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'Book of Mormon' biggest winner at Tonys
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Andrew Rannells, left, and the cast of "The Book of Mormon" perform during the 65th annual Tony Awards, Sunday, June 12, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Andrew Rannells, left, and the cast of "The Book of Mormon" perform during the 65th annual Tony Awards, Sunday, June 12, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)
Associated Press
NEW YORK
The profane and hysterical “The Book of Mormon” pulled ahead of the pack at the Tony Awards on Sunday, snagging honors for best musical, best book, best direction of a musical, best score, best featured actress and four technical awards.
The show, by the creators of “South Park” and “Avenue Q,” was emerging as the biggest winner during a ceremony that also honored “War Horse” and “The Normal Heart” with best play and best play revival, respectively.
Sutton Foster won for best actress in a musical and gave a tearful speech. “It doesn’t feel like a job,” she said of the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes,” which won best musical revival and earned Kathleen Marshall an award for her choreography.
Frances McDormand was declared the best leading actress in a play for playing a South Boston blue-collar woman who reconnects with a high school boyfriend in David Lindsay-Abaire play “Good People.” She accepted the prize wearing a jean jacket.
The best direction of a musical award went to Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker for “The Book of Mormon.” Parker — as well as co-writers Matt Stone and Robert Lopez — later returned to the stage to accept the Tony for the best book of a musical.
The top directing prize for a play went to Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris for the weepy “War Horse,” a World War I tale about horses told with puppets and actors. “We quite like it when people cry,” Morris cracked backstage.
Nikki M. James, who plays a potential love interest to a pair of missionaries who travel to Uganda in “The Book of Mormon,” dedicated the award to her dad, who died while she was in high school, and to her nephew, Ozzie, who was born with kidney problems.
The show is one of the hottest in town, and James said even cast members are having trouble getting tickets for their friends and family. “It’s amazing to know you’re going to walk out there every night and know you’re going to see a house full of people,” she said.
Partial list of winners for the 2011 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards, announced Sunday:
Best Play: “War Horse.”
Best Musical: “The Book of Mormon.”
Best Actor in a leading role in a play: Mark Ryland, “Jerusalem.”
Best Actress in a leading role in a play: Frances McDormand, “Good People.”
Best Actress in a featured role in a play: Ellen Barkin, “The Normal Heart.”
Best Actor in a featured role in a play: John Benjamin Hickey, “The Normal Heart.”
Best Direction of a musical: Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, “The Book of Mormon.”
Best Direction of a play: Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, “War Horse.”
Best Actor in a leading role in a musical: Norman Leo Butz, “Catch Me If You Can.
Best Actress in a leading role in a musical: Sutton Foster, “Anything Goes.”
Best Actor in a featured role in a musical: John Larroquette, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
Best Actress in a featured role in a musical: Nikki M. James, “The Book of Mormon.”
Best Revival of a play: “The Normal Heart.”
Best Revival of a musical: “Anything Goes.”