Neil Patrick Harris onstage at the 66th Annual Tony Awards on June 10, 2012, in New York.
(Credit: Getty)
(CBS/AP) Updated 9:49 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK - The bittersweet musical "Once" and the inventive play "Peter and the Starcatcher" are going head-to-head for the most Tony Awards. Both had four as the night hit its halfway point.
John Tiffany, the director of "Once," won Sunday, making his Broadway debut. The musical also won best orchestration, best sound design, and Enda Walsh took home the award for best book of a musical.
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"Peter and the Starcatcher" won for best costume design, best scenic design and best sound design for a play. Christian Borle, who plays the clumsy, overheated pirate who will be Captain Hook in the Peter Pan prequel, was named best featured actor in a play, beating out "The Amazing Spider-Man" star Andrew Garfield and his role in "Death of a Salesman."
"Thank you for making this so much fun," said Borle, who also stars in the NBC series "Smash." He said he was even more pleased that his mother was in the crowd.
"Death of a Salesman" won the Tony Award for best revival of a play, while "Newsies" picked up the award for best score.
Mike Nichols, one of those rare people who have won a Tony, Grammy, Oscar and Emmy, won his ninth Tony for directing "Death of a Salesman." On winning, he said Arthur Miller's 63-year-old play gets truer as time goes by and has a special meaning for actors. "There's not a person in this theater that doesn't know what it is to be a salesman - to be out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine," he said. "As we know, a salesman has got to dream. It goes with the territory."
Judy Kaye won for best actress in a featured role in a musical in "Nice Work If You Can Get It," playing a temperance worker who turns out likes to drink and hangs from a chandelier at one point. It's Kaye's second Tony - she also won for "The Phantom of the Opera."
"I guess chandeliers have been very, very good to me," she said to a burst of laughter. She dedicated the award to her father, who died last week.
Judith Light, who plays an acerbic alcoholic in "Other Desert Cities," won for for best featured actress in a play. Michael McGrath won for best actor in a featured musical role from "Nice Work If You Can Get It."
Sunday's Tony Awards opened with a nod to the past, with host Neil Patrick Harris joining with the cast of "The Book of Mormon" for their opening number of "Hello!" from the 2011 musical winner.
The three-time host was then surrounded by dancers in tuxes and shimmering dresses for a rousing original number in which he wished that real life was more like theater, complete with backup dancers, rhymes and quick costume changes. He had cameo help from Patti LuPone, the little red-headed orphan from "Annie" and a flying Mary Poppins.
The three-hour telecast is packed with stars and performances from musicals, plays and revivals. The explosion of performances is an attempt to showcase as much on Broadway as possible. One performance won't even be nearby - the song from "Hairspray" will be performed from a cruise ship in the Caribbean Sea.
The popular Harris is back this year for his third time hosting with several songs and skits. He'll be competing Sunday against the "Mad Men" season finale, but this time no NBA postseason games.
Harris has also been tasked with trying to MC between performances from the four best musical nominees - "Leap of Faith," ''Newsies," ''Nice Work If You Can Get It" and "Once." To make time, most technical awards ae being handed out during the commercial breaks.
The four musical revival nominees also get a turn on stage, with performances from "Evita," ''Follies," ''The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" and "Jesus Christ Superstar." There is even be time carved out for the cast of "Godspell" and "Ghost The Musical" - two shows not up for best musical Tony.
As if that wasn't enough, look out for performances from the Tony-nominated plays "End of the Rainbow," ''One Man, Two Guvnors" and "Peter and the Starcatcher." There also are video snippets from other plays.
Harris will have plenty of help on stage, from both veterans of Broadway and newcomers. The list of presenters includes Jessica Chastain, Nick Jonas, Tyler Perry, Amanda Seyfried, Jim Parsons, Paul Rudd, Ellen Barkin, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Candice Bergen, Christopher Plummer, James Marsden, Mandy Patinkin and Sheryl Crow. Hugh Jackman will get a few moments to talk after being presented with a special Tony.
The Tony Awards show is serious business and the exposure in front of millions is priceless. Many shows that are suffering pre-summer slumps are counting on a bump from the telecast.