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Billy Elliot wins 10 Tonys
Only composer Sir Elton John loses out on a big night for Britain on Broadway which also saw London import ‘God of Carnage’ win
The British director Stephen Daldry was the toast of Broadway this morning after the stage version of his 2000 film Billy Elliot carried off 10 Tony awards in New York last night.
The musical, about a northern coalminer's son who dreams of becoming a classical dancer, won best musical, best direction for a musical and, in a first for the Tonys, a best actor award shared between the three young actors who alternate as Billy - David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish and Trent Kowalik (above, left to right).
The only upset on what would have been a perfect night for the Billy Elliot team was that the show's composer Elton John failed to win for best score. Sir Elton had been expected to be up against Dolly Parton for her musical of 9 to 5, but on the night the Tony went to Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey for their rather edgier musical, Next to Normal about a suburban woman battling bipolar disorder.
Sir Elton, not to be outshone, helped accept the best musical award, telling the audience: "Thank you for accepting us so beautifully on Broadway. We came here at a hard time economically. You opened up your wallets and you opened up your hearts to us."
Billy Elliot, which was launched in London in 2005, opened on Broadway last November and was an instant critical and commercial hit. The New York Times theatre critic Ben Brantley praised the "intoxicating fleet-footed flashes of art and big knock-'em-dead sequences". It had been nominated for a total of 15 Tonys, equalling the record set by The Producers in 2001, but fell short of the Mel Brooks musical's 12 actual awards.
Another London import that has been a Broadway hit over the winter, the satirical comedy God of Carnage, also did well last night. The play, by the French writer Yasmina Reza, is about the clash between two liberal couples whose children get into a fight.
On Broadway, it has featured James Gandolfini of The Sopranos, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis. It won the Tony for best play while Marcia Gay Harden picked up the best actress award. ·
