A Gentleman's Guide leads way at Tonys

Audra McDonald accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at the 68th annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sunday.
Audra McDonald accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at the 68th annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sunday.

NEW YORK -- The murderous romp A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder has gotten a lot of love at the Tony Awards -- it nabbed the best new musical trophy on a night that Audra McDonald, Bryan Cranston and Neil Patrick Harris all took home big awards.

A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder, in which a poor man comically eliminates the eight heirs ahead of him for a title, opened rather quietly and has had a steady increase in interest, peaking with its huge win over Disney's Aladdin and the built-in love of Carole King songs from Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

"The little engine that could, did," said an ecstatic lead producer, Joey Parnes. The show nabbed a total of four wins, including best book of a musical.

McDonald became the Tony's most decorated actress, while Cranston won a best actor trophy for his Broadway debut. Harris took home best actor in a musical after years of handing out the awards to others.

McDonald won her sixth Tony for portraying Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, putting her ahead of five-time winners Angela Lansbury and the late Julie Harris for the most competitive wins by an actress. Among those she thanked were her parents for not medicating their hyperactive child.

The latest win -- for best lead actress in a play -- also makes McDonald the first grand-slam performance winner. She previously won as best featured actress in a play (A Raisin in the Sun and Master Class), best lead actress in a musical (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), and best featured actress in a musical (Ragtime and Carousel).

Cranston won the best lead actor in a play Tony for playing former President Lyndon Johnson in Robert Schenkkan's All the Way, which also was crowned best play.

Jessie Mueller beat some strong Broadway veterans in Sutton Foster, Idina Menzel and Kelli O'Hara to take home the best actress in a musical Tony for playing the title character in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She thanked the iconic singer-songwriter and all her competitors.

Hugh Jackman kicked off the show with a bounce, hopping up and down like a kangaroo during his opening number Sunday. Big, high-kicking musical numbers from After Midnight, Aladdin, Rocky and Hedwig and the Angry Inch kept the energy level up.

The first award of the night was for best featured actor in a play and it went to Mark Rylance, who won his third Tony for playing the countess Olivia in Twelfth Night. Rylance, who previously won for Jerusalem and Boeing-Boeing, was also nominated for best lead actor honors for his evil title character in Richard III.

The best featured actress in a musical Tony went to Lena Hall in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, playing a woman who dresses as a man and plays Harris' boyfriend. The show later won for best musical revival.

Darko Tresnjak won for directing the musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and thanked his mother, a skydiver during World War II now too frail to be there. The musical also won for best book of a musical and costumes for a musical. Away from the cameras, the now-closed musical The Bridges of Madison County won for best score and best orchestration.

Kenny Leon won his first Tony for directing the revival of A Raisin in the Sun. He thanked, among others, his star Denzel Washington and the women in his life. He even managed to plug his next work, Holler If Ya Hear Me.

One of his Raisin stars, Sophie Okonedo, won for best featured actress in a play. "I am loving it on Broadway," she said. She thanked producer Scott Rudin for believing that a "Jewish, Nigerian Brit" could play the iconic role of Ruth Younger. The show also won best play revival.

James Monroe Iglehart, who plays the manic Genie in Aladdin, won for best featured actor in a musical and could barely contain his glee as he thanked a long list of people that included God and his wife.

A Section on 06/09/2014

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