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| Mark Rylance accepting his 2011 Tony Award |
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War Horse & Rylance Triumph at Tony AwardsDate: 13 June 2011
Last year it was the turn of the Donmar Warehouse, this year the National Theatre gallops forward as the British company to dominate the Broadway play categories in the US’s most prestigious theatre prize-giving, the Tony Awards, with its adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s First World War-set children’s novel War Horse.
At the ceremony held last night (12 June 2011) at New York’s Beacon Theatre, the War Horse took home five prizes in the 65th annual Tony Awards, including – Best Play, Best Direction of a Play (for Tom Morris and Marianne Elliott) and Best Scenic Design of a Play (for Rae Smith – while Handspring Puppet Company, the South African team behind the show’s renowned life-sized horse puppets, was presented with a non-competitive Special Award) – as well as Best Lighting Design (Paule Constable) and Best Sound Design (Christopher Shutt).
In many of those categories, War Horse bested fellow British import, Jerusalem, which managed to convert just one of its six nominations: Mark Rylance scooped Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play. Its Rylance’s umpteenth Best Actor gong for his performance in Jez Butterworth’s drama, first seen at the Royal Court in 2009 ahead of its West End and Broadway transfers. And it’s Rylance’s second Tony; in 2008 he won Best Actor for another London transfer, the revival of Sixties sex farce Boeing Boeing.
Accepting last night’s trophy, Rylance continued his tradition of delivering perplexing, poetic acceptance speeches. On taking to the podium, he launched immediately into Louis Jenkins’ verse Walking Through a Wall, which begins: “Unlike flying or astral projection, walking through walls is a totally earth-related craft, but a lot more interesting than pot making or driftwood lamps.”
Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which premiered in its native Australia before opening in 2009 at the West End’s Palace Theatre, won Best Costume Design of a Musical for Tim Chappel and Lizzie Gardiner.
Other British nominees including Vanessa Redgrave, Adam Godley, Mackenzie Crook, Joanna Lumley and Hannah Yelland and London-originated offerings Sister Act, Arcadia and Kneehigh’s Brief Encounter went home empty-handed.
The night’s biggest winner was The Book of Mormon, the satirical musical comedy written by TV’s South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, which is already tipped for a West End transfer. It won a total of nine 2011 Tonys, having been nominated for 14, including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.
Below is a full list of nominees and winners of the 2011 Tony Awards. The winners in each category are highlighted.
| Best Play |
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| Good People | Author: David Lindsay-Abaire
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| Jerusalem | Author: Jez Butterworth
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| The Motherf**ker with the Hat | Author: Stephen Adly Guirgis
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| War Horse | Author: Nick Stafford
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| Best Musical |
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| The Book of Mormon | |
| Catch Me If You Can | |
| The Scottsboro Boys | |
| Sister Act | |
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| Best Book of a Musical |
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| Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson | Alex Timbers |
| The Book of Mormon | Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone |
| The Scottsboro Boys | David Thompson |
| Sister Act | Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane |
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| Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre |
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| The Book of Mormon | Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone |
| The Scottsboro Boys | Music & Lyrics: John Kander and Fred Ebb |
| Sister Act | Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Glenn Slater |
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek |
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| Best Revival of a Play |
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| Arcadia | |
| The Importance of Being Earnest | |
| The Merchant of Venice | |
| The Normal Heart | |
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| Best Revival of a Musical |
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| Anything Goes | |
| How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | |
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| Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play |
| Brian Bedford | The Importance of Being Earnest |
| Bobby Cannavale | The Motherf**ker with the Hat |
| Joe Mantello | The Normal Heart |
| Al Pacino | The Merchant of Venice |
| Mark Rylance | Jerusalem |
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| Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play |
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| Nina Arianda | Born Yesterday |
| Frances McDormand | Good People |
| Lily Rabe | The Merchant of Venice |
| Vanessa Redgrave | Driving Miss Daisy |
| Hannah Yelland | Brief Encounter |
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| Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical |
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| Norbert Leo Butz | Catch Me If You Can |
| Josh Gad | The Book of Mormon |
| Joshua Henry | The Scottsboro Boys |
| Andrew Rannells | The Book of Mormon |
| Tony Sheldon | Priscilla Queen of the Desert |
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| Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical |
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| Sutton Foster | Anything Goes |
| Beth Leavel | Baby It's You! |
| Patina Miller | Sister Act |
| Donna Murphy | The People in the Picture |
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| Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play |
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| Mackenzie Crook | Jerusalem |
| Billy Crudup | Arcadia |
| John Benjamin Hickey | The Normal Heart |
| Arian Moayed | Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo |
| Yul Vázquez | The Motherf**ker with the Hat |
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| Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play |
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| Ellen Barkin | The Normal Heart |
| Edie Falco | The House of Blue Leaves |
| Judith Light | Lombardi |
| Joanna Lumley | La Bête |
| Elizabeth Rodriguez | The Motherf**ker with the Hat |
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| Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical |
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| Colman Domingo | The Scottsboro Boys |
| Adam Godley | Anything Goes |
| John Larroquette | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
| Forrest McClendon | The Scottsboro Boys |
| Rory O'Malley | The Book of Mormon |
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| Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical |
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| Laura Benanti | Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown |
| Tammy Blanchard | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
| Victoria Clark | Sister Act |
| Nikki M James | The Book of Mormon |
| Patti LuPone | Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown |
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| Best Direction of a Play |
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| Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris | War Horse |
| Joel Grey & George C Wolfe | The Normal Heart |
| Anna D Shapiro | The Motherf**ker with the Hat |
| Daniel Sullivan | The Merchant of Venice |
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| Best Direction of a Musical |
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| Rob Ashford | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
| Kathleen Marshall | Anything Goes |
| Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker | The Book of Mormon |
| Susan Stroman | The Scottsboro Boys |
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| Best Choreography |
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| Rob Ashford | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
| Kathleen Marshall | Anything Goes |
| Casey Nicholaw | The Book of Mormon |
| Susan Stroman | The Scottsboro Boys |
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| Best Orchestrations |
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| Doug Besterman | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
| Larry Hochman | The Scottsboro Boys |
| Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus | The Book of Mormon |
| Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank | Catch Me If You Can |
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| Best Scenic Design of a Play |
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| Todd Rosenthal | The Motherf**ker with the Hat |
| Rae Smith | War Horse |
| Ultz | Jerusalem |
| Mark Wendland | The Merchant of Venice |
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| Best Scenic Design of a Musical |
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| Beowulf Boritt | The Scottsboro Boys |
| Derek McLane | Anything Goes |
| Scott Pask | The Book of Mormon |
| Donyale Werle | Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson |
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| Best Costume Design of a Play |
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| Jess Goldstein | The Merchant of Venice |
| Desmond Heeley | The Importance of Being Earnest |
| Mark Thompson | La Bête |
| Catherine Zuber | Born Yesterday |
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| Best Costume Design of a Musical |
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| Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner | Priscilla Queen of the Desert |
| Martin Pakledinaz | Anything Goes |
| Ann Roth | The Book of Mormon |
| Catherine Zuber | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
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| Best Lighting Design of a Play |
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| Paule Constable | War Horse |
| David Lander | Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo |
| Kenneth Posner | The Merchant of Venice |
| Mimi Jordan Sherin | Jerusalem |
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| Best Lighting Design of a Musical |
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| Ken Billington | The Scottsboro Boys |
| Howell Binkley | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
| Peter Kaczorowski | Anything Goes |
| Brian MacDevitt | The Book of Mormon |
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| Best Sound Design of a Play |
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| Acme Sound Partners & Cricket S. Myers | Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo |
| Simon Baker | Brief Encounter |
| Ian Dickinson for Autograph | Jerusalem |
| Christopher Shutt | War Horse |
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| Best Sound Design of a Musical |
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| Peter Hylenski | The Scottsboro Boys |
| Steve Canyon Kennedy | Catch Me If You Can |
| Brian Ronan | Anything Goes |
| Brian Ronan | The Book of Mormon |
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| Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre |
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| Athol Fugard |
| Philip J. Smith |
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| Regional Theatre Tony Award® |
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| Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Ill.) |
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| Isabelle Stevenson Award |
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| Eve Ensler |
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| Special Tony Award |
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| Handspring Puppet Company |
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Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
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| William Berloni |
| The Drama Book Shop |
| Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts |
- by Terri Paddock
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