The 2010 Tony Awards

The 64th Annual Tony Awards were held on Sunday, June 13th. Hosted by Sean Hayes, who is currently starring in Promises, Promises the awards honored the best of Broadway, with Memphis and Red taking home the prizes for Best Musical and Best Play.Hayes opened the show by showing off his impressive piano skills, first in a rendition of “Give My Regards to Broadway” and then dueting with Levi Kreis , who won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet . After nominees from various nominated shows presented scenes from their shows, including Promises, Promises, Come Fly Away, Everyday Rapture, Fela, La Cage Aux Folles and American Idiot .Best Book of a Musical and Best Score of a Musical went to the composers of Memphis , who had been working on the show for six years before bringing it to Broadway. Joe DiPietro credited the show’s success to the amount of time devoted to it.“We got it right because we ran out of things to do wrong,” he said.Memphis also won Best Orchestrations, going to Daryl Waters and David Bryan. Best Sound Design went to Adam Cork, for the play Red.Best Scenic Design for a Musical went to American Idiot, and designer Christine Jones said working on the show had been one of the most amazing experiences of her life. Best Scenic Design of a Play went to Catherine Zubrer for Red . American Idiot also won Best Lighting Design of a Musical and Best Lighting Design of a Play went to Red.Best Featured Actress in a Play went to Scarlett Johansson for her Broadway debut in A View From the Bridge . She dedicated the award to Arthur Miller, saying, “Being welcomed into this community has been an absolute dream come true for me. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be on Broadway. Unbelievable.”Eddie Redmayne won Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Red. The show marked his Broadway debut after he received the Olivier Award for the role in London. He said the American audience responded very differently to the show than the British audience, which he credited to the fact that the play is about an American artist from New York.“There is something about hearing the sirens coming from outside in New York,” Redmayne said. “They’re [the audiences] quicker. They understand the references quicker than in London. I think we took four minutes off of it since we took it here. That energy has been wonderful and has supported us through it. We were worried if American audiences would be like, ‘Don’t tell us our own stories’ but everyone has been so generous.”Redmayne actually learned he had won the Oliver award after a matinee performance in New York. He walked offstage and an electrician was holding a sign that said, “You won.” He did not attend the Oliver award ceremony, so the Tony Awards were his first awards ceremony.Michael Grandage, the director of Red won Best Director of a Play. He said he felt a great deal of responsibility in directing theater, saying, “It’s a medium that has a huge responsibility to a live audience. I think we have to communicate that to people and make something of it…raise the bar for everyone in the audience to enjoy something and have a visceral experience.”Terry Johnson, the director of La Cage Aux Folles, won Best Director of a Musical. The revival of the show had begun in London, at the Chocolate Factory, before coming to New York.Johnson said the small space in the Chocolate Factory, as well as the smaller stage in New York, assisted in the show’s development because the smaller space caused the creative team to look at the material much more deeply.“A lot of my previous work has been about boys and girls, men and women, sex and comedy,” Johnson said. “All of my work so far has been about heterosexual comedy. For me it was kind of joyous to have to investigate a show where the sex simply wasn’t hetero. I have to say I had a ball. It’s been fantastic.”He said that the best gift of all was when composer Jerry Herman said he enjoyed the production, second only to when Harvey Fierstein, who wrote the book, watched a performance and said, “I only have notes for the author.”La Cage Aux Folles also won Best Revival of a Musical.Katie Finneran won Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Promises, Promises. Finneran, who has acted onstage and in films, said knew she wanted to be an actress when she was five years old and watched Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.“I knew I belonged in that world and I was so very far away from that world,” she said. “I had that yearning and artistic wanting.”Finneran’s character appears in the second act, wears an owl coat and Finneran said playwright Neil Simon had always wanted an actress to do an owl sound, so she researched own noises online and selected the Western Screeching Owl as her noise, which she demonstrated in the media room.Levi Kreis won Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and when asked what his future plans were, he promptly responded, “Eating!” Jerry Lee Lewis had a great influence on Kreis, who was given a stack of his 45 records when he began playing the piano as a child.Lewis is known for not enjoying actors portraying him, and Kreis said, “It was imperative to me to try to approach this with the greatest respect possible,” Kreis said. “I am so fortunate to hear positive stuff from his fan club and have heard but not verified that he saw our David Letterman performance. And I hope that what I hear is true is that he was very pleased.”Viola Davis won Best Actress in a Play and Denzel Washington won Best Actor in a Play for their roles in the revival of August Wilson’s Fences . The two played a married couple and shared an incredible chemistry onstage, which they said was entirely natural.Washington credited their success to the ensemble of the show, saying, “We end the day together as a unit. There’s nobody better. There’s no individuals. August Wilson is music at takes the whole band. You can’t jump out there and riff on your own without the band.”Davis commented on the fact that Wilson passed away not long after writing the tenth play in his series.“It’s almost like it was what he was meant to do,” she said. “There’s an anointing on this play. It’s great to see people so moved. “Washington also commented on the importance of playwrights, saying, “Somebody’s gotta write. If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage. August wrote it. I’m always happy when I see the parents bringing their children to the production. August Wilson will live on. I hope that other young writers will be inspired. Not just actors, but writers.”Bill T. Jones won Best Choreography for his work on the show.Best Revival of a Play went to Fences and Best Play went to Red. Playwright John Logan said he was inspired by the murals of Rothko and spent an entire year researching Rothko and studying his art and his life. He said the message of the play is the message his parents left him with, which was that art is significant.Catherine Zeta-Jones won Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the revival of A Little Night Music. Accepting her award, she said, “I feel like Cinderella!”Douglas Hodge won Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Albin in La Cage Aux Folles Making his Broadway debut, Hodge said, “I think there’s a generosity here , in the audiences and community that have welcomed me into it that I don’t think exists anywhere else in the world. It’s a great, great thrill.”Best Musical went to Memphis , which composer David Bryan said, “It’s an original, which we call a future revival.”The 64th Annual Tony Awards were held on Sunday, June 13th. Hosted by Sean Hayes, who is currently starring in Promises, Promises the awards honored the best of Broadway, with Memphis and Red taking home the prizes for Best Musical and Best Play.Hayes opened the show by showing off his impressive piano skills, first in a rendition of “Give My Regards to Broadway” and then dueting with Levi Kreis , who won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet . After nominees from various nominated shows presented scenes from their shows, including Promises, Promises, Come Fly Away, Everyday Rapture, Fela, La Cage Aux Folles and American Idiot .Best Book of a Musical and Best Score of a Musical went to the composers of Memphis , who had been working on the show for six years before bringing it to Broadway. Joe DiPietro credited the show’s success to the amount of time devoted to it.“We got it right because we ran out of things to do wrong,” he said.Memphis also won Best Orchestrations, going to Daryl Waters and David Bryan. Best Sound Design went to Adam Cork, for the play Red.Best Scenic Design for a Musical went to American Idiot, and designer Christine Jones said working on the show had been one of the most amazing experiences of her life. Best Scenic Design of a Play went to Catherine Zubrer for Red . American Idiot also won Best Lighting Design of a Musical and Best Lighting Design of a Play went to Red.Best Featured Actress in a Play went to Scarlett Johansson for her Broadway debut in A View From the Bridge . She dedicated the award to Arthur Miller, saying, “Being welcomed into this community has been an absolute dream come true for me. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be on Broadway. Unbelievable.”Eddie Redmayne won Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Red. The show marked his Broadway debut after he received the Olivier Award for the role in London. He said the American audience responded very differently to the show than the British audience, which he credited to the fact that the play is about an American artist from New York.“There is something about hearing the sirens coming from outside in New York,” Redmayne said. “They’re [the audiences] quicker. They understand the references quicker than in London. I think we took four minutes off of it since we took it here. That energy has been wonderful and has supported us through it. We were worried if American audiences would be like, ‘Don’t tell us our own stories’ but everyone has been so generous.”Redmayne actually learned he had won the Oliver award after a matinee performance in New York. He walked offstage and an electrician was holding a sign that said, “You won.” He did not attend the Oliver award ceremony, so the Tony Awards were his first awards ceremony.Michael Grandage, the director of Red won Best Director of a Play. He said he felt a great deal of responsibility in directing theater, saying, “It’s a medium that has a huge responsibility to a live audience. I think we have to communicate that to people and make something of it…raise the bar for everyone in the audience to enjoy something and have a visceral experience.”Terry Johnson, the director of La Cage Aux Folles, won Best Director of a Musical. The revival of the show had begun in London, at the Chocolate Factory, before coming to New York.Johnson said the small space in the Chocolate Factory, as well as the smaller stage in New York, assisted in the show’s development because the smaller space caused the creative team to look at the material much more deeply.“A lot of my previous work has been about boys and girls, men and women, sex and comedy,” Johnson said. “All of my work so far has been about heterosexual comedy. For me it was kind of joyous to have to investigate a show where the sex simply wasn’t hetero. I have to say I had a ball. It’s been fantastic.”He said that the best gift of all was when composer Jerry Herman said he enjoyed the production, second only to when Harvey Fierstein, who wrote the book, watched a performance and said, “I only have notes for the author.”La Cage Aux Folles also won Best Revival of a Musical.Katie Finneran won Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Promises, Promises. Finneran, who has acted onstage and in films, said knew she wanted to be an actress when she was five years old and watched Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.“I knew I belonged in that world and I was so very far away from that world,” she said. “I had that yearning and artistic wanting.”Finneran’s character appears in the second act, wears an owl coat and Finneran said playwright Neil Simon had always wanted an actress to do an owl sound, so she researched own noises online and selected the Western Screeching Owl as her noise, which she demonstrated in the media room.Levi Kreis won Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and when asked what his future plans were, he promptly responded, “Eating!” Jerry Lee Lewis had a great influence on Kreis, who was given a stack of his 45 records when he began playing the piano as a child.Lewis is known for not enjoying actors portraying him, and Kreis said, “It was imperative to me to try to approach this with the greatest respect possible,” Kreis said. “I am so fortunate to hear positive stuff from his fan club and have heard but not verified that he saw our David Letterman performance. And I hope that what I hear is true is that he was very pleased.”Viola Davis won Best Actress in a Play and Denzel Washington won Best Actor in a Play for their roles in the revival of August Wilson’s Fences . The two played a married couple and shared an incredible chemistry onstage, which they said was entirely natural.Washington credited their success to the ensemble of the show, saying, “We end the day together as a unit. There’s nobody better. There’s no individuals. August Wilson is music at takes the whole band. You can’t jump out there and riff on your own without the band.”Davis commented on the fact that Wilson passed away not long after writing the tenth play in his series.“It’s almost like it was what he was meant to do,” she said. “There’s an anointing on this play. It’s great to see people so moved. “Washington also commented on the importance of playwrights, saying, “Somebody’s gotta write. If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage. August wrote it. I’m always happy when I see the parents bringing their children to the production. August Wilson will live on. I hope that other young writers will be inspired. Not just actors, but writers.”Bill T. Jones won Best Choreography for his work on the show.Best Revival of a Play went to Fences and Best Play went to Red. Playwright John Logan said he was inspired by the murals of Rothko and spent an entire year researching Rothko and studying his art and his life. He said the message of the play is the message his parents left him with, which was that art is significant.Catherine Zeta-Jones won Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the revival of A Little Night Music. Accepting her award, she said, “I feel like Cinderella!”Douglas Hodge won Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Albin in La Cage Aux Folles Making his Broadway debut, Hodge said, “I think there’s a generosity here , in the audiences and community that have welcomed me into it that I don’t think exists anywhere else in the world. It’s a great, great thrill.”Best Musical went to Memphis , which composer David Bryan said, “It’s an original, which we call a future revival.”