Theater News

Boys Town

Major stars glittered at Radio City Musical Hall last night as Jersey Boys and The History Boys scored big in the Tony Awards competition.

New York City

Radio City Music Hall was like the Palomar Observatory last night as ordinary theater lovers gazed at the stars — and the stars gazed at each other — during the 60th annual Tony Awards ceremony. Here’s a press-room photo of Daniel Reichard, Christian Hoff, J. Robert Spencer, and John Lloyd Young, newly minted stars for their performances in Jersey Boys; Young and Hoff were respectively honored as Best Leading Actor and Best Featured Actor in a Musical, while the show itself won the Best Musical prize.

Another happy winner was Richard Griffiths, named Best Actor in a Play for his brilliant turn as Hector in The History Boys, which captured the Best Play award.

Also in the winners’ circle: Stage and TV star Cynthia Nixon, named Best Actress in a Play for her unforgettable characterization of a grief-stricken young mother in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole…

…the gorgeous LaChanze, named Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as the “ugly” Celie in The Color Purple…

…Ian McDiarmid (a.k.a. the Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars movies), who won the Best Featured Actor in a Play award for Faith Healer…

…Don McKellar and Bob Martin, Tony winners for their book of the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, in which Martin also stars as “Man in Chair”…

…and the captivating Sarah Jones, who won a special Tony for her work as author/star of the one-woman, multi-character show Bridge & Tunnel.

Among the many notables who turned up on stage at Radio City as presenters: Glenn Close, a three-time Tony winner for The Real Thing, Death and the Maiden, and Sunset Boulevard…

…Ralph Fiennes, a Tony winner for Hamlet in 1995 and a nominee this year for Faith Healer…

…pop star Nellie McKay, who plays Polly Peachum in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s current production of The Threepenny Opera…

…T.R. Knight, who appeared on Broadway in Noises Off and Tartuffe and now has a major role in the enormously popular TV series Grey’s Anatomy…

…the great James Earl Jones, a two-time Tony winner for The Great White Hope and Fences…

…pop legend Frankie Valli, whom John Lloyd Young plays so convincingly in Jersey Boys…

…Oprah Winfrey, media superstar and lead producer of The Color Purple…

…and the one-and-only Julie Andrews, who presented the Best Musical Award.