The 65th Annual Tony Awards was held on June 12, 2011, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2010–2011 season. The ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre, ending a fourteen-year tradition of hosting the event at Radio City Music Hall. The Awards ceremony was broadcast live on CBS and was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.Gans, Andrew."Neil Patrick Harris Will Host 2011 Tony Awards" Playbill.com, May 10, 2011 The award nominations were announced on May 3, 2011.BWW News Desk. "2011 Tony Nominations to Be Announced May 3". Broadwayworld.com, March 16, 2011
The ceremony received highly positive reviews from critics, with many citing it as a major improvement over the previous year. Numerous critics credited host Neil Patrick Harris with the success of the production, with one critic calling him "America's next great awards host."
Neil Patrick Harris opened the show with a comedic and musical number "Broadway's Not Just for Gays Anymore".Healy, Patrick. "Book of Mormon and War Horse Win Top Tonys". The New York Times, June 12, 2011 The song was written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger.Gans, Andrew and Gioia, Michael. "Cry-Baby Composers Wrote Tony Awards Opening Number: Read It Here" . Playbill.com, June 13, 2011 Harris and Hugh Jackman performed another comic number, a revised version of "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)," as rival awards-show hosts. This was Harris' second time hosting previously in 2009. He went on to host again in 2012 and 2013.
The smash hit musical The Book of Mormon was nominated for 14 Tony Awards winning 9 including the Tony Award's for Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Book of a Musical. The musical The Scottsboro Boys was nominated for 12 awards winning none.
Eligibility Shows that opened during the 2010–11 Broadway season before April 28, 2011, were eligible. The category of "Lead Actress in a Musical" has only four nominees. According to Tony Award rules, "Because only six actresses are eligible for nomination in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category, only four of those actors can be nominated."Gans, Andrew."Leading Actress in a Musical Tony Category Will Have Maximum of Four Nominees" Playbill.com, May 2, 2011
Original plays Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Brief Encounter Colin Quinn's Long Story Short Elling A Free Man of Color John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown Good People High Jerusalem Lombardi The Motherf**ker with the Hat The Pee-wee Herman Show The Pitmen Painters War Horse
Original Musicals Baby It's You! Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson The Book of Mormon Catch Me If You Can Elf The People in the Picture Priscilla Queen of the Desert Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles The Scottsboro Boys Sister Act Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Wonderland
Play Revivals Arcadia Born Yesterday Driving Miss Daisy The House of Blue Leaves The Importance of Being Earnest La Bête A Life in the Theatre The Merchant of Venice Mrs. Warren's Profession The Normal Heart That Championship Season
Musical Revivals Anything Goes How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Ceremony In addition to the CBS television broadcast, the ceremony was simulcast live to Times Square and included the Tony Awards Red Carpet and the complete Tony Awards show, including the Creative Arts Awards."Tony Awards Will Be Simulcast Live to Times Square" playbill.com, June 8, 2011
Presenters The creative arts awards presentation was hosted by Laura Benanti and Katie Finneran and were presented prior to the network broadcast of the rest of the awards and the entertainment.Jones, Kenneth. "Laura Benanti and Katie Finneran Will Host "Creative Arts" Portion of Tony Awards" . Playbill.com, June 6, 2011 The awards in this portion of the ceremony included those for Best Original Score, Choreography, Best Orchestrations, and others.Hetrick, Adam."Playbill.com Tony Blog: The Tony Awards Press Room" playbill.com, June 12, 2011
Presenters at the ceremony included:Gans, Andrew."Brooke Shields and Robin Williams Will Be Tony Presenters; Daniel Radcliffe To Sing" Playbill.com, June 7, 2011
Daniel Radcliffe Catherine Zeta-Jones Whoopi Goldberg Chris Rock Alec Baldwin Samuel L. Jackson Kelsey Grammer Viola Davis John Leguizamo Vanessa Redgrave James Earl Jones Harry Connick, Jr. Christie Brinkley David Hyde Pierce Marg Helgenberger Matthew Broderick Angela Lansbury Jim Parsons Robert Morse Joel Grey Patrick Wilson Brooke Shields Robin Williams
Hosting Neil Patrick Harris, with costumed dancers and singers, opened the show with a comic and edgy number "arguing that Broadway, with its con artists, Mormons and nuns this season, is 'not just for gays anymore.'" The song was written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger. Harris and Hugh Jackman performed another comic number as rival awards-show hosts. Performances from nominated musicals included: Catch Me If You Can with Norbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit; Sister Act with Patina Miller; The Book of Mormon with Andrew Rannells; The Scottsboro Boys with Joshua Henry; Anything Goes with Sutton Foster; and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Daniel Radcliffe and John Laroquette. Other musical numbers were performed from Memphis, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Company.Stewart, Zachary. "The 2011 Tony Award Winners". Theatermania.com, June 12, 2011
Harris ended the broadcast with a rap-style recap of the show.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: The rap was notable because Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail wrote the lyrics during the show—in 80 minutes while writing backstage, Miranda and Kail created all the lyrics, and Harris, aided by a teleprompter, learned and performed the rap without rehearsal.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Special awards The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced special non-competitive awards prior to the ceremony. The Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre is given to Athol Fugard and Philip J. Smith, Chairman of The Shubert Organization. The Isabelle Stevenson Award is awarded to Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day. The Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre is given to animal trainer William Berloni, The Drama Book Shop (West 40th Street in Manhattan), and Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.Gans, Andrew. "Athol Fugard, Philip J. Smith, Eve Ensler Win Special Tony Awards" . Playbill.com, April 6, 2011 The Special Tony Award is given to Handspring Puppet Company, "for creating lifelike horses (manipulated by three actor-puppeteers)". The Regional Theatre Tony Award is presented to Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Illinois).
Competitive awards Source: Tony Awards
Summary The Book of Mormon received 14 nominations, the most of any production, and won nine, including Best Musical; The Scottsboro Boys received 12 nominations, winning none.Jones, Kenneth. "War Horse, Book of Mormon, Anything Goes, Normal Heart Win 2011 Tony Awards" . Playbill.com, June 12, 2011 The revival of Anything Goes won three awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. War Horse won five awards, including Best Play. The Normal Heart won three awards, including Best Revival of a Play. Several director-choreographers were double-nominated: Rob Ashford, Kathleen Marshall, Casey Nicholaw and Susan Stroman were nominated for both Best Director and Best Choreographer.Hetrick, Adam. "Twice As Nice: Several Tony Nominees Nab Recognition in Two Categories" . Playbill.com, May 3, 2011 Marshall (Choreography) and Nicholaw (Best Direction of a Musical with Trey Parker) won. The revival of The Merchant of Venice received seven nominations, the most for any play, but won none, followed by Jerusalem with six, winning one, for Best Actor, for the performance of Mark Rylance.
Awards Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
Best Play Best Musical War Horse – Nick Stafford Good People – David Lindsay-Abaire Jerusalem – Jez Butterworth The Motherfucker with the Hat – Stephen Adly Guirgis | valign="top" | The Book of Mormon Catch Me If You Can The Scottsboro Boys Sister Act Best Revival of a Play Best Revival of a Musical The Normal Heart Arcadia The Importance of Being Earnest The Merchant of Venice Anything Goes How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play Mark Rylance – Jerusalem as Johnny "Rooster" Byron Brian Bedford – The Importance of Being Earnest as Lady Bracknell Bobby Cannavale – The Motherfucker with the Hat as Jackie Joe Mantello – The Normal Heart as Ned Weeks Al Pacino – The Merchant of Venice as Shylock Frances McDormand – Good People as Margie Walsh Nina Arianda – Born Yesterday as Emma 'Billie' Dawn Lily Rabe – The Merchant of Venice as Portia Vanessa Redgrave – Driving Miss Daisy as Daisy Werthan Hannah Yelland – Brief Encounter as Laura Jesson Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Norbert Leo Butz – Catch Me If You Can as Carl Hanratty Josh Gad – The Book of Mormon as Elder Cunningham Joshua Henry – The Scottsboro Boys as Haywood Patterson Andrew Rannells – The Book of Mormon as Elder Price Tony Sheldon – Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as Bernadette Sutton Foster – Anything Goes as Reno Sweeney Beth Leavel – Baby It's You! as Florence Greenberg Patina Miller – Sister Act as Deloris Van Cartier Donna Murphy – The People in the Picture as Bubbie/Raisel Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play John Benjamin Hickey – The Normal Heart as Felix Turner Mackenzie Crook – Jerusalem as Ginger Billy Crudup – Arcadia as Bernard Nightingale Arian Moayed – Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo as Musa Yul Vázquez – The Motherfucker with the Hat as Cousin Julio Ellen Barkin – The Normal Heart as Dr. Emma Brookner Edie Falco – The House of Blue Leaves as Bananas Judith Light – Lombardi as Marie Lombardi Joanna Lumley – La Bête as The Princess Elizabeth Rodriguez – The Motherfucker with the Hat as Veronica Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical John Larroquette – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as J.B. Biggley Colman Domingo – The Scottsboro Boys as Mr. Bones Adam Godley – Anything Goes as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh Forrest McClendon – The Scottsboro Boys as Mr. Tambo Rory O'Malley – The Book of Mormon as Elder McKinley Nikki M. James – The Book of Mormon as Nabulungi Hatimbi Laura Benanti – Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown as Candela Tammy Blanchard – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Hedy La Rue Victoria Clark – Sister Act as Mother Superior Patti LuPone – Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown as Lucia Best Book of a Musical Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone – The Book of Mormon Alex Timbers – Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson David Thompson – The Scottsboro Boys Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane – Sister Act The Book of Mormon – Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone (music and lyrics) The Scottsboro Boys – John Kander and Fred Ebb (music and lyrics) Sister Act – Alan Menken (music) and Glenn Slater (lyrics) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – David Yazbek (music and lyrics) |- ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Scenic Design of a Play ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Scenic Design of a Musical |- | valign="top" | Rae Smith – War Horse Todd Rosenthal – The Motherfucker with the Hat Ultz – Jerusalem Mark Wendland – The Merchant of Venice Scott Pask – The Book of Mormon Beowulf Boritt – The Scottsboro Boys Derek McLane – Anything Goes