(click to enlarge photos)
Exhausting but fun to watch was bearded, always adorable Host Hugh Jackman’s entrance from the street thru the backstage onto the stage of Radio City Music Hall, hop, hop hopping all the way! After a musical opening by the cast of After Midnight, including Fantasia, Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight and a cameo tap from Jackman, things were off and running (or shall I say hopping). Look out the Tonys are back!
Jackman delivered parodies to the women nominees for Best Actress in a Play Best Actress in a Musical and the 8 characters he learned for his first musical audition,The Music Man. He joined LL Cool J in a rap to The Music Man – yes,yes!
Among the musical offerings, were performances by Ramin Karimloo and the company of Les Miz; James Monroe Iglehart and the company of Aladdin; Idina Menzel performing “Starting Over” from If/Then; Andy Karl and the company of Rocky (including the fight ring); Alan Cumming and the Kit Kat Klub Girls in Cabaret;Jefferson Mays as several of the characters he plays in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder with cast members Bryce Pinkham, Lauren Worsham & Lisa O’Hare; Neil Patrick Harris & Lena Hall and the company of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; the playwrights themselves talking about their works in the Best Play category; Sutton Foster & Joshua Henry and the cast of Vilolet;Sting and the Broadway Inspirational Voices; Wicked celebrating their 10th Anniversary on Broadway; Jessie Mueller and the cast of Beautiful: the Carole King Musical introduced by Carole King and featured a duet by Jessie & Carole; Nick Cordero and the company of Bullets Over Broadway; Jennifer Hudson performed Finding Neverland from the new Broadway bound show of that name.
Appearances by presenters included Tony Goldwyn, Lucy Liu,Clint Eastwood, Samuel L. Jackson, Fran Drescher, Maggie Gyllenhall, Ethan Hawke, Bradley Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Ru Paul, LL Cool J, Alan Cumming, Kenneth Branagh, Wayne Grady,Zachary Quinto, Gloria & Emelio Estefan,Judith Light, Patrick Wilson, Tina Fey,Audra McDonald,Carole King; Kevin Bacon, Zach Braff, Rosie O’Donnell presenting Tony for Best Musical, and more.
(Winners are in Bold)
Best Play
Best Musical
After Midnight, Aladdin, Beautiful – the Carole King Musical,
Best Revival of a Play
Best Revival of a Musical
Best Book of a Musical
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Best Performance By an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Best Performance By an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Best Performance By an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Best Direction of a Play
Best Direction of a Musical
Best Choreography
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Jane Greenwood – Act One, Michael Krass – Machinal, Rita Ryack – Casa Valentina, Jenny Tiramani – Twelfth Night
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Best Sound Design of a Play
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Best Orchestrations
Jason Robert Brown – Bridges of Madison County
Doug Besterman – Bullets Over Broaday
Steve Sidwell – Beautiful: Carole King Musical
Jonathan Tunick – A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre – Jane Greenwood
Regional Theatre Award – Signature Theatre
Isabelle Stevenson Award – Rosie O’Donnell
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre – Joseph P. Benincasa, Joan Marcus, Charlotte Wilcox