Tony Award Videos

Opening Number at the 2009 Tony Awards



Closing number by host Neil Patrick Harris

Billy Elliot sweeps the Tony Awards!

The Broadway production of the British hit musical Billy Elliot has taken 10 Tony Awards at a ceremony in New York, including best musical.

The three young actors who share the title role got a unique best actor prize. Its director also won a Tony, but Sir Elton John missed out in the Best Score category to Next to Normal.

The show about a miner's son from northern England who dreams of dancing has taken Broadway by storm.

Sir Elton helped accept the best musical Tony, telling the audience: "Thank you for accepting us so beautifully on Broadway.

"We came here at a hard time economically. You opened up your wallets and you opened up your hearts to us. And we love you for it, thank you."

The musical is based on the film of the same name which became a world-wide hit in 2000 and starred Julie Walters and Jamie Bell.

The musical opened at the Victoria Palace in London in 2005, and a Sydney production opened in 2007 in Australia.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Best Play: "God of Carnage."
Best Musical: "Billy Elliot, The Musical.”
Book Of A Musical: Lee Hall, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Original Score (Music And/Or Lyrics) Written For The Theatre: "Next to Normal."
Revival Of A Play: "The Norman Conquests."
Revival Of A Musical: "Hair."
Special Theatrical Event: "Liza's At The Palace."
Performance By A Leading Actor In A Play: Geoffrey Rush, "Exit The King."
Performance By A Leading Actress In A Play: Marcia Gay Harden, "God Of Carnage."
Performance By A Leading Actor In A Musical: David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, And Kiril Kulish, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Performance By A Leading Actress In A Musical: Alice Ripley, "Next To Normal."
Performance By A Featured Actor In A Play: Roger Robinson, "Joe Turner's Come And Gone."
Performance By A Featured Actress In A Play: Angela Lansbury, "Blithe Spirit."
Performance By A Featured Actor In A Musical: Gregory Jbara, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Performance By A Featured Actress In A Musical: Karen Olivo, "West Side Story."
Direction Of A Play: Matthew Warchus, "God Of Carnage."
Direction Of A Musical: Stephen Daldry, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Scenic Design Of A Play: Derek Mclane, "33 Variations."
Scenic Design Of A Musical: Ian Macneil, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Costume Design Of A Play: Anthony Ward, "Mary Stuart."
Costume Design Of A Musical: Tim Hatley, "Shrek The Musical."
Lighting Design Of A Play: Brian Macdevitt, "Joe Turner's Come And Gone."
Lighting Design Of A Musical: Rick Fisher, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Sound Design Of A Play: Gregory Clarke, "Equus."
Sound Design Of A Musical: Paul Arditti, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Choreography: Peter Darling, "Billy Elliot, The Musical."
Orchestrations: Martin Koch, "Billy Elliot, The Musical"; Michael Starobin And Tom Kitt, "Next To Normal." Special Tony Award For Lifetime Achievement In The Theatre: Jerry Herman.
Regional Theatre Tony Award: Signature Theatre, Arlington, Va.
Isabelle Stevenson Award: Phyllis Newman.
Tony Honor For Excellence In The Theatre: Shirley Herz.

Special Congratulations must go to Angela Lansbury who has won her 5th Tony Award!!

I'm in London!!

I've just got back from London! Unusually though, I didn't go and see a show! I was in the capital to see the European Premiere of Britney Spears new concert tour and it was spectacular! Much has been said about Britney's singing abilities in the press - does she mime or does she sing live? Whilst I think that most of her vocals - if not all - were pre-recorded and definately not live, I don't believe that most fans expected her to sing live! They were there for the dancing, the performance and to witness the comeback of Britney herself. After a nightmare year and a half, it seems that Britney has had the mother of all comebacks. Some people in the audience I'm sure were there hoping that she would fail, but the vast majority wanted to see her strutt her stuff and deliver something on these shores that she's not done in over 5 years!

She didn't seem as alert as I remember from her last tour, and whether that's down to her nerves or her medication, I don't know or care. The spectacle of the show was put on to possibly hide the fact that it may be a little early for her to return to the limelight, but it was done very well and the general positive reviews from people will hopefully mean that she will take this forward into the next tour in a few years time (if she wants to), and deliver a better performance! This was the first steps of a comeback and it was definately a success!!

Casting News

Whatsonstage.com are reporting that Sally Ann Triplett is returning to the West End stage to star as Donna Sherridan in the Abba blockbuster musical Mamma Mia! Sally Ann has previously starred in Anything Goes alongside John Barrowman, for which she won the 2004 Whatsonstage.com award for Best Actress in a Musical. Some of her other West End credits include Chicago, Cats and Cabaret.

From the 16th June Sally Ann will be joined by I'd Do Anything finalist Niamh Perry as her onstage daughter Sophie.

18 year old Liam Doyle from Coventry will star as Troy Bolton after winning the GMTV search for Troy competition to be the star of High School Musical 2 Live on Stage!. Liam beat out thousands of other lads from all over the country in the open auditions held in London last month, before being chosen from the final three by GMTV viewers.

There will be a rush of people out to buy tickets in the next few days after the new cast for Calendar Girls was announced today. Jill Halfpenny, Jerry Hall, Gemma Atkinson, Anita Dobson, and no less than June Brown herself (Eastenders Dot Cotton) will be taking over the roles from Patricia Hodge and co on 28th July 2009, where they will play a limited run until October 17th 2009 at the West Ends Noel Coward Theatre.

David Tennants Hamlet to be filmed!

The BBC has today confirmed that the David Tennant helmed production of the RSC's Hamlet will be filmed for BBC2 later this year.

Tennant and all the key members of the company including Patrick Stewart have signed up and filming will begin next month at an undisclosed location.

The production was directed by Gregory Doran

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said that the film was “a wonderful opportunity to bring one of the great stage successes of last year to a wider audience.” Doran added: “The Hamlet cast and the RSC are all really delighted that we now have the chance to share this show with audiences around the world.”

The news must come as a nice suprise for Tennant who was unable to perform for much of the London leg of the run due to a back injury.

Liverpools Neptune Theatre to be refurbished?!

The Liverpool Daily Post is reporting that the owners of the Neptune Theatre on Hanover Street in the city have said that they will refurbish the venue inside and out and return it to its "all-singing and dancing former glory."

Says the Daily Post...

"The news comes after Hanover and Liverpool city council ended a four-year deadlock over how much rent the council should pay to lease the building.

It will be music to the ears of the city’s amateur theatre groups who lost their much-loved home when it closed.

The venue was mothballed in 2005, needing massive refurbishment. Then the landlord and tenant fell out over the rent.

Hanover reportedly wanted to up the tenancy from £6,000 a year to nearer £60,000.
But, after a prolonged arbitration, the two sides agreed a “mutually acceptable” figure.
Last week, senior Liverpool councillors voted to sign a new five-year tenancy.

They also said there was a “six figure-sum” available to fix up the inside of the building, which first opened in 1913."

Click here to read the full article

Editors opinion: This could be excellent news for the culture in Liverpool. Since the venue closed a few years ago many people who could have gone into Amateur Dramatics would have either gone somewhere else or wouldn't have got started full stop. One feels however that the council missed another trick - it could, and should have been sorted for the Capital of Culture year in 2008 to show off how diverse our theatre heritege is in the city. Better late than never though eh?!

Round up of News!

Sunset Boulevard is to be the third show in the West End to close on Saturday 30th May after putting up closing notices this week. It was hoped that the show would extend its booking period until September, but a lack of sales has meant that it will follow Joseph starring Gareth Gates, and Spring Awakening in closing at the end of the month.

Another new West End show, Shout! which stars Sue Pollard and is running at the Arts Theatre will also close on May 31st after only a months run! The duke-box musical had a successful UK tour prior to its opening on the West End.

John Barrowman is to add to CV in September when he stars as Albin in the current West End revival of La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse in London. He will start his performances in mid-September and will continue for a strictly limited 9-week run.

Alan Cummings is rumoured to be in talks with the producers of the Spiderman musical, due to open on Broadway next year. It is thought he will play The Green Goblin.

Chace Crawford has been confirmed to star in the new movie version of Footloose. The role which was made famous by Kevin Bacon in the original was initially offered to Zac Efron, who declined due to fears of being type cast. The Gossip Girl star will start filming within the next few months.

And finally... An Inspector Calls is due to open at the Novello theatre in September after the demise of Spring Awakening. The show, which has played over 4000 performances around the world is directed by Stephen Daldry.