The classiest moment of the night came from Phylicia Rashad, chosen best actress in a play for her role as the matriarch in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun.

"Often, I've wondered, `What does it take for this to happen,'" she said. "And now I know. It takes effort and grace, tremendous self-effort and amazing grace. And in my life that grace has taken numerous forms. The first was the family into which I was born, parents who loved and wanted me and a mother who fought fearlessly, courageously, consistently so that her children above all else could realize their full potential as human beings."

Rashad, who was expected to win, is the first black woman to receive the award. Audra McDonald, who in previous years won the best featured actress/musical award, was Sunday's winner for best featured actress/play, also for A Raisin in the Sun.

Best actor in a musical was Hugh Jackman, who hosted the show and opened with One Night Only, the Tony ceremony's theme hyped in recent weeks. The sizzling number was backed up by chorus members of Broadway's musicals, a plug for holdovers from previous seasons as well as this year's nominees.

Jackman himself seemed momentarily nonplussed by fan squeals as he came on, as did Sean (P. Diddy) Combs before he and Rashad presented the featured actor award in a musical to Assassins' Michael Cerveris.

"This is a picture I never thought I'd see -- me and Puff," Cerveris said. Combs is making his theatrical and Broadway debut in A Raisin in the Sun.

More squeals greeted LL Cool J, who then introduced a co-presenter with "a little more" theater experience: Carol Channing, for whom the Broadway establishment then squealed. Channing, always a trouper, grinned through a rap with her co-presenter before giving Avenue Q its second award of the night, for best original score.

Jackman, in one of a few cameo-like emcee appearances, later announced, "This just in: Carol Channing has been arrested for a drive-by shooting."

The puppet musical won best book, for which author Jeff Whitty looked truly astonished.

Former South Floridian Jeff Marx, accepting for the score with Robert Lopez, said, "When we started writing Avenue Q, Jeff was an intern and I was a temp. Our lives kinda sucked so we came up with an idea for a show about people like us whose lives all kinda suck."

That's also the theme of Avenue Q's main song, performed shortly after that.

After an aggressive campaign among Tony voters in the final weeks, the book/score awards took the wind out of Wicked's sails and stopped Caroline, or Change in its tracks.

By the time he came on for his number as Peter Allen from The Boy from Oz, Jackman had loosened up more than enough to work both the ringsiders and back rows.

During Oz, he brings someone up from the audience at every show. At the Tonys, he brought up a very nervous Sarah Jessica Parker for some cheeky banter, but she was too frightened -- of appearing without permission on a competing network -- to play along. Her HBO series Sex and the City is going into syndicated reruns on basic cable next week.

The broadcast was designed to wow viewers in the first hour with song, dance and celebrity. The pace of presentations and speeches sped up in the middle hour, returning to showmanship in the final hour. More would have helped, to complement the producers' quid-pro-quo litanies in their acceptances for the top honors.

Due to network and Tony rules, the lavish Bollywood musical Bombay Dreams couldn't get a spot on the show. But this year, the telecast featured a couple of reprises from former shows, including an overwrought What I Did for Love from A Chorus Line by Mary K. Blige.

The first production number for a nominated musical, Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof, followed Alfred Molina through the audience delivering Tevye's opening speech, cleverly adapted as Broadway plug-ola. The number itself was a vivacious commercial for the reconceived Fiddler, which has taken hits for breaking with the "traditional" format.

Tonya Pinkins' showcase for Caroline, Or Change was a box office negative, with the emotional Lot's Wife scene translating as a tantrum. Pinkins' voice also broke repeatedly, splitting some notes and turning some phrases to gravel. Nor was her number presented effectively.

In contrast, Menzel's Defying Gravity, the first-act finale for Wicked, was a dream moment with socko special effects and the most climactic vocal solo on Broadway this season. Plus, the song's brief dramatic intro gave more than an inkling of the twin-star relationship with fellow nominee Kristin Chenoweth.

Kathleen Marshall won her first Tony, taking best choreography for the revival of Wonderful Town. The award certified Marshall's presence at the top of the field along with Susan Stroman, who has won five Tonys, most recently for The Producers as both choreographer and director.

The choreographic award also made a shutout of the $14 million Bombay Dreams official before 9 p.m.; it was the last of three categories Bombay was nominated for, having lost the other two during pre-broadcast announcements.

Marshall lost the director/musical nod to Joe Mantello for Assassins. Jack O'Brien won best director/play for the revival of Shakespeare's Henry IV. Coincidentally, the two were last year's winners as well, but O'Brien for musical (Hairspray) and Mantello for play (Take Me Out).

Martin Short merited honors for the most acerbic presentation, lambasting stereotypes and ad-libbing bombs like "A musical is only as good as its director -- the same is also true of the CIA."

One of the most moving acceptance speeches was the first televised. Best featured actress/musical Anika Noni Rose, of Caroline, or Change, said, "My middle name means gift of God and I thank God for the gifts I've been given," including the award. Then, she paused and said, "I'd like to breathe, I'd like to do that."

Aside from Avenue Q co-creator Marx, Florida interests weren't in the winners' circle. Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics lost to I Am My Own Wife as best play, and former Miamian Raul Esparza, nominated best featured actor/musical for Taboo, lost to the heavily favored Cerveris of Assassins.

Assassins won the night's first awards, for orchestrations (Michael Starobin) and lighting (Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer), before the televised program began.

Marissa Jaret Winokur of last year's big winner Hairspray hosted a special presentation "The First Six Awards" starting at 7:15 p.m. for the Radio City Music Hall audience only. Edited clips of those acceptances were aired during the televised portion. After the two early Assassins picks, Wicked took the scenic design and costume awards.

The pre-show also included the award to the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award (recommended by the American Theatre Critics Association) and a Special Tony for Lifetime Achievement to James M. Nederlander, the chief of The Nederlander Organization, which owns and operates theaters both on Broadway and major cities around the country.

Jack Zink can be reached at jzink@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4706.

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