Memphis and Red Big Tony Winners

Red (Best Play) with six awards and Memphis (Best Musical) with four awards were the big winners at this year's Tony Awards, presented in front of a 3,000 plus audience at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Sunday June 13. Catherine Zeta-Jones (Best Actress in a Musical) and Denzel Washington (Best Actor in a Play) were both recognised with individual awards.

In the smoky halls and underground clubs of the segregated 1950s, a young white DJ named Huey Calhoun fell in love with everything he shouldn't: rock 'n' roll and an electrifying black singer. Memphis is an original story about the cultural revolution that erupted when his vision met her voice, and the music changed forever. 

In Red, Master American expressionist Mark Rothko (Alfred Molina) has just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art. But when his young assistant (Eddie Redmayne) gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing. John Logan's play is a searing portrait of an artist's ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. Red transferred to Broadway after premiering at London's Donmar Warehouse.

Another winner to transfer from London was the revival of La Cage aux Folles, a winner of three Tonys, which began its life at the Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark, where the production of A Little Night Music, for which Catherine Zeta-Jones won her award, also premiered.

Award Winners

Best Play: Red
Best Musical: Memphis
Best Book of a Musical: Memphis.
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre: Memphis.
Best Revival of a Play: Fences.
Best Revival of a Musical: La Cage Aux Folles
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play: Denzel Washington (Fences)
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play: Viola Davis (Fences)
Best Lead Actor Musical: Douglas Hodge (La Cage)
Best Lead Actress Musical: Catherine Zeta-Jones (A Little Night Music)
Best Featured Actor Play: Eddie Redmayne (Red)
Best Featured Actor Musical: Levi Kreis (Million Dollar Quartet)
Best Featured Actress Play: Scarlett Johansson (A View From The Bridge)
Best Director Musical: Terry Johnson (La Cage)
Best Director Play: Michael Grandage (Red)
Best Choreography: Bill T. Jones (Fela!)
Best Featured Actress Musical: Katie Finneran (Promises, Promises)
Best Orchestrations: Daryl Waters and David Bryan (Memphis)
Best Scenic Design Play: Christopher Oram (Red).
Best Scenic Design Musical: Christine Jones (American Idiot)
Best Costume Design Play: Catherine Zuber (The Royal Family)
Best Costume Design of a Musical: Marina Draghici (Fela!)
Best Lighting Design of a Play: Neil Austin (Red).
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Kevin Adams (American Idiot)
Best Sound Design of a Play: Adam Cork (Red)
Best Sound Design of a Musical: Robert Kaplowitz (Fela!)

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: Alan Ayckbourn and Marian Seldes.
Regional Theater Tony Award: The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, Waterford, Conn.
Isabelle Stevenson Award: David Hyde Pierce.
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre: B.H. Barry and Tim Viola.

Show descriptions from the Tony Award website. Photo: Memphis.