'Awakening,' 'Utopia' Tops at Tony Awards

Jun 11, 12:25 AM

Current Headlines: Best musical Spring Awakening won eight Tony Awards and best play The Coast of Utopia won seven Sunday at the 61st Tony Awards in New York.

Spring Awakening, which dwells on German teens dealing with repressed sexuality, won a best director Tony for Michael Mayer, as well as awards for Duncan Sheik's score and orchestration and Bill T. Jones' choreography.

The Coast of Utopia, playwright Tom Stoppard's trilogy about 19th century Russia, earned Stoppard his fourth writing Tony, Daily Variety reported. Its seven Tony Awards are the most ever for a play, surpassing the six awarded to Death of a Salesman in 1949 and The History Boys last year.

Jack O'Brien won the directing prize for Utopia, which also won acting awards for Billy Crudup and Jennifer Ehle.

Grey Gardens won three Tonys, including best actress in a musical for Christine Ebersole and featured actress in a musical for Mary Louise Wilson.

Journey's End won for best revival of a play and Company won for best revival of a musical.

David Hyde Pierce won for best actor in a musical for Curtains, and Frank Langella won for best actor in a play for his performance as former President Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon.

Julie White won for best actress in a play for The Little Dog Laughed.