Tony Awards: 'Book of Mormon' wins nine awards, including top musical

"The Book of Mormon," the cheerfully offensive musical from the creators of "South Park," was the big winner at Sunday's Tony Awards, winning in nine categories including best musical. The show's creators -- Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez -- each won multiple awards in the writing and other creative categories.

Parker, in accepting the top award, jokingly thanked "our co-writer who passed away, Joseph Smith," who is the founder of the Mormon faith.

The record for the most Tonys is held by "The Producers," with 12 wins.

"Mormon" was the favorite going into Sunday's ceremony, with a total of 12 nominations. The musical won in the categories of score and book of a musical, which were both written by Stone, Parker and Lopez.

The musical tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries who travel to a remote village in Africa. The show makes fun of various religions, the AIDS crisis and other hot-button topics.

The show also won for direction (Casey Nicholaw and Parker). Actress Nikki M. James, playing an African villager, took home the award for featured actress in a musical.

"Mormon's" other wins came in the categories for scenic design, lighting, sound design and orchestration.

"War Horse," the British drama that uses life-size puppets to represent its equine characters, received five Tonys, including best play. The drama also won for direction, scenic design, lighting design and and sound design.

Revivals of "Anything Goes" and "The Normal Heart" both won three Tonys, including musical revival and play revival, respectively.

Best and Worst of the 2011 Tony Awards

Tony Awards: Mark Rylance, Norbert Leo Butz win actor awards

Tony Awards: Frances McDormand wins for 'Good People'

--David Ng

 

Photo (top): Trey Parker accepts the award for best musical for "The Book of Mormon." Credit: Jeff Christensen / Associated Press

Tony Awards: Mark Rylance, Norbert Leo Butz win actor awards

Actors Mark Rylance and Norbert Leo Butz took home Tony Awards for their performances in the play "Jerusalem" and the musical "Catch Me If You Can," respectively. The wins mark the second Tonys for both.

Rylance delivered a rambling acceptance speech that might have been in the spirit of the backwoods trailer-park character he plays in "Jerusalem," a role that he originated in London. The British actor also delivered his speech in an American accent. (Rylance spent part of his youth in the U.S.)

Rylance previously won a Tony for the 2008 revival of "Boeing-Boeing."

Butz beat out heavy competition from Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells in "The Book of Mormon." He won the Tony in 2005 for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

RELATED:

Photos: Al Pacino, Brooke Shields and more at the 2011 Tony Awards

Tony Awards: Frances McDormand wins for 'Good People'

Tony Awards: 'Anything Goes,' Sutton Foster win awards  

 

-- David Ng

Photo (top): Mark Rylance accepts his Tony Award for "Jerusalem." Credit: Jeff Christensen / Associated Press

Photo credit (bottom): American Theatre Wing

Tony Awards: Live coverage on Broadway's biggest night

The Tony Awards take place on Sunday at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Join us here for live  coverage of Broadway's biggest night. CBS will air the ceremony at 8 p.m., with a delay for the West Coast.

Our report will begin with red carpet arrivals on Ministry of Gossip. Live blogging of the award ceremony will start around 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, here on Awards Tracker. Starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, Times arts and entertainment editor Lisa Fung and New York arts correspondents Patrick Pacheco and James C. Taylor will be providing commentary on the evening's event on The Envelope.

This year's ceremony will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Here's the gallery of Tony nominees. We also have an interactive Tony ballot so you can share your picks with your friends. And if you need additional  help, here's an interactive Cheat Sheet.

You can find more photos, news, features and additional Tony coverage here.

RELATED:

Tony Awards: Charles McNulty picks this year's winners

Tony Awards: Tom O'Neil's fearless, 100% perfect predictions

More coverage of the 2011 Tony Awards

Photo: Taxis speed down Broadway in Times Square. Credit: Kathy Willens / Associated Press.

Broadway shockers: Complete list of Tony Award snubs

Below is a full list of every contender eligible in the top Tony Awards races that did not get a nomination. Compare to a list of Tony nominees  and a rundown of predictions by experts.

Not nominated for best play
"Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo"
"Brief Encounter"
"Colin Quinn Long Story Short"
"Elling"
"A Free Man of Color"
"Ghetto Klown"
"High"
"Lombardi"
"The Pee-wee Herman Show"
"The Pitmen Painters"
 
Not nominated for best musical
"Baby It's You!"
"Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson"
"Elf"
"The People in the Picture"
"Priscilla Queen of the Desert"
"Rain"
"Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"
"Wonderland"

Not nominated for best play revival
"Born Yesterday"
"Driving Miss Daisy"
"The House of Blue Leaves"
"La Bête"
"A Life in the Theatre"
"Mrs. Warren's Profession"
"That Championship Season"

Not nominated for best actor in a play
Jim Belushi, "Born Yesterday"
Brian Cox, "That Championship Season"
Santino Fontana, "The Importance of Being Earnest"
Brendan Fraser, "Elling"
David Furr, "The Importance of Being Earnest"
James Earl Jones, "Driving Miss Daisy"
Dan Lauria, "Lombardi"
John Leguizamo, "Ghetto Klown"
Seth Numrich, "War Horse"
Denis O'Hare, "Elling"
David Hyde Pierce, "La Bête"
Colin Quinn, "Colin Quinn Long Story Short
Paul Reubens, "The Pee-wee Herman Show"
Mark Rylance, "La Bête"
Patrick Stewart, "A Life in the Theatre"
Ben Stiller, "The House of Blue Leaves"
Tristan Sturrock, "Brief Encounter"
Robin Williams, "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo"
Jeffrey Wright, "A Free Man of Color"

Tony Awards: Daniel Radcliffe and 'Bengal Tiger' among snubs in 2011 nominations

Harry Potter won't be taking home a Tony Award this year. Actor Daniel Radcliffe didn't get great reviews for his high-profile performance in the revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," and now the Tonys have agreed, failing to give the young actor a Tony nomination Tuesday morning.

This is the second time Radcliffe has been snubbed by the Tony Awards, the first time being in 2009 for his Broadway debut in the play "Equus."

"Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo," which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize last year, was overlooked in the play category. Its high-profile star, Robin Williams, also failed to receive an acting nod for his performance in the title role. The war drama, which had its world premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2009, received three nominations -- for featured actor, lighting and sound. The play has been struggling to fill seats at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it opened to mixed reviews in late March.

Among the snubs in the new-musical category were "Priscilla Queen of the Desert," based on 1994 movie, and "Baby It's You," which had its debut at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2009.

The revival of "That Championship Season" was left entirely out in the cold. None of its cast members -- featuring Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Chris Noth and Brian Cox -- received nominations.

Other acting snubs included Chris Rock in "The Mother... With the Hat," James Earl Jones in "Driving Miss Daisy," Raúl Esparza in "Arcadia" and Robert Sean Leonard and Jim Belushi for "Born Yesterday."

RELATED:

Tony Awards: 'The Book of Mormon' leads with 14 nominations

Theater review: 'The Book of Mormon' at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre

'War Horse' on Broadway: What did the critics think?

'Sister Act' on Broadway: What did the critics think?

 

-- David Ng

Photo (top): Daniel Radcliffe and Tammy Blanchard in Broadway's "How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying." Credit: Ari Mintz / Associated Press

Photo credit (bottom): American Theatre Wing

Tony Awards: 'The Book of Mormon' leads 2011 Tony nominations

"The Book of Mormon," the equal-opportunity-offending Broadway musical from the creators of "South Park," led the Tony Award nominations Tuesday with 14 nods. The musical "The Scottsboro Boys," which closed earlier this season, received 12 nominations, and the revival of "Anything Goes" had nine.

The nominees for best play included "Good People," "The Mother... With the Hat," "Jerusalem" and "War Horse."

This year's acting nominees included Al Pacino in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," Edie Falco in "The House of Blue Leaves," Frances McDormand in "Good People," Mark Rylance in "Jerusalem," Ellen Barkin in "The Normal Heart" and Vanessa Redgrave in "Driving Miss Daisy."

The awards, organized by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League, honor Broadway productions during the 2010-11 season. This year's ceremony will take place June 12 at the Beacon Theatre in New York. The show will be broadcast live on CBS, with a delay for the West Coast.

"The Book of Mormon," at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, is the creation of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the duo behind the popular animated series "South Park." The musical comedy, which was co-created by Robert Lopez, tells the story of Mormon missionaries who travel to Africa.

The show's 14 nominations fell just shy of the record 15 nominations earned by "The Producers" in 2001 and "Billy Elliot" in 2009.

"War Horse," adapted by Nick Stafford from the book by Michael Morpurgo, was first produced at the National Theatre in London before moving to the West End. The play, which uses life-size puppets to represent the equine characters, will come to the Ahmanson Theatre in 2012. A film version directed by Steven Spielberg is scheduled to open in December.

The year's most talked-about show, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," was ineligible for awards consideration this season because its opening date has been delayed until June 14.

Here's the full list of this year's Tony nominees:

Winners announced for 2010 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle

Each year, theater critics from around Los Angeles meet to honor the best in stage productions in Los Angeles and Orange counties. This year's winners of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards included theater productions large and small and featured some prominent Hollywood film actors.

Among the big winners were "Four Places" by Rogue Machine Theatre, "King Lear" by the Antaeus Company, "Yellow" at the Coast Playhouse and "The Ballad of Emmett Till" by the Fountain Theatre. "South Pacific" at the Ahmanson Theatre also scored big, as did "In the Heights" at the Pantages.

Acting awards included nods to Chris Pine for "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" at the Mark Taper Forum, Ed Harris in "Wrecks" at the Geffen Playhouse, Gregory Itzin for "King Lear" and Leslie Uggams in "Uptown Downtown" at the Pasadena Playhouse.

For a list of winners, check out the full story at Culture Monster.

-- David Ng

Photo: Lin-Manuel Miranda in "In the Heights." Credit: Joan Marcus

Ovation Awards favor Geffen Playhouse, Fountain Theatre

Coming smack in the middle of Hollywood awards season, the Ovations can get lost in the mix of glitzy, celebrity-packed parties taking place around town this week. On Monday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, L.A.'s theater community put on black tie and threw its own party to honor the best stage productions of the past season.

The 2009-10 Ovation Awards were dominated by the Geffen Playhouse and the Fountain Theatre, with five wins each. Center Theatre Group and the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura tied with three each. "Equivocation," Bill Cain's historic drama that was produced at the Geffen, won for best play at a large theater, while "Oedipus the King, Mama!," produced by the Troubadour Theater Company, received best musical at a large theater.

The Fountain Theatre in Hollywood took home the prize for best overall season, and its production of "The Ballad of Emmett Till," by Ifa Bayeza, took home the prize for best play at an intimate theater, tying with Rogue Machine's production of "Four Places" by Joel Drake Johnson. The Celebration Theatre's staging of "The Women of Brewster Place" won for best musical at an intimate theater.

Playwright L. Trey Wilson won the original-play award for "Something Happened" at the recently launched Pacific Stages. The Rubicon's musical "Daddy Long Legs" won the awards for John Caird's book and Paul Gordon's lyrics and music.

This year's acting awards saw a number of ties across multiple categories. The award for lead actor in a play went to Bruce French for "The Browning Version" at Pacific Resident Theatre, Alan Mandell for "No Man's Land" at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and Daniel Beaty for "Through the Night" at the Geffen. The award for lead actor in a musical went to Josh Grisetti for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at Reprise Theatre Company, Brendan Hunt for "Savin' Up for Saturday Night" at Sacred Fools and Robert J. Townsend for "The Story of My Life"by the Havok Theatre Company.

The award for lead actress in a musical went to Megan McGinnis for "Daddy Long Legs" at the Rubicon. The prize for lead actress in a drama went to Beth Grant for "Grace & Glorie" at the Colony Theatre Company and Anna Khaja for "Shaheed -- The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto" at the Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre.

Other notable acting winners include supporting turns by Harry Groener in "Equivocation"; Deirdre O'Connell in "The Wake" at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; David St. Louis in "Parade" at the Mark Taper Forum; and Sally Struthers in "Cinderella" at the Cabrillo Music Theatre.

The Ovation Awards, organized by the LA Stage Alliance, are decided on by a pool of about 250 locally based voters.

Here's the full list of the 2010 winners...