2005 Tony Award winners announced

The ceremony for the 59th Annual Tony Awards, presented by the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Theatre, was held last night in the Radio City Music Hall with Hugh Jackman as host.

Just as in the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Cirle Awards, Doubt and Monty Python�s Spamalot won Outstanding New Play and Outstanding New Musical respectively, and Billy Crystal won the Award for the Best Special Theatrical Event for his one-man show, 700 Sundays.

The Light in the Piazza, a musical about a mother and daughter traveling together in Italy in the summer of 1953, was the most decorated production winning 6 Tonys (Leading Actress in a Musical; Best Original Score; Best Scenic Design in a musical; Best Costume Design in a musical; Best Lighting Design in a musical and Best Orchestrations) however, the most prestigous award for a musical, 'Best Musical' went, as had been expected, to Monty Python's Spamalot.

Doubt, John Patrick Shanley�s acclaimed drama about a strong-minded nun in a Bronx Catholic school who suspects a priest of being a possible child molester, won four Tony's (Best Play; Best Direction; Best Actress in a play and Best Featured Actress in a play). Doubt is the most highly decorated production this season having won 5 Drama Desk Awards, 4 Outer Critics Circle Awards and 5 Lucille Lortel Awards.

The next big winner, with three Tony Awards (Best Musical; Best Direction of a Musical and Best Featured Actress) was the musical Monty Python�s Spamalot based on the 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, with book, music and lyrics by Eric Idle, directed by Mike Nichols.

Productions that won two awards each were the revival of Glengarry Glen Ross (Best Revival of a Play; Featured Actor in a Play), directed by Joe Mantello, a new production of David Mamet�s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play; La Cage aux Folles (Best Musical Revival, Best Choreography) a revival of the 1983 musical starring Robert Goulet and Gary Beach; The Pillowman (Best Design for a Play, Best Lighting for a Play), The National Theatre of Great Britain�s new production of Martin McDonagh�s play about a fiction writer in a totalitarian state who is interrogated about the plot similarities of his short stories to a number of bizarre incidents in his community; and The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Book for a musical), a new musical, staged by James Lapine, about six young people on the edge of puberty who strive to become adults by competing in an annual spelling bee.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play went to Cherry Jones for her role as Sister Aloysius, a strong-minded nun who has to confront her suspicions that a boy in her school is being abused by a priest. Miss Jones has had many opportunities to perfect her acceptance speech having won the equivalient award for the same role in The Drama Desk Awards, the Outer Critics Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Awards.

The main surprise of the evening was Bill Irwin's award for Leading Actor in a Play for his role as George, the emasculated husband in Albee's Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf? It had been expected that this award would go to Brian F. O'Byrne for his performace as Fr Flynn, the priest suspected of child abuse in Doubt. Mr Byrne has won the equivalent award for that performance in both the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award, as well as the Lucille Lortel Award.

Doug Hughes continued Doubt's conquest of this seasons awards when, to no one's surprise, he won the Best Direction of a Play Award, having won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award for his direction of Doubt.

The winners of the 2005 nominations by category are:
(Winners appear in bold)

Best Play:

• Democracy; by Michael Frayn
• Doubt; by John Patrick Shanley
• Gem of the Ocean; by August Wilson
• The Pillowman; by Martin McDonagh

Best Musical:

• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Book by Jeffrey Lane, with music & lyrics by David Yazbek
• The Light in the Piazza; Book by Craig Lucas, music & lyrics by Adam Guettel
• Monty Python's Spamalot ; Book by Eric Idle, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Eric Idle
• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Music and Lyrics by William Finn, Book by Rachel Sheinkin, Conceived by Rebecca Feldman

Best Revival of a Play:

• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; by Edward Albee's
• Glengarry Glen Ross; by David Mamet
• On Golden Pond; by Ernest Thompson
• Twelve Angry Men; by Reginald Rose

Best Revival of a Musical:

• La Cage aux Folles; Book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play by Jean Poiret, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman
• Pacific Overtures; Music by Stephen Sondheim with lyrics by John Weidman
• Sweet Charity; Book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields

Best Special Theatrical Event :

• Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance!
• Laugh Whore
• 700 Sundays
• Whoopi, the 20th Anniversary Show

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

• Philip Bosco; Twelve Angry Men
• Devanand Janki; Junie B. Jones
• Billy Crudup; The Pillowman
• Bill Irwin; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• James Earl Jones; On Golden Pond
• Br�an F. O'Byrne; Doubt

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play:

• Cherry Jones; Doubt
• Ethan Hawke; Hurlyburly
• Laura Linney; Sight Unseen
• Mary-Louise Parker; Reckless
• Phylicia Rashad; Gem of the Ocean
• Kathleen Turner; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical:

• Hank Azaria; Monty Python's Spamalot
• Gary Beach>; La Cage aux Folles
• Norbert Leo Butz; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Tim Curry; Monty Python's Spamalot
• John Lithgow; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical :

• Christina Applegate; Sweet Charity
• Victoria Clark; The Light in the Piazza
• Erin Dilly; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Sutton Foster: Little Women
• Sherie Rene Scott,; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play:

• Alan Alda; Glengarry Glen Ross
• Gordon Clapp; Glengarry Glen Ross
• David Harbour; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Liev Schreiber; Glengarry Glen Ross
• Michael Stuhlbarg; The Pillowman

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play :

• Mireille Enos; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Heather Goldenhersh; Doubt
• Dana Ivey; The Rivals
• Adriane Lenox; Doubt
• Amy Ryan; A Streetcar Named Desire

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical:

• Dan Fogler; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Marc Kudisch; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Michael McGrath; Monty Python's Spamalot
• Matthew Morrison; The Light in the Piazza
• Christopher Sieber; Monty Python's Spamalot

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical:

• Joanna Gleason; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Celia Keenan-Bolger; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Jan Maxwell; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Kelli O'Hara; The Light in the Piazza
• Sara Ramirez; Monty Python's Spamalot

Best Direction of a Play:

• John Crowley; The Pillowman
• Scott Ellis; Twelve Angry Men
• Doug Hughes; Doubt
• Joe Mantello; Glengarry Glen Ross

Best Direction of a Musical:

• James Lapine; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• Mike Nichols; Monty Python's Spamalot
• Jack O�Brien; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Bartlett Sher; The Light in the Piazza

Best Choreography:

• Wayne Cilento; Sweet Charity
• Jerry Mitchell; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Jerry Mitchell; La Cage aux Folles
• >Casey Nicholaw; Monty Python's Spamalot

Best Orchestrations:

• Larry Hochmans; Monty Python's Spamalot
• Ted Sperling, Adam Guettel and Bruce Coughlin; The Light in the Piazza
• Jonathan Tunick; Pacific Overtures
• Harold Wheeler; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics)
Written for the Theatre:

• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
• The Light in the Piazza; Music & Lyrics: Adam Guettel
• Monty Python's Spamalot; Music: John Du Prez and Eric Idle; Lyrics: Eric Idle
• The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Music & Lyrics: William Finn

Best Book of a Musical:

• Jeffrey Lane; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Craig Lucas; The Light in the Piazza
• Eric Idle; Monty Python's Spamalot
• Rachel Sheinkin; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Best Scenic Design of a Play:

• John Lee Beatty; Doubt
• David Gallo; Gem of the Ocean
• Santo Loquasto; Glengarry Glen Ross
• Scott Pask; The Pillowman

Best Scenic Design of a Musical:

• Tim Hatley; Monty Python's Spamalot
• Rumi Matsui; Pacific Overtures
• Anthony Ward; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Michael Yeargan; The Light in the Piazza

Best Costume Design of a Play:

• Jess Goldstein; The Rivals
• Jane Greenwood; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• William Ivey Long; A Streetcar Named Desire
• Constanza Romero; Gem of the Ocean

Best Costume Design of a Musical :

• Tim Hatley; Monty Python's Spamalot
• Junko Koshino; Pacific Overtures
• William Ivey Long; La Cage aux Folles
• Catherine Zuber; The Light in the Piazza

Best Lighting Design of a Play :

• Pat Collins; Doubt
• Donald Holder; Gem of the Ocean
• Donald Holder; A Streetcar Named Desire
• Brian MacDevitt; The Pillowman

Best Lighting Design of a Musical :

• Christopher Akerlind; The Light in the Piazza
• Mark Henderson; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Kenneth Posner; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Hugh Vanstone; Monty Python's Spamalot

The following noncompetitive award was presented:

A Special Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre was presented to Edward Albee.