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"Clybourne Park," which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2011, was heavily favored to win the Tony. Set in a Chicago neighborhood, split between 1959 and 2009, the drama is a kind of sequel to Lorraine Hansberry's landmark play "A Raisin in the Sun," which examines the impact first of integration, then, 50 years later, of gentrification on an inter-connected group of white and black characters.
"I have to thank Lorraine Hansberry, who actually built the neighborhood of Clybourne Park," Norris said in his acceptance speech. "We just moved in and depressed the property values."
Norris also gave a shout-out to several regional theaters, including the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, where "Clybourne Park" was produced before its Broadway run.
In an interview before the awards, "Clybourne Park" producer Jordan Roth said, "L.A. audiences were a very important part of this journey. We couldn't have done it without them."
Mike Nichols, 80, an 18-time Tony nominee, earned his sixth Tony for helming the acclaimed revival of Miller's play. After kissing his wife, Diane Sawyer, Nichols took the stage to thank the playwright's daughter, Rebecca Miller, toast his cast as "straight from heaven," and laud Miller's work as a play that "gets truer as time goes by."
"There's not a person in this theater who does not know what it is to be a salesman," Nichols said.
But "Salesman's" stock slumped in another key category. Christian Borle, best known for NBC's "Smash," won for featured actor for playing a pirate in the Peter Pan origin myth "Peter and the Starcatcher." Andrew Garfield, coming soon to a movie screen near you as the latestSpider-Man, had been the category's heavy favorite for his portrayal of Willy Loman's under-achieving son Biff in "Salesman."
Judith Light won the featured actress award for her striking turn as one of the least sympathetic characters in Jon Robin Baitz's play "Other Desert Cities," about a Palm Springs clan grappling with a painful family secret. Linda Edmond had been slightly favored for "Death of a Salesman."
Michael McGrath won featured actor in a musical for his portrayal of Cookie McGee, a bootlegger masquerading as a butler, in the reconstructed Gershwin Prohibition-era musical "Nice Work If You Can Get It." His colleague Judy Kaye won featured actress for "Nice Work," her first since winning for "The Phantom of the Opera" in 1988.
"I guess chandeliers have been very, very good to me," Kaye joked.
A lifetime achievement award went to producer Emanuel Azenberg, while screen and stage star Hugh Jackman was honored for his philanthropic work on behalf of AIDS prevention. Jackman was presented the award by his wife who, he joked, "has never kept a secret her entire life."
Like they say in show biz, good timing is everything.
Times staff writer Steven Zeitchik in New York contributed to this story.
reed.johnson@latimes.com
"I have to thank Lorraine Hansberry, who actually built the neighborhood of Clybourne Park," Norris said in his acceptance speech. "We just moved in and depressed the property values."
In an interview before the awards, "Clybourne Park" producer Jordan Roth said, "L.A. audiences were a very important part of this journey. We couldn't have done it without them."
Mike Nichols, 80, an 18-time Tony nominee, earned his sixth Tony for helming the acclaimed revival of Miller's play. After kissing his wife, Diane Sawyer, Nichols took the stage to thank the playwright's daughter, Rebecca Miller, toast his cast as "straight from heaven," and laud Miller's work as a play that "gets truer as time goes by."
"There's not a person in this theater who does not know what it is to be a salesman," Nichols said.
But "Salesman's" stock slumped in another key category. Christian Borle, best known for NBC's "Smash," won for featured actor for playing a pirate in the Peter Pan origin myth "Peter and the Starcatcher." Andrew Garfield, coming soon to a movie screen near you as the latestSpider-Man, had been the category's heavy favorite for his portrayal of Willy Loman's under-achieving son Biff in "Salesman."
Judith Light won the featured actress award for her striking turn as one of the least sympathetic characters in Jon Robin Baitz's play "Other Desert Cities," about a Palm Springs clan grappling with a painful family secret. Linda Edmond had been slightly favored for "Death of a Salesman."
Michael McGrath won featured actor in a musical for his portrayal of Cookie McGee, a bootlegger masquerading as a butler, in the reconstructed Gershwin Prohibition-era musical "Nice Work If You Can Get It." His colleague Judy Kaye won featured actress for "Nice Work," her first since winning for "The Phantom of the Opera" in 1988.
"I guess chandeliers have been very, very good to me," Kaye joked.
A lifetime achievement award went to producer Emanuel Azenberg, while screen and stage star Hugh Jackman was honored for his philanthropic work on behalf of AIDS prevention. Jackman was presented the award by his wife who, he joked, "has never kept a secret her entire life."
Like they say in show biz, good timing is everything.
TONY AWARDS: Red carpet | Winners | Best & worst
Times staff writer Steven Zeitchik in New York contributed to this story.
reed.johnson@latimes.com
