More Stuff about the Tonys

It's interesting to note that last night's Tony Awards was the highest-rated show in recent years.

According to the Associated Press:

Broadway's big night was seen by 7.45 million people. Nielsen Media Research says that's a 19 percent increase over last year's awards show, which had 6.27 million viewers.

Elton John's show Billy Eliot won the Tony Award for best musical, and the three young men who play the lead role will share the best actor prize. Neil Patrick Harris was the host of Sunday's show, which was held at Radio City Music Hall. Angela Lansbury, Marcia Gay Harden and Geoffrey Rush also took home trophies.

Nielsen said it was the biggest audience for the Tonys in three years, the second biggest since 2003.

Personally, I'm not sure why it did so well - the show didn't have any high profile shows to feature that might bring in the casual audience (like The Producers, for example).

Let's give the credit to host Neil Patrick Harris, if just because it'll make my pal Angela happy. And speaking of NPH, in case you missed it, here's his performance at the end of the show that brought the house down. Amazing that they got the lyrics ready to go so quickly. Perhaps they peeked at the winners? Here's the video:



And finally, here's the list of all the winners:

Best Play - God of Carnage, Author: Yasmina Reza

Best Musical - Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Book of a Musical - Billy Elliot, The Musical, Lee Hall

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre - Next to Normal, Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Brian Yorkey

Best Revival of a Play - The Norman Conquests

Best Revival of a Musical - Hair

Best Special Theatrical Event - Liza's at The Palace

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play - Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play - Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical - David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical - Alice Ripley, Next to Normal

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play - Roger Robinson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play - Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical - Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical - Karen Olivo, West Side Story

Best Direction of a Play - Matthew Warchus, God of Carnage

Best Direction of a Musical - Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Choreography - Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Orchestrations (tie) - Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical; and Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal

Best Scenic Design of a Play - Derek McLane, 33 Variations

Best Scenic Design of a Musical - Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Costume Design of a Play - Anthony Ward, Mary Stuart

Best Costume Design of a Musical - Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical

Best Lighting Design of a Play - Brian MacDevitt, Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Best Lighting Design of a Musical - Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play - Gregory Clarke, Equus

Best Sound Design of a Musical - Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre - Jerry Herman

Regional Theatre Tony Award® - Signature Theatre, Arlington, Va.

Isabelle Stevenson Award - Phyllis Newman

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre - Shirley Herz