Tony Awards 2013, ‘Kinky Boots’ takes best musical title

The Tonys live...

8:22 p.m.: “Kinky Boots� was named best new musical, bringing its awards haul to six, the most of any production at the 67^th annual Tony Awards. The musical, based on the 2005 British movie about a drag queen who saves a shoe factory, beat out the London import “Matilda,� which won four prizes.

Winning for musical revival was “Pippin,� which originated at the American Repertory Theatre in Massachusetts. “Pippin� took four Tonys.

The Steppenwolf’s revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?� and Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Nance� each won three awards.

COMPLETE LIST: Tonys 2013 winners and nominees

8:02 p.m.: “Kinky Boots, The Musical� wins the 2013 Tony for best musical.

7:54 p.m.: “Pippin� wins for best revival of a musical.

7:48 p.m.: Cicely Tyson won her first Tony Award for the revival of Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful.� “It’s been 30 years since I stood on the stage,� said Tyson, 79. But she said she had a “burning desire to just one more� great role.

In what may go down as one of the most elegant responses to music playing over a winner who had exceeded his or her time, Tyson, looked down and noted that she was being asked to wrap it up.

“That’s exactly what you did, you wrapped me up in your arms, and now I can go home with a Tony,� Tyson said.

The actress plays Carrie Watts, a role that won Geraldine Page an Oscar in the 1985 film adaptation.

Patina Miller won for lead actress in a musical for the revival of “Pippin.� She was previously nominated in the musical “Sister Act.�

Tonys 2013: The Times’ Twitter coverage

7:22 p.m.: Tracy Letts upsets Tom Hanks for best performance by a lead actor in a play for his performance in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?�

7:17 p.m.: As expected, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg received a special Tony at Sunday’s ceremony. Standing next to presenter Sigourney Weaver, Bloomberg quipped: “I can’t sing, I can’t dance and I can’t act. I’m a triple threat, literally.�

Weaver presented the award for a revival of a play to the Steppenwolf Theatre Co.’s production of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?� The production originated at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago before transferring to Broadway this season.

7:05 p.m.: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?� wins for best revival of a play.

7:00 p.m.: Playwright Christopher Durang won his first Tony Award, for his comedy “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,� which was named best play.

“I wrote my first play in the second grade in 1958,� Durang said. Emily Mann, the artistic head of the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey, shared the award. “Vanya� debuted at the McCarter before moving off-Broadway and then to Broadway. The play is a modern-day comic riff on the plays of Anton Chekhov.

RELATED: Tonys 2013: Judith Light’s love affair with Broadway community

The award was presented by Jesse Eisenberg, the star of “The Social Network� who also has a budding side career as a playwright. Eisenberg’s “The Revisionist� was a success this season, running at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre.

Hollywood was the butt of an extended joke when Harris, Andrew Rannells, Megan Hilty and Laura Benanti took to the stage to lament the perilous world of television.

Harris ribbed the former “Book of Mormon� star Rannells for his recently canceled sitcom “The New Normal.� Hilty struck out with “Smash,� while Benanti has two canceled TV shows -- “The Playboy Club� and “Go On.�

Harris comically bragged about his successful TV career, which includes the long-running CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.�

Andrea Martin, another actor who has worked extensively in TV, won her second Tony Award, for featured actress in a musical for the revival of “Pippin.�

6:43 p.m.: “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike� by Christopher Durang wins the 2013 Tony for best play.

PHOTOS: Tonys 2013 Arrivals

6:30 p.m.: Cyndi Lauper’s true color was punk red on Sunday when she accepted the award for her original score of “Kinky Boots.� The chameleonic rock star, sporting a loud red hairdo, admitted that even though she had rehearsed her speech in front of the shower curtain, she was still surprised to have won.

Lauper beat out another rock musician -- Trey Anastasio of the band Phish, nominated for the short-lived musical “Hands on a Hardbody,� which had a tryout run at the La Jolla Playhouse.

“Kinky Boots� continued its 2013 Tony run with Jerry Mitchell taking the award for choreography.

6:12 p.m.: For the second time in Tony Awards history, two women took the awards for direction -- Diane Paulus for the revival of “Pippin� and Pam MacKinnon for the revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?�

MacKinnon reserved her biggest thanks for Albee, for giving her career “a spine.� The director was nominated last season for Bruce Norris’ “Clybourne Park,� which ran at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. before transferring to Broadway.

Paulus also was nominated last year for “The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess.�

Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said this marked the first sweep by women in the directing category. In 1998, Julie Taymor won for “Lion King� and Garry Hynes won for “The Beauty Queen of Leenane�

5:59 p.m.: It’s hard to believe that Alan Cumming and Scarlett Johansson exist on the same plane of reality. But there they were -- two Tony snubs of 2013 presenting an award arm in arm with tense smiles.

They presented the award for featured actor in a musical to Gabriel Ebert for “Matilda.�

An even stranger pairing was cast members of the hair-metal musical “Rock of Ages� introducing a scene from the ultra-traditional “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.�

Liam Neeson and Oliver Platt put in a joint comic appearance to promote the American Theatre Wing, the main organizer of the Tonys.

5:58 p.m.: Pam MacKinnon wins for best direction of a play for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?�

5:55 p.m. Diane Paulus wins for best direction of a musical for “Pippin.�

5:53 p.m.: Leon Rothenberg wins for sound design for a play for his work on “The Nance.�

5:40 p.m.: Gabriel Ebert wins his first Tony for his role in “Matilda, The Musical.�

FULL COVERAGE: Tonys 2013

5:34 p.m.:

Judith Light won her second consecutive Tony Award for featured actress in a play, for “The Assembled Parties� by Richard Greenberg. Tom Hanks, nominated for “Lucky Guy,� presented the award.

The “Who’s the Boss?� actress won last year for “Other Desert Cities.�

The Tony Awards have been called a three-hour commercial for the Broadway industry, and this year is no different.

Cast members from old musicals have been brought back to introduce scenes from new musicals. Essentially, you get two marketing plugs for the price of one: “Newsies� introduced “Matilda,� “Chicago� introduced “Bring It On,� etc.

5:20 p.m.: Courtney B. Vance won the first major Tony Award of the evening, for featured actor in a play, for his performance in Nora Ephron’s “Lucky Guy.� The actor thanked his wife, actress Angela Bassett, and director George C. Wolfe.

Tony Awards handed out before the telecast went to costume designers Ann Roth for “The Nance� and William Ivey Long for “Cinderella.�

“Kinky Boots,� the musical juggernaut nominated for 13 awards, won for orchestrations.

RELATED: Courtney Vance glad he took a chance on ‘Lucky Guy’

5:14 p.m.: Are we still in 2012? The 67^th annual Tony Awards opened with host Neil Patrick Harris performing a comic tribute to the musical “Once,� which opened last season.

It’s easy to understand why Tony producers spotlighted a musical that’s old news and one that’s based on a movie at the top of its prime-time broadcast on CBS. The need to appeal to a wide audience is a necessary evil for an awards show whose ratings have dropped steadily in the past few years. In case you needed further evidence, the telecast’s first cut-away to “Lucky Guy� nominee Tom Hanks came just five minutes into the show.

Harris then jumped into a wisecracking, Billy Crystal-esque musical medley of the season’s nominated musicals. To keep things topical, he made humorous references to Shia LaBeof and the movie version of “Les Miserables.�

4:45 p.m.: The annual Tony Awards will begin at 5 p.m. PDT on Sunday with our coverage of the ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The CBS broadcast will be delayed until 8 p.m. PDT on the West Coast.

Culture Monster will have continuous coverage of the ceremony, with news updates of the winners and the most notable moments from Broadway’s biggest night.

Viewers on the West Coast who like surprises should check by later because our online coverage will be live, beginning around 5 p.m. on Sunday.

PHOTOS: Hollywood stars on stage

This year’s Broadway season featured big musical blockbusters (“Matilda,� “Kinky Boots�), critically acclaimed playwrights (Richard Greenberg, Chistopher Durang) and a handful of celebrities (Tom Hanks, Sigourney Weaver, Scarlett Johansson).

The telecast will feature an impressive list of presenters that will include the aformentioned stars as well as Jesse Eisenberg, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sally Field, Zachary Quinto, Jon Cryer and Anna Kendrick.

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