Tony Awards Finish Up With a Fuzzy Surprise
The New York TImes
June 7, 2004
By Jesse McKinley

"Avenue Q," the offbeat show about a band of furry-headed slacker puppets and their equally fuzzy human cohorts, pulled a stunning upset last night at the 58th annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, winning best musical, the evening's top prize, as well as prizes for best book and best score.


On the dramatic side "I Am My Own Wife," Doug Wright's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about an East German transvestite, won for best play and for its sole actor, Jefferson Mays, who plays more than 40 characters.

But it was the announcement of the award for "Avenue Q," which began at a small Off Broadway theater before leaping to Broadway last summer, that drew gasps inside the music hall, where many spectators expected the prize to go to "Wicked," a blockbuster $14 million show based on "The Wizard of Oz" that was considered a favorite for best musical.

The win by "Avenue Q" drew an ecstatic group of producers and performers from the show onstage.

"Thank you, Broadway, for voting your heart," said one of the show's lead producers, Jeffrey Seller.

"Assassins," the revival of the 1991 Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman musical about singing sociopaths, produced by the nonprofit Roundabout Theater Company, led all productions with five Tonys, including best revival of a musical and one for Joe Mantello, the director.

There was even a little history made, as Phylicia Rashad, who heads the cast in the revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," won for best leading actress in a play and became the first African-American woman to win that prize. Ms. Rashad silenced the sell-out crowd, and thanked her parents, family and God for her win.

"When I was little my mother taught me I could do anything and I wouldn't be scarred by racism," Ms. Rashad said later in the press room. "This is an honor for any actress and that's the truth."

In one of three awards that "Wicked" did win, Idina Menzel, who plays a green-faced witch, took the prize for leading actress in a musical. Hugh Jackman, meanwhile, who was the host of the awards show, won for leading actor in a musical for his spirited turn as Peter Allen, the cabaret star, in the musical "The Boy From Oz." The award was presented to Mr. Jackman by his Australian — and Hollywood — compatriot Nicole Kidman, one of several film stars brought in to boost the show's sagging Nielsen ratings.

Riding a season of record ticket sales, Tony voters also seemed happy to honor new talent, with several examples of it winning their first Tonys. Among them were Jeff Whitty, who wrote the book for "Avenue Q"; Kathleen Marshall, for her choreography of the revival of "Wonderful Town"; and Brian F. O'Byrne, who won best featured actor in a play for his portrayal of a child killer in the drama "Frozen." One exception was Audra McDonald, who won her fourth Tony, at the age of 33, for her work as a featured actress in "A Raisin in the Sun."

"Henry IV" won for best revival of a play, and its director, Jack O'Brien, won best director of a play.

Mr. Jackman opened the show in a pinstriped suit and on key, singing "One Night Only" from the 1981 musical "Dreamgirls," and with a phalanx of backup singers, several puppets from "Avenue Q" and a chorus of singing Jews from the Broadway revival of "Fiddler on the Roof." Dancing alongside two dozen Rockettes, Mr. Jackman high-kicked and tossed off a few one-liners.

"I knew these long legs would come in handy," he said.

The award-giving got off to a bit of a bumpy start when Billy Joel, after saluting the American troops who fought on D-Day, lost his place on the prompter, causing the proceedings to grind to a halt. Moments later, however, the show got back on track when the actress Jane Krakowski gave out the award for featured actress in a musical to Anika Noni Rose, who plays a hopeful schoolgirl in "Caroline, or Change," a new musical by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner.

"My middle name, Noni, means `gift from God' and I just want to thank the Lord for the gifts I've been given," said a tearful Ms. Rose, accepting her first Tony.

Michael Cerveris also won his first Tony for his performance as John Wilkes Booth in "Assassins." The award was presented by Sean Combs and Ms. Rashad.

"This is a picture I never thought I'd see, me and Puff," Mr. Cerveris said with a laugh, referring to Mr. Combs. "Thanks for proving that you don't have to kill somebody to get something like this. You can just pretend to on Broadway."

There were signs early on that it might be a good night for "Avenue Q," after it won for its book and for its music and lyrics (by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez). The show's producers had actively campaigned for the Tonys, sending out thousands of CD's and running large print ads in the weeks leading up to the awards.

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Still, the show's creators, all in their late 20's and early 30's, seemed honestly shocked when their names were read.

"When we started writing `Avenue Q' I was an intern," Mr. Marx said. "And now we just won a Tony."

In between awards each nominated musical used its production number to try to sell its show to television viewers. Alfred Molina, who plays Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof," led his cast through "Tradition," the show's signature number. And Tonya Pinkins, a nominee for "Caroline, or Change," brought down the house with a solo rendition of her show's 11 o'clock number, "Lot's Wife."

Before the telecast began several awards were handed out by Marissa Jaret Winokur, who won a Tony last year for her performance as a chubby dance queen in "Hairspray." "Wicked," which led all productions with 10 nominations, picked up two awards for design, winning for Eugene Lee's sets and Susan Hilferty's costumes. "Assassins" also won two early awards, for lighting (by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer) and orchestration (by Michael Starobin).

The Tonys — formally known as the Antoinette Perry Awards — are the culmination of the Broadway season, a celebration of the theater industry's financial clout and its artistic achievements. The awards include only Broadway productions — one of the major tourist attractions in New York — which also carry the highest costs and thus the highest risks. Productions that play Off Broadway and the work of the vast majority of nonprofit theaters in New York and the nation are not represented, though many of the Tony winners last night — including "Assassins," "I Am My Own Wife" and "Avenue Q," began their lives at Off Broadway theaters.

On Broadway, meanwhile, there were many reasons to celebrate. With signs of an improving economy and a stronger tourist market, Broadway grossed a record $771 million in ticket sales during the 2003-4 season, an increase of about 7 percent from the 2002-3 season, according to figures from the League of American Theaters and Producers.

With 39 new productions, Broadway attracted some 11.6 million audience members, a slight increase from last season's total of 11.4 million. The increase in gross sales could be attributed to continually higher ticket prices for shows, with many musicals regularly charging $100 a seat and some so-called premium seats going for nearly $500.

The awards, which are voted on by a group of 735 journalists, producers, theatrical unions and other theatrical professionals, are officially presented by the league, the industry's trade association, and the American Theater Wing, a charitable group that founded the Tonys in 1947.

These organizations have often differed in their approaches to the Tonys, with the league wanting to use the broadcast as a national marketing tool and the wing preferring a more dignified ceremony devoted to artistic excellence.

The balance seemed to shift somewhat this year as the wing changed leadership and a new set of executive producers was brought in to improve the broadcast's consistently sluggish Nielsen ratings. (Last year the show hit a nadir, drawing its lowest ratings ever — a 5.4 — which represented a little less than 8 million viewers.)

The strategy to improve the ratings included a starry roster of film and music stars as presenters, many with little or no connection to the theater.

In one striking example of the strange collision of stars, the rapper LL Cool J and Carol Channing shared a stage to present the award for best score.

"I know when you think of the Tony Awards you don't immediately think of LL Cool J," he said before calling Ms. Channing out of the wings.

The two began a hybrid rap-and-tap routine that culminated with Ms. Channing wildly flapping her arms and legs, much to the amusement of the Radio City crowd. "I've been keeping it popping," Ms. Channing said. "I've been updating my act."

Mr. Jackman later referenced the act by announcing after a commercial break: "Carol Channing has just been arrested in a drive-by shooting."

Several early untelevised awards included one for the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, honored with the regional theater award, the highest — and only — accolade given to theaters beyond Broadway.

James M. Nederlander, chairman of the Nederlander Organization, which owns eight and a half Broadway theaters, received a lifetime achievement award. "Why are my knees shaking?" Mr. Nederlander said after slowly making his way onstage. "I'm really a young guy of 82."

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