The Band's Visit was big winner at 2018 Tony Awards

11 June 2018

'The Band's Visit' was the big winner at this year's Tony Awards.

Andrew Garfield

The popular musical swept the board at the prestigious event, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sunday (10.06.18), as it nabbed seven gongs - including Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Direction and Best Musical.

Tony Shalhoub also secured the theatre production the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical award, Katrina Lenk scooped Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Ari'el Stachel secured Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical.

Although the musical was the clear winner, it was followed by 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two' as it won Best Direction of a Play and Best Play.

The best speech of the evening went to Andrew Garfield as he received a round of applause after he thanked the LGBTQ community when he collected his gong for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his portrayal of AIDS patient Prior Walter in the acclaimed revival of 'Angels in America'.

The 34-year-old actor said he was going to dedicate his win to the "countless LGBTQ people who have fought and died for the right to live and love as we are created to."

He added: "We are all sacred and we all belong, so let's just bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be bake"- referring to the recent Supreme Court ruling on Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

This is the first time Andrew has won a Tony award but the second time he's been nominated as he previously made it on the list in 2012 for his featured role opposite the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in Mike Nichols' revival of 'Death of a Salesman'.

The full list of 2018 winners are as follows;

Best Book of a Musical

'The Band's Visit'

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

'The Band's Visit'

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Andrew Garfield - 'Angels in America'

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Glenda Jackson - 'Edward Albee's Three Tall Women'

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Tony Shalhoub - 'The Band's Visit'

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical