SNL Veterans Shine at Tony Awards

The Tony Awards, a prestigious night for Broadway, witnessed a significant presence from ‘Saturday Night Live’ alumni and its creator Lorne Michaels. On Sunday in New York, these familiar faces captured attention.

‘SNL’ made its mark, starting with Darrell Hammond as the announcer. Hammond, who was an ‘SNL’ star from 1995 to 2009, currently serves as the show’s announcer. Maya Rudolph, known for her ‘SNL’ tenure from 2000 to 2007, also played an active role. She presently portrays Mary Todd Lincoln in the comedy ‘Oh, Mary!’ At the awards, she presented John Lithgow with the prize for leading actor in a play for his performance in ‘Giant.’

Rudolph humorously remarked with Cole Escola, the creator of ‘Oh, Mary!’, about the actors’ understanding of the ‘power of words’ and the ‘courage to say them in exchange for money.’

During the evening, two ‘SNL’ veterans, Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer, competed for featured performance by an actress in a musical. Dratch, who was part of ‘SNL’ for seven seasons, played the Narrator in ‘The Rocky Horror Show.’ Despite their nominations, both Dratch and Gasteyer, known for ‘Schmigadoon!’, did not win. The award went to Shoshana Bean from ‘The Lost Boys.’

Dratch was previously nominated in 2022 for her role as the U.S. president’s secretary in the comedy ‘POTUS.’