Clarissa Marzán
65th Annual Tony Awards at The Beacon Theatre
The American Theatre Wing's 65th annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on Sunday June 12 at the Beacon Theater in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan. Neil Patrick Harris, who hosted the 2009 awards, returned to host this year's ceremony, which honored Nick Stafford's "War Horse" for Best Play, "The Book of Mormon" for Best Musical, "The Normal Heart" for Best Revival of a Play, and "Anything Goes" for Best Revival of a Musical.
"War Horse" was also awarded the prize for Best Direction of a Play, given to Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris, Best Scenic Design of a Play (Rae Smith), and Best Lighting Design of a Play (Paule Constable).
The creators of "The Book of Mormon," Trey Parker and Casey Nicholaw received the Tony award for Best Direction of a Musical. Parker, along with Robert Lopez and Matt Stone, also picked up the prize for Best Book of a Musical. Other awards"The Book of Mormon" received included Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, Best Orchestrations (Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Scott Pask), Best Lighting Design in a Musical (Brian MacDevitt), and Best Sound Design of a Musical (Brian Ronan). Nikki M. James won the Tony for Best Performance by an Actress in a Feature Role in a Musical for her role in "The Book of Mormon."
The musical revival "Anything Goes" was honored with two awards. Sutton Foster received a Best Actress Tony for her performance in "Anything Goes" and the production's choreographer Kathleen Marshall was awarded the Tony for Best Choreography.
John Benjamin Hickey and Ellen Barkin won Best Performance by an Actor and Actress, respectively, in a Featured Role in a Musical for their performances in "The Normal Heart."
"How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" was honored with John Larroquette's receiving the Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical. Norber Leo Butz from "Catch Me If You Can" received the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. The Tony award for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Play went to Mark Rylance for "Jerusalem" and Frances McDormand for "Good People."
The awards for Best Costume Design of a Play and of a Musical went to Desmon Heeley ("The Importance of Being Earnest") and Tim Cappel with Lizzy Gardiner ("Priscilla Queen of the Desert"), respectively.
This year's Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre went to Athol Fugard and Philip J. Smith. The Handspring Puppet Company also received a Special Tony Award. The Lookingglass Theatre Company from Chicago, IL was conferred the Regional Theatre Tony Award. The Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre was given to three recipients: William Berloni, The Drama Book Shop, and Sharon Jensen of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.
The Isabel Stevenson Award went to Eve Ensler. This non-competitive award was created in 2008 to honor a individual from the theatre community for his or her substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort to humanitarian, social service, or charitable organizations.
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