'Avenue Q' wins Tony Award for best musical

Phylicia Rashad became the first black actress to win for a leading dramatic role.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The irreverent little show "Avenue Q" came out a surprise winner as best musical at this year's Tony Awards, where the much more expensive and lavishly mounted "Wicked" had been favored.
"Tonight was about one thing -- Broadway got its heart back," Jeffrey Seller, one of the overjoyed producers of "Avenue Q," said after the unexpected victory. Besides the top musical prize, "Avenue Q" also won for its catchy score (Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx) and cheeky book (Jeff Whitty), which chronicles the misadventures of young people in an outer borough of New York.
The show mounted a playful if spirited effort for the best-musical prize, draping its theater in red, white and blue bunting, handing out buttons that proclaimed, "Don't suck. Vote Q," and sending up its own persistent Tony Award campaign in newspaper ads.
"I Am My Own Wife," Doug Wright's gender-bending tale of survival, was named best play. Its sole performer, Jefferson Mays, was named best actor for his portrayal of not only German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf but some 40 other characters in the drama.
"Our entire cast just won Tony Awards," joked Wright in accepting the best-play honor.
'Raisin' winners
Two of the women in the revival of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" came away with Tonys -- and one of them walked into the history books. Phylicia Rashad, who portrays the matriarchal Lena Younger, became the first black actress to win for a leading dramatic role.
"I really hadn't considered that," the actress said. "This is an honor for any actress to win, and that's the truth of it."
In her dignified, almost majestic acceptance speech, Rashad said, "Often I've wondered what does it take for this to happen. And now I know. It takes effort and grace. ... And in my life that grace has taken numerous forms. The first was the family into which I was born, parents who loved and wanted me, and a mother who fought fearlessly, courageously, consistently so that her children above all else could realize their full potential as human beings."
Audra McDonald, who plays Rashad's daughter-in-law in "Raisin," won her fourth Tony, this time for featured actress. Her others were for roles in the Lincoln Center revival of "Carousel," "Master Class" and "Ragtime."
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