Memphis, a romp that discovers the roots of rock’n’roll, and Red, a play about artist Mark Rothko, took the US theater’s top honors at a star-studded Tony Awards held on Sunday at Radio City Musical Hall.
Memphis, an original musical loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips that features a rock, soul and gospel score, won awards for best musical, best original score and best book.
Red, a production transferred from London that stars British actor Alfred Molina as Rothko, won best play.
PHOTO: REUTERS
However, Denzel Washington beat Molina to win best actor in a play for his role in a revival of the August Wilson play Fences.
“My mother always says, man gives the award, God gives the reward. I guess I got both tonight,” Washington, 55, said in his acceptance speech for his first Tony award.
Viola Davis won best actress for her role opposite Washington playing a long married couple in Fences, which also won for best play revival.
La Cage aux Folles won the award for best musical revival, while British actor Douglas Hodge, who starred opposite Kelsey Grammer in the production that was also a London transfer, won the best performance by a leading actor in a musical.
Catherine Zeta-Jones won best actress in a musical for her Broadway debut in the musical A Little Night Music.
Hundreds of fans lined the streets in the rain to catch glimpses of Hollywood names for the 64th Tony Awards that also included nominations for Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Jude Law.
Johansson was the first big Hollywood name to win an award for best featured actress in a play for her performance in a revival of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge.
“Being welcomed in this community has been an absolute dream come true,” she said.
Red also won best scenic design and best director of a play.
“This to me, is the moment of my lifetime,” Red playwright John Logan said in accepting the award for best play, while English actor Eddie Redmayne won the best featured actor opposite Molina and said: “This is the stuff that dreams are made of.”
Will & Grace actor Sean Hayes hosted the awards and shared the stage with punk rock band Green Day, who performed songs from their album turned musical American Idiot in front of well-known figures who attended, including Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas.
The Tony Awards, which do not consider off-Broadway productions, are voted on by about 700 producers, actors and writers. They were established in 1947 and are named for actress, stage director and philanthropist Antoinette Perry, whose nickname was Toni.
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