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Billy sweeps the board at the Tonys

Posted by Jack on Monday 8th June 2009 at 4:19PM

Billy Elliot has swept the board at New York’s prestigious Tony Awards. The British show took home ten awards out of an astounding fifteen nominations, including the coveted Best Musical.

The award for Best Lead Actor in a musical went jointly to the three original Broadway Billy, David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish. This mirrored the success of other productions; with Billys being jointly awarded Best Actor titles at London’s Olivier Awards and the Australian Helpmanns.

The Broadway Billys on the red carpet (l-r: David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish, Trent Kowalik)

Creative genius
Lee Hall  was once again praised for his book. Hall was nominated for an Oscar fro the screenplay of the film, but is now reaping the rewards for his stage adaptation. Billy Elliot narrowly missed out of the Best Score to Yorkey and Kitt’s mental illness musical Next To Normal. The two shows were jointly awarded the prize for Best Orchestrations.

Naturally, Billy Elliot’s choreographer Peter Darling took home the Best Choreography title, just as he has at every major awards ceremony since Billy Elliot opened. The creative team also did well, taking awards for Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design.

Billy Elliot’s amazing ten Tony wins:

• Best Musical
• Best Book of a Musical (Lee Hall)
• Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish)
• Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Gregory Jbara)
• Best Direction of a Musical (Stephen Daldry)
• Best Choreography (Peter Darling)
• Best Orchestrations (Martin Koch, tied with Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt for Next to Normal)
• Best Scenic Design (Ian MacNeil)
• Best Lighting Design (Rick Fisher)
• Best Sound Design (Paul Arditti)