed by the experience. After a fairly snoozy evening full of dry speeches, it was lovely to finally see someone lose it a bit.

High: Stereophonic , Merrily We Roll Along , The Outsiders and Appropriate are the nights big winners

While other shows also won trophies, the four winners in the main categories were Stereophonic , Merrily We Roll Along , The Outsiders and Appropriate . These four shows also snatched up the most trophies with Stereophonic earning five, Merrily We Roll Along and The Outsiders earning four and Appropriate taking three.

Next, The Full List of Winners at the 2024 Tonys