Neil Patrick Harris, Audra McDonald win big at celeb
8 minutes ago
The Tony Awards may be considered Broadway's biggest night, but the 68th annual event held Sunday night in New York's Radio City Music Hall was packed full of Hollywood A-list wattage.
Host Hugh Jackman got things to a hopping good start by bouncing up to the stage from the red carpet past luminaries including Sting, Clint Eastwood and Neil Patrick Harris. He noted the Tonys was 'the only place you can see 'Rocky' on Broadway, ('All the Way' star) Bryan Cranston in the Oval Office and Wolverine in tap shoes.'
But Hollywood celebrity is no guarantee an actor or actress will get a Tony Award, and early-on prizes handed out in the 26 categories stayed strictly within the stage community.
Mark Rylance took home the first prize of the night as a featured actor in a play, Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night,' while featured actress in a musical went to a breathless Lena Hall from 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch.'
Sophie Okonedo was the first real crossover winner of the evening; the self-described 'Jewish Nigerian Brit' is best known for her movie and TV roles (she has an Oscar nomination for 'Hotel Rwanda'), but earned a Tony for her featured actress in a play role in 'A Raisin in the Sun.'
Elsewhere, James Monroe's robust performance as the genie in 'Aladdin' earned him a prize for featured actor in a musical, and directing Tonys went to Darko Tresnjak ('A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder') and Kenny Leon ('A Raisin in the Sun').
Amid all of the award presentation were samples of some of the Great White Way's show-stopping numbers from productions like 'After Midnight,' 'If/Then,' 'Aladdin,' 'Cabaret' and 'Les Miserables.'
This story is being updated. Follow Randee Dawn on Google+.
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