The 66th edition of the Tony Awards was broadcast by CBS on Sunday and hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. According to the Los Angeles Times, the big winners of this year’s ceremony were “Once” and “Clybourne Park”.
Another edition of the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theater, better known as the Tony Awards, was held this Sunday on CBS. Numerous shows were nominated for this year’s edition, but only the best plays were honored. This year, the jury decided that Bruce Norris’ satirical drama “Clybourne Park” and the musical “Once” should receive the awards for Best Play and Best Musical, together with many other prizes.
Multiple honors were handled to the works of Arthur Miller, as well as George and Ira Gershwin. Although there were many other good works in the competition, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” was described as the best revival of a play. The 1953 opera “Porgy and Bess” which was created by the Gershwins got a nod for the best musical revival. The other opera works competing for best musical revival were “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Evita” and “Follies”. Jeffrey Richards, the creator of the revived version of “Porgy and Bess” insisted on thanking George and Ira Gershwin for allowing him to bring the play into the 21st century.
“Once” took eight Tony prizes home including John Tiffany for the category of best musical directing. Bob Crawley was honored for the best scenic design, Natasha Katz for the lights of the play and Clive Goodwin for the best sound.
The winners of the leading actor category held the most emotional speeches. McDonald burst into tears as she delivered her speech. She hardly managed to say that she used to be a “hyper-active” girl and theater was the only place she felt like home. Steve Kazee, who was honored for his leading role in the musical “Once”, thanked the other members of the cast for the support they have shown to him after the death of his mother on Easter Sunday. Despite these emotional moments, the 66th edition of the gala was well-entertained by Neil Patrick Harris and the rest of the actors.
