After last year's Tony Awards ceremony found several big names adding trophies to their collections (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Denzel Washington, Scarlet Johansson), this year's Tonys were less about movie star clout but still managed to award recognizable TV names with statues. Most notably, The Book of Mormon, a religious satire musical created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park), walked away with nine awards, including Best Musical. John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C) won his second Tony for his role in The Normal Heart, a play that focuses on the early 80s AIDS crisis in New York. John Laroquette (Night Court) walked away with a Tony for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, while Norbert Leo Butz (The Deep End) was awarded best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical.
Other TV-related nominees included Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie, The Sopranos), Bobby Cannavale (Will & Grace), Judith Light (Who's the Boss?), Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous), Josh Gad (Woke Up Dead), and Yul Vazquez (Starz's upcoming Magic City), among others. Listed below are the winners of the acting and play/musical awards from tonight. If you want to check out the winners of the technical awards (i.e. choreography, orchestrations, lighting, etc.) or to see full lists of nominees for each category, you can heard over to Theater Mania.com.
How did you enjoy the Tony Awards? Do you enjoy having more recognizable faces or do you think they ruin the show? Who would you like to see give theater a go in the near future? Was Neil Patrick Harris a good host?
2011 Tony Award Winners:
- Best Play: War Horse
- Best Musical: The Book of Mormon
- Best Revival of a Play: The Normal Heart
- Best Revival of a Musical: Anything Goes
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Mark Rylance, Jerusalem
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Frances McDormand, Good People
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: John Laroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon
