Bennett Boys Wins Six Tonys, Sweeney Nabs TwoDate: 12 June 2006
Alan Bennett’s The History Boys continued its sweep of New York prize-givings by triumphing last night (Sunday 11 June 2006) at the biggest prize-giving of them all, the 60th annual Tony Awards (See News, 16 May 2006). In total, the National Theatre production took home six trophies, more than any other show in this year’s running.
In addition to Best Play, The History Boys earned awards for: Richard Griffiths (Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, in which he triumphed over fellow Brit Ralph Fiennes for Faith Healer), Frances de la Tour (Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play, in which she won over Zoe Wanamaker, nominated for the US revival of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing!), NT artistic director Nicholas Hytner (Best Direction of a Play), Bob Crowley (Best Scenic Design of a Play) and Mark Henderson (Best Lighting Design of a Play).
The only one of its nominations that The History Boys was unable to convert was in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play category where Samuel Barnett lost out to another compatriot, Ian McDiarmid, winning for his performance in Jonathan Kent’s Gate Theatre, Dublin production of Faith Healer.
Elsewhere, the big British winner was John Doyle’s compact actor-musician revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, first seen at the Watermill, Newbury before its West End and Broadway transfers. It converted two of its six nomination, taking trophies for Best Orchestrations for Sarah Travis and Best Direction of a Musical for Doyle himself.
Not to be confused with The History Boys, another multiple award winner (four, including Best Musical) was Jersey Boys, the American musical about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, while the Canadian 1920s-set musical The Drowsy Chaperone was the runner-up in the awards tally with five wins (including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score).
Elsewhere, Cynthia Nixon – who has been a regular on the New York stage since childhood but is now best known internationally as Miranda from TV’s Sex and the City - won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role as a grieving mother in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole. And director Harold Prince – whose many productions, legendary on both sides of the Atlantic, have included The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Show Boat, Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Follies - was presented with the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.
The 60th annual Tony Awards ceremony was held at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Rather than a traditional single host, the evening featured multiple presenters.
- by Terri Paddock
