The 2011 Tony Awards: Now with 25% More Mormon

All in all, not a bad Tonys. Some good dancing, something about Mormons... and I have seen at least five commercials for West Side Story during the breaks. Now as NPH said, go see a mother[censored] show!


Don't worry... her shoes are Jimmy Choo.


10:58 Mark Rylance gives his second poetry reading for his second Tony award, this time for Best Actor in a Play. It's a shame when actors have to accept awards at their scruffiest, while they're doing plays about scruffy people. Norbert Leo Butz (looking not at all scruffy) bests those Mormon boys for Best Actor in a Musical. I think Trey Parker and Matt Stone look a little embarrassed to get one more award, though the acknowledgment of Joseph Smith was priceless.


10:50 Lighting Design even went to The Book of Mormon? Did the other musicals give out tickets?


10:36 Best Actress Frances McDormand... jean jacket? Excellent speech, though: "I've played all three of Chekhov's sisters." Even more fantastically odd was Best Actress in a Musical Sutton Foster's shoutout to her dresser of nine years, which basically included his full bio and address in Cape Cod.


10:22 Who did the cast of Company piss off to have Christie Brinkley introduce them? Only two revivals for Best Revival of a Musical, How to Succeed and winner Anything Goes, but I think it's good that we've had so much new work on Broadway this season.


10:05 Best Play goes to The Book of M... sorry, force of habit, the winner's actually War Horse. Wonder how Patti LuPone feels watching Sutton Foster perform the same song from Anything Goes that she did twenty years ago?


9:46 Oh, random celebrities at the Tonys. Looking at you, Marg Helgenberger. Patrick Wilson must enjoy hearing the promo for his new drama: "Patrick Wilson is A Gifted Man." I wish The Motherf**ker with the Hat would win something, just to see what they'd call it. But for now, it's The Normal Heart for Best Revival of a Play.


9:35 I am pleased to write that the book of The Book of Mormon has won. Nobody is losing their Tony poll on that one. What, oh what, is Whoopi wearing on her head? Her comment on how many of her movies have become musicals is very astute.


9:21 Best line so far: "It has been confirmed by the Rev. Harold Camping that Spider-Man: The Musical opens Tuesday night." Surprisingly heartfelt shout-out by Bono and the Edge to Broadway hard work. But WTF is Spider-Man doing performing? Vying for Most Apathetic-Looking Actors? Or Worst Lead-In Dialogue?


9:17 The Hugh-Neil dance-off: I laughed at the West Side Story and Anything Goes references, especially the line about a "pre-unwrapped cough drop." Brooke Shields at the teleprompter, part 2: And she curses and gets bleeped. Perhaps Broadway is a better place for her than primetime television? Supporting Actor John Larroquette must have conned the voters into thinking he's in The Book of Mormon.


9:06 The Book of Mormon performs... we've finally seen why this show is raking in awards and $155 tickets. And this largely one-character song worked perfectly without any context! Though knowing The Sound of Music helped. "I believe/That the Garden of Eden/Was in Jackson County, Missouri."


8:58 Angela Lansbury was recruited to make the boring American Theater Wing speech sexy. Nikki M. James pulls a Mormon upset... Laura Benanti was the Supporting Actress frontrunner before tonight. But was she in a show written by the South Park bros? No, she was not.


8:52 Maybe I'm a killjoy, but I had no idea what The Scottsboro Boys' numbers was about, either. But it was pretty effective nonetheless; the closeups worked here. It's sad when closed shows don't get a chance to perform, so I'm glad there was room for the 12-Tony nominee (though it will probably win none).


8:41 The one good Spider-Man joke of the night: "I sent Bono a congratulatory cable, and it snapped." But basically everything David Hyde-Pierce said afterward was funnier. Casey Nicholaw wins most enthusiastic acceptee (as well as Best Director of a Musical).


8:35 Catch Me If You Can... if you even want to. Norbert Leo Butz's song may be the highlight of the show, but out of context, I wasn't sure what it was about. Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin looked confused, too. Like How to Succeed, the cameras didn't really know how to capture the dancing. More intimate character numbers might work better on national TV.


8:27 Nice shot of the teleprompter, with correct pronunciation of Arian Moayed--I always wondered how they will handle my last name when I win my inevitable Tony... or Oscar... Hey, let's go with EGOT! Congrats to John Benjamin Hickey for continuing The Normal Heart's loot as Best Supporting Actor.


8:20 Best Score and Best Orchestrations have gone to The Book of Mormon, marking the start of a Salt Lake sweep. I wonder if attendees felt a little bored/unenthused when Gone with the Wind or Ben-Hur won their numerous Oscars back in the day. Random thought: Does John Leguizamo deserve the adjective "incredible"? Discuss.


8:07 Alec Baldwin's beard presents the first award, to Ellen Barkin for Best Supporting Actress. Smart of the Tonys to start things off with Ellen Barkin, Edie Falco, and Daniel Radcliffe singing. On the subject of facial hair, Robert Morse looks like the only Mad Men actor without hiatus beard.


8:00 And the 2011 Tony Awards begin! Just a bare stage, with NPH in a spotlight. How many awards shows has he opened with a novelty song? "Attention, every breeder, you're invited to the theater." Brooke Shields, however, is no longer invited to the teleprompter.

Keep refreshing; new posts will appear at the top. Enjoy my annual Tonys live blog (that is, for all two of you who will read this).