64th Tony Awards

The 64th Annual Tony Awards took place on Sunday, June 13, 2010,^[1] held again at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The host was Sean Hayes.^[2] These awards recognize Broadway productions during the 2009–2010 season. The cut off-date for Tony eligibility was April 29, 2010, and the nominations were announced on May 4.^[4]

64th Tony Awards
64th Tony Awards poster
Date	June 13, 2010^[1]
Location	Radio City Music Hall
Hosted by	Sean Hayes^[2]
Most awards	Red (6)
Most nominations	La Cage aux Folles and Fela! (11)
Website	tonyawards.com
Television/radio coverage
Network	CBS
Viewership	7.0 million^[3]
Produced by	Ricky Kirshner Glenn Weiss
Directed by	Glenn Weiss
← 63rd Tony Awards 65th →

The play Red won 6 awards, including Best Play, the most of the night. The musical Memphis won four awards, including Best Musical. Fences won three awards, including Best Revival of a Play. La Cage aux Folles also won three awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.

The CBS television network broadcast the event, which was also simulcast live to the Clear Channel Spectacolor HD Screen in Times Square as well as on the official Tony Awards website.^[5] The director of the telecast, Glenn Weiss, won the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety.^[6]

Among the highlights was presenter Kristin Chenoweth and Hayes poking fun at a recent Newsweek article questioning the openly gay Hayes' believability at playing heterosexual by passionately kissing.

Awards ceremony

Presenters

Presenters included:^[7][8][9]

• Paula Abdul
• Billie Joe Armstrong
• Antonio Banderas
• Justin Bartha
• Laura Benanti
• Cate Blanchett
• Patrick Breen
• Laura Bell Bundy
• Michael Cerveris
• Kristin Chenoweth
• Barbara Cook
• Michael Douglas
• Kelsey Grammer^†
• Rosemary Harris^†
• Patrick Heusinger
• Katie Holmes
• Brian d'Arcy James
• Scarlett Johansson^†
• Nathan Lane
• Angela Lansbury^†
• Anthony LaPaglia
• Laura Linney^†
• Lucy Liu
• Jan Maxwell^†
• Idina Menzel
• Lea Michele
• Alfred Molina^†
• Helen Mirren
• Matthew Morrison
• Chris Noth
• Bebe Neuwirth
• Bernadette Peters
• David Hyde Pierce^‡
• Daniel Radcliffe
• Eddie Redmayne^†
• Mark Sanchez
• Tony Shalhoub
• Liev Schreiber^†
• Jada Pinkett Smith
• Will Smith
• Stanley Tucci
• Denzel Washington^†
• Raquel Welch

† = 2010 nominee
‡ = 2010 Isabelle Stevenson Award winner

Performances

The show opened with a medley from most of the musicals that opened during the season, and included, as described by The New York Times, punk music, Frank Sinatra songs, Afrobeat rhythms, and early rock ’n’ roll.^[10]

There were performances by the casts of the musicals nominated for both Best Musical and Revival: American Idiot, Fela!, Memphis, Million Dollar Quartet, La Cage aux Folles, A Little Night Music, Everyday Rapture and Ragtime. Other performers were Lea Michele, who sang "Don't Rain On My Parade" and Matthew Morrison, who sang "All I Need Is the Girl", and punk rock band Green Day who performed "Know Your Enemy/Holiday". The casts of Come Fly Away and Promises, Promises were included in a presentation of choreography. Additionally, the nominees for Best Play and Best Play Revival were presented by the performers from their respective plays.^[11][12]

Creative Arts Tony Awards

Some of the Tony Awards, dubbed "The Creative Arts Tony Awards" were awarded prior to the CBS telecast. The presentation was shown on a live webcast.^[13] Hosts for this portion of the ceremony were Karen Olivo and Gregory Jbara. Awards presented at this special ceremony included Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations, Special Tony Awards and the eight design prizes.^[14][15]

Ineligibility rulings

The Tony Administration Committee decided on April 30, 2010 that the scores of American Idiot and Fela! were ineligible for Tony Award nominations because fewer than 50% of their scores were written for the stage productions.^[16]

On May 14, 2010, the Tony Award committee announced a disqualification of a nomination in the "Best Costume Design in a Musical" category for Ragtime, stating that "...Santo Loquasto's designs for the revival of Ragtime are predominantly those from the original 1998 production, and therefore do not meet the Tony rule which states, work that 'substantially duplicate(s)' work from a prior production is ineligible."^[17]

Competitive awards

Source: Tony Awards^[18]

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Play	Best Musical
Red – John Logan In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) – Sarah Ruhl Next Fall – Geoffrey Nauffts Time Stands Still – Donald Margulies	Memphis American Idiot Fela! Million Dollar Quartet
Best Revival of a Play	Best Revival of a Musical
Fences Lend Me a Tenor The Royal Family A View from the Bridge	La Cage aux Folles Finian's Rainbow A Little Night Music Ragtime
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Denzel Washington – Fences as Troy Maxson Jude Law – Hamlet as Hamlet Alfred Molina – Red as Mark Rothko Liev Schreiber – A View from the Bridge as Eddie Carbone Christopher Walken – A Behanding in Spokane as Carmichael	Viola Davis – Fences as Rose Maxson Valerie Harper – Looped as Tallulah Bankhead Linda Lavin – Collected Stories as Ruth Steiner Laura Linney – Time Stands Still as Sarah Goodwin Jan Maxwell – The Royal Family as Julie Cavendish
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Douglas Hodge – La Cage aux Folles as Albin Kelsey Grammer – La Cage aux Folles as Georges Sean Hayes – Promises, Promises as Chuck Baxter Chad Kimball – Memphis as Huey Calhoun Sahr Ngaujah – Fela! as Fela Kuti	Catherine Zeta-Jones – A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt Kate Baldwin – Finian's Rainbow as Sharon McLonergan Montego Glover – Memphis as Felicia Farrell Christiane Noll – Ragtime as Mother Sherie Rene Scott – Everyday Rapture as Herself
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Eddie Redmayne – Red as Ken David Alan Grier – Race as Henry Brown Stephen McKinley Henderson – Fences as Jim Bono Jon Michael Hill – Superior Donuts as Franco Stephen Kunken – ENRON as Andy Fastow	Scarlett Johansson – A View from the Bridge as Catherine Maria Dizzia – In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) as Mrs. Daldry Rosemary Harris – The Royal Family as Fanny Cavendish Jessica Hecht – A View from the Bridge as Beatrice Jan Maxwell – Lend Me a Tenor as Maria
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Levi Kreis – Million Dollar Quartet as Jerry Lee Lewis Kevin Chamberlin – The Addams Family as Uncle Fester Robin de Jesús – La Cage aux Folles as Jacob Christopher Fitzgerald – Finian's Rainbow as Og Bobby Steggert – Ragtime as Younger Brother	Katie Finneran – Promises, Promises as Marge MacDougall Barbara Cook – Sondheim on Sondheim as Various Characters Angela Lansbury – A Little Night Music as Madame Armfeldt Karine Plantadit – Come Fly Away as Kate Lillias White – Fela! as Funmilayo Kuti
Best Direction of a Play	Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Grandage – Red Sheryl Kaller – Next Fall Kenny Leon – Fences Gregory Mosher – A View from the Bridge	Terry Johnson – La Cage aux Folles Christopher Ashley – Memphis Marcia Milgrom Dodge – Ragtime Bill T. Jones – Fela!
Best Book of a Musical	Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Joe DiPietro – Memphis Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott – Everyday Rapture Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones – Fela! Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux – Million Dollar Quartet	Memphis – David Bryan (music and lyrics) and Joe DiPietro (lyrics) The Addams Family – Andrew Lippa (music and lyrics) Enron – Adam Cork (music) and Lucy Prebble (lyrics) Fences – Branford Marsalis (music)
Best Choreography	Best Orchestrations
Bill T. Jones – Fela! Rob Ashford – Promises, Promises Lynne Page – La Cage aux Folles Twyla Tharp – Come Fly Away	Daryl Waters and David Bryan – Memphis Jason Carr – La Cage aux Folles Aaron Johnson – Fela! Jonathan Tunick – Promises, Promises
Best Scenic Design of a Play	Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Christopher Oram – Red John Lee Beatty – The Royal Family Alexander Dodge – Present Laughter Santo Loquasto – Fences	Christine Jones – American Idiot Marina Draghici – Fela! Derek McLane – Ragtime Tim Shortall – La Cage aux Folles
Best Costume Design of a Play	Best Costume Design of a Musical
Catherine Zuber – The Royal Family Martin Pakledinaz – Lend Me a Tenor Constanza Romero – Fences David Zinn – In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)	Marina Draghici – Fela! Paul Tazewell – Memphis Matthew Wright – La Cage aux Folles
Best Lighting Design of a Play	Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Neil Austin – Red Neil Austin – Hamlet Mark Henderson – Enron Brian MacDevitt – Fences	Kevin Adams – American Idiot Donald Holder – Ragtime Nick Richings – La Cage aux Folles Robert Wierzel – Fela!
Best Sound Design of a Play	Best Sound Design of a Musical
Adam Cork – Red Acme Sound Partners – Fences Adam Cork – Enron Scott Lehrer – A View from the Bridge	Robert Kaplowitz – Fela! Jonathan Deans – La Cage aux Folles Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen – A Little Night Music Dan Moses Schreier – Sondheim on Sondheim

In Memoriam

• Shirley Rich
• David Powers
• Douglas Watt
• Shelly Gross
• Lynn Redgrave
• Corin Redgrave
• Budd Schulberg
• Quentin Easter
• Rue McClanahan
• Max Eisen
• Larry Gelbart
• Dixie Carter
• George N. Martin
• Conard Fowkes
• Michael Frazier
• Torrie Zito
• Joseph Wiseman
• Michael Kuchwara
• Doris Eaton
• Morton Gottlieb
• Donal Donnelly
• John Kenley
• Zakes Mokae
• June Havoc
• Everett King
• Ron Konecky
• Gene Barry
• Pierre Cossette
• M. Edgar Rosenblum
• Claude Purdy
• Lena Horne

Non-competitive awards

Most of the non-competitive awards were announced on April 21, 2010. They are:

• Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre to Sir Alan Ayckbourn and Marian Seldes.^[19]
• Isabelle Stevenson Award to David Hyde Pierce. Pierce is receiving the Isabelle Stevenson Award "for his work in the fight against Alzheimer's disease."^[19]
• Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre to:
  • The Alliance of Resident Theatres New York.^[19]
  • B.H. Barry, who "pioneered the teaching of stage combat as part of the curriculum in US Drama Programs at the University and Graduate level."^[19]
  • Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA).^[20]
  • The Midtown North and South New York City Police Precincts.^[21]
• The Regional Theatre Tony Award to The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, Connecticut.^[18]

Summary of awards

The musical Fela! and the revival of La Cage aux Folles, each received eleven nominations, the most of any production, with each winning three awards. The musical Memphis won four awards, including Best Musical. The revival of Fences earned ten nominations, the most nominations ever received by a play revival, and won three awards.^[22] The new play Red received seven nominations and won six awards, the most of any play or musical this season.

Film actors won an unusual number of awards this season, with Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johansson, Viola Davis, Eddie Redmayne and Catherine Zeta-Jones among the winners.^[10] So many film actors appeared on Broadway last year that theatre actor Hunter Foster created a Facebook page called "Give the Tonys Back to Broadway". The New York Times critic Charles Isherwood wrote, "I share to a certain extent Mr. Foster’s dismay at this year’s star-glutted Tony awards. ... It’s possible that if the Tony administrators had not kicked the journalists out of the voting pool, there might have been a few more worthy winners."^[23] Isherwood called the proliferation of Hollywood stars on Broadway "ominous", claiming that projects from last season featuring film actors such as Jude Law's Hamlet and A Steady Rain monopolized the box office, causing "superior" plays to fail. On the other hand, Isherwood felt, it is possible that "welcoming [film] stars on Broadway – the talented ones, anyway – [could help] New York theater to reassert its importance to the culture, and maybe even to tilt the balance of the entertainment business at least a little back toward the East Coast".^[23]

Multiple nominations and awards

These productions had multiple nominations: 11 nominations: Fela! & La Cage aux Folles 10 nominations: Fences & Memphis 7 nominations: Red 6 nominations: Ragtime & A View from the Bridge 5 nominations: The Royal Family 4 nominations: Enron, A Little Night Music & Promises, Promises 3 nominations: American Idiot, Finian's Rainbow, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Lend Me a Tenor & Million Dollar Quartet 2 nominations: The Addams Family, Come Fly Away, Everyday Rapture, Hamlet, Next Fall, Sondheim on Sondheim & Time Stands Still

The following productions received multiple awards. 6 wins: Red 4 wins: Memphis 3 wins: Fela!, Fences & La Cage aux Folles 2 wins: American Idiot

See also

• Drama Desk Awards
• 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards – equivalent awards for West End theatre productions
• Obie Award
• New York Drama Critics' Circle
• Theatre World Award
• Lucille Lortel Awards

References

1. . TonyAwards.com. September 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 20, 2009. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
2. Gans, Andrew."Sean Hayes to Host Tony Awards" 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, May 24, 2010
3. Andreeva, Nellie (June 14, 2010). "RATINGS RAT RACE: NBA Finals Continue To Rule While Tony Awards Slip A Notch". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
4. Gans, Andrew.2010 "Tony Award Nominations Will Be Announced May 4" 2010-03-01 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, February 26, 2010
5. Gans, Andrew."Paula Abdul Will Be Tony Presenter; Awards Will Be Simulcast in Times Square" 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, June 7, 2010
6. Peter, Thomas. "Glenn Weiss Wins DGA Award for 64th Annual Tony Awards Broadcast" playbill.com, January 31, 2011
7. . The Tony Awards. May 25, 2010. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
8. Propst, Andy (May 25, 2010). "Cate Blanchett, Michael Douglas, Lea Michele, Denzel Washington, Raquel Welch, et al. to Be Tony Award Presenters". TheaterMania.com.
9. Gans, Andrew."Holmes, Lansbury, Radcliffe and More Will Be Tony Presenters" 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, June 9, 2010
10. Healy, Patrick. "Red and Memphis Win Top Tony Awards". The New York Times, June 13, 2010
11. Gans, Andrew. "Green Day, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and More to Perform on Tony Telecast" 2010-06-05 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, June 2, 2010
12. "Press Release:The 2010 Tony Awards Promises Unforgettable Evening of Performances" 2010-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. Tonyawards.com, June 2, 2010
13. Gans, Andrew. "Creative Arts Tony Awards Will Be Presented Prior to CBS Broadcast" 2010-06-05 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, June 1, 2010
14. Gans, Andrew. "Olivo and Jbara to Host Creative Arts Tony Awards" 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, June 10, 2010
15. Hetrick, Adam.Playbill.com Tony Blog: The Tony Awards Press Room" 2010-06-15 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, June 13, 2010
16. Gans, Andrew."Tony Rulings: Enron, Fences, Royal Family Eligible for Best Score; American Idiot, Fela! Are Not" 2010-05-03 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, April 30, 2010
17. Jones, Kenneth."Drama Desk Withdraws Nominations of Ragtime's Orchestration and Costume Design" 2010-05-17 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, May 14, 2010
18. "Tony Award nominees, 2009–2010". from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
19. Pesner, Ben."Tonys Announce Special Awards and Honors" 2010-04-26 at the Wayback Machine tonyawards.com, April 21, 2010
20. Gans, Andrew.David Hyde Pierce, Marian Seldes, Tom Viola, Alan Ayckbourn Win Special Tony Awards" April 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, April 21, 2010
21. Gans, Andrew."Midtown North and South New York City Police Precincts To Receive Special Tony Award" playbill.com, May 17, 2010
22. Gans, Andrew and Jones, Kenneth."2010 Tony Nominations Announced; Fela! and La Cage Top List" 2010-05-06 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, May 4, 2010
23. Isherwood, Charles."Theater Talkback: When Stars Take Over the Tonys". The New York Times, June 24, 2010

External links