“Mormon,” “Horse” Carry Away Tonys
I watched the Tonys at a large, raucous party, so I may have missed something, but overall it didn’t seem half bad. The location, the Beacon Theatre, provided more intimacy than the usual space, Radio City, and Neil Patrick Harris (pictured) was a capable host (his 8 best jokes here), though he did look slightly diminished in one of the evening’s better numbers, a duet with Hugh Jackman. Among the acceptance speeches, Nikki James’s, for “The Book of Mormon,” was especially heartfelt, as were those of all three “The Normal Heart” winners. “Sister Act” and “Priscilla” had the most rousing, good-for-the-home-audience numbers. I predicted virtually all of the winners, except for Featured Actress in a Musical, which went to Ms. James, not to Laura Benanti. One thing I was surprised not to see noted in the immediate write-ups (here and here): “War Horse” won 100 percent of its nominations (five) plus a special award for puppetry to make 6 total. When was the last time a multiple-nommed show batted 1.000? Even the night’s big winner, “Mormon” won “only” 9 out of 14. Update: A decade ago, “The Producers” won all its categories (for a total of 12 awards).
