There was a lot of action in the Beacon Theatre in New York City last night.
The 65th Tony Awards were hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, who sang and dance himself throughout the program. Live performances included scenes from Anything Goes, Catch Me If You Can, Sister Act, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Sister Act, The Book Of Mormon and The Scottsboro Boys.
The Book Of Mormon won the most awards, taking home nine out of the 14 nominations, which included Best Musical and Best Direction. Trey Parker, co-creator, and Joseph Smith Jr., co-writer accepted the award and pointed out that they wanted to have a big and happy Mormon family, and that now they had it. Nikki M. James had a hard time talking after accepting her award for Best Performance.
Warhorse was the second on the list with five awards including Best Play. During its live performance the cast brought “Joey,” the very lifelike farm horse on the stage. Anything Goes received 3 awards, which included Best Revival of a Musical. The Normal Heart walked away with three awards in all. The semi-autobiographical play focused on AIDS and premiered first in 1985. Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey received their awards for this play as well.
Catch Me If You Can, Good People, How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Jerusalem, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, all received one award each in different categories.
Appearances of celebrity presenters like Brooke Shields, Hugh Jackman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Angela Lansbury, Harry Connick Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, and Robin Williams added to the highlights of the evening. Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones who co-starred in the Broadway Comedy Musical Driving Miss Daisy that recently closed, received a standing ovation from the audience.
