60th Tony Awards

The 60th Annual Tony Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2006. The award ceremony was broadcast live on the CBS television network in the United States. The 2006 Tony Awards did not feature a host, but instead over 60 stars presented awards at the ceremony.

The biggest winner of the night was the Royal National Theatre production The History Boys by British playwright Alan Bennett winning six Tonys out of seven nominations, including Best Play, Best Direction, Best Leading Actor and Best Featured Actress.

Natasha Richardson, Phylicia Rashad and Liev Schreiber announced the nominations on May 16, 2006.

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers (now called The Broadway League) at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and performances plus several non-competitive Special Awards (such as the Regional Theatre Award).

Eligibility
Shows that opened on Broadway during the 2005–06 season before May 11, 2006 are eligible.


 * Original plays
 * After the Night and the Music
 * Bridge and Tunnel
 * Festen
 * The History Boys
 * Latinologues
 * The Lieutenant of Inishmore
 * A Naked Girl on the Appian Way
 * Primo
 * Rabbit Hole
 * Shining City
 * Souvenir
 * Well


 * Original musicals
 * Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life
 * The Color Purple
 * The Drowsy Chaperone
 * Hot Feet
 * In My Life
 * Jersey Boys
 * Lennon
 * Lestat
 * Ring of Fire
 * Tarzan
 * The Wedding Singer
 * The Woman in White


 * Play revivals
 * Absurd Person Singular
 * Awake and Sing!
 * Barefoot in the Park
 * The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
 * The Constant Wife
 * Faith Healer
 * Mark Twain Tonight!
 * The Odd Couple
 * Seascape
 * Three Days of Rain
 * A Touch of the Poet


 * Musical revivals
 * The Pajama Game
 * Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
 * The Threepenny Opera

The ceremony
Harry Connick Jr. opened the show singing three popular songs from three Broadway musicals. Connick, (who was heavily medicated to be able to perform, because of a ruptured disc in his spine, ), was also a nominee and a performer with the cast of The Pajama Game. All of the sixty presenters and co-hosts joined the stage during the third song. Connick performed "Tonight" (from West Side Story), "Give My Regards to Broadway" (from Little Johnny Jones), and "There's No Business Like Show Business" (from Annie Get Your Gun).

New Musicals

 * The Color Purple: Felicia P. Fields, La Chanze and the company performed "Hell No!" and the reprise of the title song.
 * The Drowsy Chaperone: Sutton Foster and Bob Martin performed "Show Off" with the ensemble.
 * Jersey Boys: John Lloyd Young performed "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" and was joined by Christian Hoff, Daniel Reichard and J. Robert Spencer to perform "Who Loves You?".
 * The Wedding Singer: Stephen Lynch and the company performed "It's Your Wedding Day".

Revivals

 * The Pajama Game: Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O'Hara performed "There Once Was a Man". Harry Connick, Jr. and Megan Lawrence with ensemble performed "Hernando's Hideaway".
 * Sweeney Todd: The company, including Manoel Felciano, Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone performed a medley of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", "The Worst Pies in London", "My Friends" and "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (reprise)"
 * The Threepenny Opera: Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper with the ensemble performed "The Ballad of the Pimp."

Presenters
Source: tonyawards.com


 * Lauren Ambrose
 * Julie Andrews
 * Hank Azaria
 * Harry Belafonte
 * Kristen Bell
 * Norbert Leo Butz
 * Victoria Clark
 * Glenn Close
 * Harry Connick, Jr.
 * Barbara Cook
 * Jim Dale
 * Christine Ebersole
 * Ralph Fiennes
 * Harvey Fierstein
 * Ana Gasteyer
 * Joanna Gleason
 * Marcia Gay Harden
 * Neil Patrick Harris
 * Hal Holbrook
 * Bill Irwin
 * James Earl Jones
 * T. R. Knight
 * Frank Langella
 * Josh Lucas
 * Julianna Margulies
 * Eric McCormack
 * Audra McDonald
 * Michael McKean
 * S. Epatha Merkerson
 * Brian Stokes Mitchell
 * James Naughton
 * Patricia Neal
 * Bebe Neuwirth
 * Cynthia Nixon
 * Janis Paige
 * Anna Paquin
 * Rosie Perez
 * Joe Pesci
 * Bernadette Peters
 * David Hyde Pierce
 * Oliver Platt
 * Jonathan Pryce
 * Sara Ramirez
 * Molly Ringwald
 * Chita Rivera
 * Paul Rudd
 * Mark Ruffalo
 * Julia Roberts
 * Liev Schreiber
 * Kyra Sedgwick
 * Paul Shaffer
 * Martin Short
 * Tom Skerritt
 * Jamie-Lynn Sigler
 * John Tartaglia
 * Richard Thomas
 * Stanley Tucci
 * Rita Wilson
 * Oprah Winfrey
 * Alfre Woodard

New category
Beginning with the 2006 awards, an additional category was added on a trial basis for the 2005–2006, 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 seasons: Best Recreation of a Leading Role by an Actor/Actress. This category was intended to honor actors and actresses who were cast as replacements and joined a long-running show after its official opening, and would not have otherwise had the chance to be recognized for a potentially Tony-worthy performance. This award may or may not have been given in any particular year. Shows were to submit replacements they deemed worthy of consideration and a twenty-four-member committee, The Tony Awards Administration Committee, were to attend the shows and evaluate the performances.

No award was given in 2006, because neither of the two performers nominated, Jonathan Pryce and Harvey Fierstein, received the necessary sixteen votes for a win.

Following the 2006 Tony Awards, the Administration Committee voted unanimously to abandon the category.

Winners and nominees
Sources:Playbill New York Times

Winners are in bold

Special awards

 * Special Tony Award
 * Sarah Jones for Bridge & Tunnel
 * Regional Theater Tony Award
 * Intiman Theatre, Seattle, Washington
 * Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
 * Harold Prince

Multiple nominations and awards
These productions had multiple nominations:


 * 13 nominations: The Drowsy Chaperone
 * 11 nominations: The Color Purple
 * 9 nominations: The Pajama Game
 * 8 nominations: Awake and Sing! & Jersey Boys
 * 7 nominations: The History Boys
 * 6 nominations: Sweeney Todd
 * 5 nominations: The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Rabbit Hole & The Wedding Singer
 * 4 nominations: The Constant Wife & Faith Healer
 * 2 nominations: Lestat, Seascape, Shining City, Three Days of Rain, The Threepenny Opera & Well

The following productions received multiple awards.


 * 6 wins: The History Boys
 * 5 wins: The Drowsy Chaperone
 * 4 wins: Jersey Boys
 * 2 wins: Awake and Sing!, The Pajama Game & Sweeney Todd