maria friedman, thank you for letting me be your franklin shepard in this production of "merrily" andriends. you are soul mates. and i am looking forward to watching each other change for the rest of our lives. thank you to every member of the extraordinary cast for lifting this "merrily" into the spiritual stratosphere. thank you for everyone working inside the hudson theater. thank you to new york theatre workshop, to the original company and creative team of "merrily." a special thank you to sonia friedman -- [listing names] happy birthday to rick and max. finally, i just want to say, when i was a kid in pennsylvania, i used to record the tony awards on a vhs tape and watch the performances over and over again. to actually be able to be a part of making theater in the city, and just as much to be able to watch the work of this incredible, incredible community has been the greatest gift and pleasure of my life. i thank you, and thank you so much for this honor. thank you. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> announcer: cynthia erivo and idina menzel present the tony award for best musical w