Laura Collins-Hughes and Darryn King

Teasing? Check. And, seriously, folks, moral support, too.

We sent photographers to five Broadway theaters the night of May 4 to capture what it’s like backstage in the run-up to the Tony Awards. Here’s some of what they saw in the 30 minutes before curtain, as described by actors and others caught up in the whirlwind that only ends with the June 9 ceremony.

‘Ink’

James Graham’s boisterous look at Rupert Murdoch’s entry into the world of London tabloids features a cast of 18.

“What can happen with a big company is that you find yourself onstage with someone who you haven’t actually seen yet that day. So I suggested during previews that we do a warm-up. It involves everyone standing in a circle, holding hands. You sort of start humming and making noises, and when everybody has looked at every other person in the eyes, directly, just for a second or two, we start making more noise. It ends up in a big roar, or cheer, and that gets everybody going.”

— Jonny Lee Miller, who portrays newspaper editor Larry Lamb.

‘Hadestown’

Anaïs Mitchell’s folk-blues adaptation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth features two pairs of lovers whose lives intersect in the underworld.

The costumed seven-piece band never leaves the stage during “Hadestown,” and at the top of Act 2 its members even get a shoutout by name.

Beforehand, trombonist Brian Drye confines his noisy warm-ups to an alley next to the theater. Inside, musical director and conductor Liam Robinson checks in on the cast’s vocal health, sometimes conveying a few notes to the band in the basement before they head onto the stage. “Just keeping the screws tight,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Fates are conspiring. “We’re very close, and usually laughing a bunch,” said Kay Trinidad, one-third of the trio, who share a dressing room.

“Don’t tell everyone — we’re usually the last ones to places,” she added. “We try to beat Patrick Page [a Tony nominee who plays Hades]. If Patrick is ahead of us, we’re really late.”

‘Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations’

Three nominated performances highlight this high-energy bio-musical about the Temptations.

“There’s two circles that happen. There’s one that’s a bit bigger, and that’s anyone who wants to pray before the show. Once places is called, the five of us, we enter from stage right and do a circle. We’re actually hugging each other. It’s like we link up emotionally so that we can link up onstage and carry the show collectively.”

— Derrick Baskin, who portrays Otis Williams, the one living founding member of the Motown group.

‘Tootsie’

A musical adaptation of the 1982 movie that resets the story in the fond-but-cynical world of musical theater.

“I like to be made up very early. I like to get into character, put that wig on, put on those gorgeous Rita Marshall clothes. I go visit everyone. And then we make our way into Santino’s [Santino Fontana, the lead] room, and we kind of converge there and find out, well, how’s your day? Santino is inevitably doing something like putting up a new picture, putting contact paper on his walls. Like he thinks he’s on ‘Extreme Makeover.’ It’s just kooky. But we love it, and we always make fun of him. And that’s how we get ready to go onstage.”

— Julie Halston, who portrays a veteran producer.

“It’s always a little weird when you realize that you are in a hotel, because if you go out one door the wrong way, you’re in the lobby. And I’ve done it.” — Halston on playing the Marquis Theater

‘Oklahoma!’

A powerful rethink of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that starts in sunshine and ends in blood.

James Davis, who plays the happy-go-lucky Will Parker, likes to touch base with his dressing-room-mate (and Tony nominee) Damon Daunno, who undergoes a dramatic arc as Curly.

“We talk about whatever is on our mind and where we are emotionally,” Davis said. “It helps cleanse out for the intense three hours ahead of us.”

In another dressing room, Will Brill, who portrays Ali Hakim, lubricates and combs out his mutton chops to look the right amount of smarmy. “Not as laborious a transformation as it should be,” he said.

“It’s much like sports. We’re a team, and we’re about to play this game together.” — Damon Daunno

This article originally appeared in <a id="4741dbf5-355f-3656-acd5-9cec4a6050aa" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/16/theater/tony-awards-backstage.html">The New York Times</a>.

30 Minutes Before Curtain: Hugs, Prayers, Laughter and Noise

NEW YORK — Makeup? Check. Wigs? Check. Stretching? Check.

30 minutes before curtain: Hugs, prayers, laughter and noise

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Laura Collins-Hughes and Darryn King

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30 minutes before curtain: Hugs, prayers, laughter and noise