Tony Awards 2018 as it happened: The Band's Visit, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child win big

All the latest updates from this year's awards ceremony

Best Play and Best Musical nominations for Tony awards 2018

The 72nd annual Tony Awards is over, with a ceremony attended by Broadway's biggest actors at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Performances from the casts of Mean Girls, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and Bruce Springsteen were just some of the evening's highlights, along with a special appearance from the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who sang a survival song from the Broadway musical Rent.

While this year's awards show had SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical and Mean Girls leading with 12 nominations, The Band's Visit dominated the ceremony with 10 wins.

Other notable wins from the ceremony included Andrew Garfield for Lead Actor and Nathan Lane for Featured Actor in Angels in America and Laurie Metcalf for Best Featured Actress for Three Tall Women.

This live blog is now closed.

Key Points

• 'The Band's Visit' wins 10 awards
• Andrew Garfield delivers powerful speech about equality
• Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students perform 'Seasons of Love' from 'Rent' 

[10 June 2018 22:11 · Steve Anderson]

Welcome to The Independent's live blog for the 72nd annual Tony Awards! Ahead of the show, see the full list of nominees for this year's ceremony. Leading this year's ceremony are Mean Girls and SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical who have 12 nominations each.

 

[10 June 2018 22:12 · Steve Anderson]

The Tony Awards red carpet just started at 5pm EST and can be streamed live on Facebook here. 

[10 June 2018 22:25 · Steve Anderson]

Mean Girls has 12 chances to win at this year's ceremony, and Tina Fey will be on the red carpet tonight. We caught the Broadway show recently, and we can honestly say that it deserves these nominations. 

[10 June 2018 22:32 · Steve Anderson]

Entertainment Tonight's Denny Directo is hosting the red carpet tonight and just revealed hosts Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban will be performing a musical number tonight. But that's not the only thing he said: Sara Bareilles is working on a new album apparently.

Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles. (Credit: Brian Ach/Getty Images for Find Your Light Foundation) 

[10 June 2018 22:52 · Steve Anderson]

Chita Rivera is the pinnacle of Hollywood glamour in a red, silk gown. The former West Side Story star is "humbled" to be receiving a Lifetime Achievement in Theatre honour alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

(Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) 

[10 June 2018 23:19 · Steve Anderson]

Tony Awards co-host Sara Bareilles glows in a bronze gown with a sequined bodice - one of her many looks for this evening's ceremony.

(Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions) 

[10 June 2018 23:30 · Steve Anderson]

The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and Katy Weaver are wearing "SpongeBob-inspired" looks for tonight's awards show. The Flaming Lips are nominated for Original Score for SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical tonight. 

(Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions) 

[10 June 2018 23:39 · Steve Anderson]

The Color Purple's Cynthia Erivo looks breathtaking in an off-the-shoulder black lace gown with a fitted bodice. 

(Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions) 

[10 June 2018 23:42 · Steve Anderson]

Hosts Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban's red carpet looks complement one another, so they're off to a good start.

(Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions) 

[10 June 2018 23:54 · Steve Anderson]

Broadway producer Jordan Roth stole the red carpet in an electric blue Givenchy couture tux. Tonight he's vying for a Tony Award for the Angels in America revival. This will be his fourth win if he takes the award home. 

(Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)