Drama

The awards, Broadway's highest honor, have been broadcast on CBS since 1978.  Community of Lights presents below some of the Most Memorable Performances of all times. This was the first year that the show aired from The Beacon Theatre, which is part of the Madison Square Garden portfolio of venues. In a statement Harris said, "I'm honored and stoked to have been asked to host the 2011 Tony Awards. It should be a great show - we've got a fantastic mix of live performances, a few secret surprises, and since they're closed for retooling, we're using all the rigging equipment from Spider-Man. What could possibly go wrong?"  The show will include performances by the 2011 Tony-nominated Best Musicals "Anything Goes," "Catch Me If You Can," "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," "Sister Act," "The Book of Mormon" and "The Scottsboro Boys." Additionally, casts from some of Broadway's hottest shows will take the stage this year, including the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical "Memphis," "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," "Ghetto Klown" and the cast of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert," featuring special appearances by musician Paul Shaffer from the "Late Show with David Letterman" and the legendary singer Martha Wash. The Tony Awards will reassemble an all-star cast of the New York Philharmonic's April 2011 limited run of "Company." This once-in-a-lifetime assembly of talent will perform live exclusively at the Tony Awards and feature Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Katie Finneran, Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Lazar, Patti LuPone, Jill Paice, Martha Plimpton, Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jim Walton and Chryssie Whitehead.

Alec Baldwin, Christie Brinkley, Matthew Broderick, Harry Connick, Jr., Viola Davis, Joel Grey, Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammer, Marg Helgenberger, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Robert Morse, Jim Parsons, David Hyde Pierce, Daniel Radcliffe, Vanessa Redgrave, Chris Rock, Brooke Shields, Robin Williams, Patrick Wilson and Catherine Zeta-Jones were presenters on the awards show honoring theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway.

Neil Patrick Harris

The 2011 Tony Awards was executive-produced by Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment.  The winners and nominees for 2011 are:

Best Play

• Good People Author: David Lindsay-Abaire
• Jerusalem Author: Jez Butterworth
• The Motherf**ker with the Hat Author: Stephen Adly Guirgis
• War Horse Author: Nick Stafford

Best Musical

• The Book of Mormon
• Catch Me If You Can
• The Scottsboro Boys
• Sister Act

Best Book of a Musical

• Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Alex Timbers
• The Book of Mormon Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone
• The Scottsboro Boys David Thompson
• Sister Act Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

• The Book of Mormon Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone
• The Scottsboro Boys Music & Lyrics: John Kander & Fred Ebb
• Sister Act Music: Alan Menken
• Lyrics: Glenn Slater
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek

Best Revival of a Play

• Arcadia
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• The Merchant of Venice
• The Normal Heart

Best Revival of a Musical

• Anything Goes
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

• Brian Bedford The Importance of Being Earnest
• Bobby Cannavale The Motherf**ker with the Hat
• Joe Mantello The Normal Heart
• Al Pacino The Merchant of Venice
• Mark Rylance Jerusalem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

• Nina Arianda Born Yesterday
• Frances McDormand Good People
• Lily Rabe The Merchant of Venice
• Vanessa Redgrave Driving Miss Daisy
• Hannah Yelland Brief Encounter

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Norbert Leo Butz Catch Me If You Can
• Josh Gad The Book of Mormon
• Joshua Henry The Scottsboro Boys
• Andrew Rannells The Book of Mormon
• Tony Sheldon Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Sutton Foster Anything Goes
• Beth Leavel Baby It's You!
• Patina Miller Sister Act
• Donna Murphy The People in the Picture

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

• Mackenzie Crook Jerusalem
• Billy Crudup Arcadia
• John Benjamin Hickey The Normal Heart
• Arian Moayed Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
• Yul Vázquez The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

• Ellen Barkin The Normal Heart
• Edie Falco The House of Blue Leaves
• Judith Light Lombardi
• Joanna Lumley La Bête
• Elizabeth Rodriguez The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Colman Domingo The Scottsboro Boys
• Adam Godley Anything Goes
• John Larroquette How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Forrest McClendon The Scottsboro Boys
• Rory O'Malley The Book of Mormon

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Laura Benanti Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
• Tammy Blanchard How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Victoria Clark Sister Act
• Nikki M. James The Book of Mormon
• Patti LuPone Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Best Direction of a Play

• Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris War Horse
• Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe The Normal Heart
• Anna D. Shapiro The Motherf**ker with the Hat
• Daniel Sullivan The Merchant of Venice

Best Direction of a Musical

• Rob Ashford How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker The Book of Mormon
• Susan Stroman The Scottsboro Boys

Best Choreography

• Rob Ashford How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Kathleen Marshall Anything Goes
• Casey Nicholaw The Book of Mormon
• Susan Stroman The Scottsboro Boys

Best Orchestrations

• Doug Besterman How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Larry Hochman The Scottsboro Boys
• Larry Hochman & Stephen Oremus The Book of Mormon
• Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank Catch Me If You Can

Best Scenic Design of a Play

• Todd Rosenthal The Motherf**ker with the Hat
• Rae Smith War Horse
• Ultz Jerusalem
• Mark Wendland The Merchant of Venice

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

• Beowulf Boritt The Scottsboro Boys
• Derek McLane Anything Goes
• Scott Pask The Book of Mormon
• Donyale Werle Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Best Costume Design of a Play

• Jess Goldstein The Merchant of Venice
• Desmond Heeley The Importance of Being Earnest
• Mark Thompson La Bête
• Catherine Zuber Born Yesterday

Best Costume Design of a Musical

• Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Martin Pakledinaz Anything Goes
• Ann Roth The Book of Mormon
• Catherine Zuber How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Best Lighting Design of a Play

• Paule Constable War Horse
• David Lander Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
• Kenneth Posner The Merchant of Venice
• Mimi Jordan Sherin Jerusalem

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

• Ken Billington The Scottsboro Boys
• Howell Binkley How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Peter Kaczorowski Anything Goes
• Brian MacDevitt The Book of Mormon

Best Sound Design of a Play

• Acme Sound Partners and Cricket S. Myers Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
• Simon Baker Brief Encounter
• Ian Dickinson for Autograph Jerusalem
• Christopher Shutt War Horse

Best Sound Design of a Musical

• Peter Hylenski The Scottsboro Boys
• Steve Canyon Kennedy Catch Me If You Can
• Brian Ronan Anything Goes
• Brian Ronan The Book of Mormon

Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

• Athol Fugard
• Philip J. Smith

Regional Theatre Tony Award®

• Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Ill.)

Isabelle Stevenson Award

• Eve Ensler

Special Tony Award

• Handspring Puppet Company

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre

• William Berloni
• The Drama Book Shop
• Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts