‘Billy Elliot’ dominates 2009 Tonys in early going, taking 6 awards; Lansbury ties record

‘Billy Elliot’ takes 6 early Tonys; Lansbury wins

NEW YORK — “Billy Elliot” dominated the early going at Sunday night’s Tonys, collecting six awards, including best book of a musical and choreography.

The show also received design prizes for sets, lighting, sound and a tie with “Next to Normal” for best orchestrations.

Angela Lansbury received her fifth Tony, this time for her performance as the dotty medium Madame Arcati in a revival of Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit.” Her win in the featured-actress category tied the record for acting prizes held by Julie Harris, who has five plus a special lifetime achievement award given in 2002.

Who would have thought,” Lansbury began, drowned out by a standing ovation. “Who knew that this time in my life that I should be presented with this lovely, lovely award. I feel deeply grateful.”

Roger Robinson’s portrayal of a mystical shamanlike character in “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” was honored with the featured-acting prize.

“It has taken me 46 years to come from that seat, up these steps, to this microphone,” said Robinson, who thanked his mother in Bellevue, Wash., “who’s 98 years old … who encouraged me and raised seven children single-handedly.”

“Billy Elliot” and “God of Carnage” were the biggest attractions in a Broadway season that finished with a flourish on stage and, despite the economic downturn, at the box office, too. The British musical, which tells the story of a coal miner’s son who dreams to dance, was expected to dominate the musical prizes, while Yasmina Reza’s satiric look at the collapse of middle-class propriety was the favorite for the best play crown.

Besides “Next to Normal,” which examines a family fractured by a mother’s mental illness, the competition for “Billy Elliot” for the top musical prize was “Shrek,” DreamWorks’ tale of a cantankerous green ogre, and “Rock of Ages,” a celebration of ’80s music.

“God of Carnage” faces “reasons to be pretty,” Neil LaBute’s look at an unraveling relationship; “Dividing the Estate,” Horton Foote’s gently comic examination of a squabble over money; and “33 Variations,” Moises Kaufman’s drama about a dying woman’s pursuit of a musical mystery.

“The diversity of offerings, the quality of the shows that were mounted, not to mention big stars, really centered the season,” says Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, an industry trade organization.

The Tonys twittered this year, with Mark Indelicato of “Ugly Betty” as the night’s uber-tweeter from backstage at Radio City Music Hall. He offered such timely nuggets as “NPH’s (host Neil Patrick Harris) favorite beverage while warming up for the start of Tonys? RED BULL, natch!” Jane Fonda, nominated for lead actress in a play, offered: “The trick is to be Zen about it. Winning is sometimes not the prize.”

Broadway had a surprisingly robust 2008-2009 season.

And the spring was exceptionally busy, with stars such as Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, David Hyde Pierce, John Goodman, Matthew Broderick, Allison Janney and Brian Dennehy all arriving in the last week of April.

Attendance during the 2008-2009 season slipped a bit (to 12.15 million from 12.27 million the previous year) but not as much as was feared because of the recession. And grosses for plays and musicals actually were a bit higher than a year earlier, setting a record of $943.3 million.

Forty-three shows opened during the season, the highest number of new productions since 50 opened during the 1982-83 season.

“This is not a year when I would have wanted to be a Tony nominator,” says St. Martin.

Prominent performers who did not receive nomination included Kristin Scott Thomas, Daniel Radcliffe, John Lithgow, as well as Lane, Irwin and Goodman.

The awards were voted on in 27 competitive categories by more than 800 members of the theatrical community, including producers, actors and journalists. The Tonys are presented by the League and the American Theatre Wing, a nonprofit service organization. The Wing founded the Tonys in 1947.