| 65th Tony Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Date | June 12, 2011[1] | |||
| Location | Beacon Theatre[1][2][3] | |||
| Hosted by | Neil Patrick Harris[4] | |||
| Most wins | The Book of Mormon (9) | |||
| Most nominations | The Book of Mormon (14) | |||
| Website | tonyawards | |||
| Television/radio coverage | ||||
| Network | CBS | |||
| Viewership | 6.9 million[5] | |||
| Produced by | Neil Patrick Harris Ricky Kirshner Glenn Weiss | |||
| Directed by | Glenn Weiss | |||
| ||||
The65th Annual Tony Awards was held on June 12, 2011, to recognize achievement inBroadway productions during the 2010–2011 season. The ceremony was held at theBeacon Theatre, ending a fourteen-year tradition of hosting the event atRadio City Music Hall.[1] The Awards ceremony was broadcastlive onCBS[1][2] and was hosted byNeil Patrick Harris.[4][6] The award nominations were announced on May 3, 2011.[7][8]
The ceremony received highly positive reviews from critics, with many citing it as a major improvement overthe previous year. Numerous critics credited hostNeil Patrick Harris with the success of the production, with one critic calling him "America's next great awards host."[9]
Neil Patrick Harris opened the show with a comedic and musical number "Broadway's Not Just for Gays Anymore".[10] The song was written byDavid Javerbaum andAdam Schlesinger.[11] Harris andHugh Jackman performed another comic number, a revised version of "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)," as rival awards-show hosts. This was Harris' second time hosting previously in 2009. He went on to host again in 2012 and 2013.
The smash hit musicalThe Book of Mormon was nominated for 14Tony Awards winning 9 including theTony Award's forBest Musical,Best Original Score, andBest Book of a Musical. The musicalThe Scottsboro Boys was nominated for 12 awards winning none.
Shows that opened during the 2010–11 Broadway season before April 28, 2011, were eligible.[1] The category of "Lead Actress in a Musical" has only four nominees. According to Tony Award rules, "Because only six actresses are eligible for nomination in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category, only four of those actors can be nominated."[12]
|
|
|
|
In addition to the CBS television broadcast, the ceremony was simulcast live toTimes Square and included the Tony Awards Red Carpet and the complete Tony Awards show, including the Creative Arts Awards.[13]
The creative arts awards presentation was hosted byLaura Benanti andKatie Finneran and were presented prior to the network broadcast of the rest of the awards and the entertainment.[14] The awards in this portion of the ceremony included those for Best Original Score, Choreography, Best Orchestrations, and others.[15]
Presenters at the ceremony included:[16][17]
Neil Patrick Harris, with costumed dancers and singers, opened the show with a comic and edgy number "arguing that Broadway, with its con artists, Mormons and nuns this season, is 'not just for gays anymore.'"[10] The song was written byDavid Javerbaum andAdam Schlesinger.[11] Harris andHugh Jackman performed another comic number as rival awards-show hosts. Performances from nominated musicals included:Catch Me If You Can withNorbert Leo Butz andAaron Tveit;Sister Act withPatina Miller;The Book of Mormon withAndrew Rannells;The Scottsboro Boys withJoshua Henry;Anything Goes withSutton Foster; andHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying withDaniel Radcliffe andJohn Laroquette. Other musical numbers were performed fromMemphis,Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,Priscilla Queen of the Desert andCompany.[18]
Harris ended the broadcast with a rap-style recap of the show.[19] The rap was notable becauseLin-Manuel Miranda andThomas Kail wrote the lyricsduring the show—in 80 minutes while writing backstage, Miranda and Kail created all the lyrics, and Harris, aided by a teleprompter, learned and performed the rap without rehearsal.[20]
The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced special non-competitive awards prior to the ceremony. TheTony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre is given toAthol Fugard and Philip J. Smith, Chairman of The Shubert Organization. TheIsabelle Stevenson Award is awarded toEve Ensler, founder ofV-Day. TheTony Honors for Excellence in Theatre is given to animal trainerWilliam Berloni, The Drama Book Shop (West 40th Street in Manhattan), and Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.[21] TheSpecial Tony Award is given toHandspring Puppet Company, "for creating lifelike horses (manipulated by three actor-puppeteers)". TheRegional Theatre Tony Award is presented toLookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Illinois).[8]
Source: Tony Awards[8]
The Book of Mormon received 14 nominations, the most of any production, and won nine, including Best Musical;The Scottsboro Boys received 12 nominations, winning none.[22] The revival ofAnything Goes won three awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.War Horse won five awards, including Best Play.The Normal Heart won three awards, including Best Revival of a Play. Several director-choreographers were double-nominated:Rob Ashford,Kathleen Marshall,Casey Nicholaw andSusan Stroman were nominated for both Best Director and Best Choreographer.[23] Marshall (Choreography) and Nicholaw (Best Direction of a Musical with Trey Parker) won.[22] The revival ofThe Merchant of Venice received seven nominations, the most for any play, but won none, followed byJerusalem with six, winning one, for Best Actor, for the performance of Mark Rylance.[22]
Winners are listed first and highlighted inboldface.
The following 21 productions received multiple nominations (the number of nominations is shown at left):
The following four productions received multiple awards (the number is shown at left):