The opening number of last night’s Tony Awards crammed all of Broadway's current heavy-hitters onto one stage. Elton John played the piano for the young cast of his show Billy Elliot; Dolly Parton led her cast of 9 to 5 in a rousing version of the title song; Aaron Tveit and Stockard Channing shared the stage as Tveit intermittently sang a number from his new show Next to Normal while Channing sang "Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered" from her classic show Pal Joey; the Jets and the Sharks from West Side Story performed "Tonight" simultaneously as the cast of Guys and Dolls sang "Luck Be a Lady"; and it all ended when the cast of Hair sang "Let the Sunshine In," turning the stage into a veritible Broadway clusterfuck as Dolly, Elton, Stockard and all the cast members of all the shows joined in, dancing and singing together on stage.
The winners were also a mix, with no one show running away with all the awards. Elton and his Billy Elliot crew won the big award of the night, Best New Musical, and for the first time, the award for Best Leading Actor went to three actors -- the three boys who share the role of Billy Elliot, alternating throughout the week. Alice Ripley won Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as a bi-polar mother in Next to Normal and gave an obnoxious speech about theater as fine art. Liza Minnelli beat Will Ferrell in the Best Theatrical Event category giving the night’s most I-may-or-may not-be-on drugs acceptance speech -- forgetting the names of the men she starred on Broadway with for months! She did however express her love for Ferrell after bonding with him on the red carpet. The very deserving God of Carnage won Best Play and although all four actors were nominated for Best Leading Actress or Actor in a Play, only Marcia Gay Harden -- looking beautiful in a jade mermaid-like dress -- took home an award. Hair won for Best Revival of a Musical, and the young and super cute cast of hippies performed the title song, crawling all over the star-studded audience, which included actress Anne Hathaway. She got some special in-the-face action from Gavin Creel -- the show’s nominated lead actor -- who thanked her for being a good sport as he jumped back on the stage.
The show ended with host Neil Patrick Harris singing to the tune of "Tonight" from West Side Story with hilarious lyrics about the show’s winners that must have been being written backstage throughout the show. I have no idea how he remembered all the lines but it was slightly amazing. Which is how I felt about Broadway in general at the end of the night.
All photos by Caroline Torem Craig
