Tony Awards and Birthday Boy Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris was the first celeb I gave a birthday shout out to on this blog and today he turns the big 4-0! Happy Birthday!

He will be wrapping up the final season of his hit show How I Met Your Mother during this upcoming TV season, but he should be able to land on his feet afterwards. At the very least, he can always hosts awards shows for a living. In fact, he just brilliantly hosted the Tony Awards for a fourth time last Sunday with his usual mix of show-stopping numbers and charming asides. Speaking of show-stopping numbers...

He deservedly got a standing ovation off the bat with an epic opening number that literally had everything Broadway has to offer:



He then was in the mix for one of the most inspired numbers ever held at Tonys with a few Broadway vets lamenting their canceled TV shows:



Finally, he ended the show with his usual Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned rapping recap of the night with bonus appearance of the amazing Audra McDonald who literally dropped the mic:



If I had it my way, every awards shows would only be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Hugh Jackman... in any combination. After the cut, a full list of the Tony Awards winners and very brief non-Neil Patrick Harris thoughts...

Best Play: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Best Musical: Kinky Boots
Best Revival of a Play: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Best Revival of a Musical: Pippin

Best Actor, Play: Tracy Letts, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Best Actress, Play: Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
Best Actor, Musical: Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Best Actress, Musical: Patina Miller, Pippin
Best Feat. Actor, Play: Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy
Best Feat. Actress, Play: Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Best Feat. Actor, Musical: Gabriel Ebert, Matilda the Musical
Best Feat. Actress, Musical: Andrea Martin, Pippin

Best Direction of a Musical: Diane Paulus, Pippin
Best Direction of a Play: Pam MacKinnon, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Best Book of a Musical: Matilda the Musical
Best Costume Design for a Play: The Nance
Best Costume Design for a Musical: Cinderella
Best Scenic Design for a Play: The Nance
Best Scenic Design for a Musical: Matilda the Musical
Best Lighting Design for a Play: Lucky Guy
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Matilda the Musical
Best Choreography: Kinky Boots
Best Original Score: Kinky Boots
Best Orchestrations for a Musical: Kinky Boots
Best Sound Design for a Musical: Kinky Boots
Best Sound Design in a Play: The Nance

Kinky Boots was the night's big winner with 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical over Matilda the Musical and Billy Porter for Best Actor in a Musical. Pippin was second with 4 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress for Patina Miller. The wonderful Oscar nominee Cicely Tyson also won her first Tony Award for her role in The Trip to Bountiful while Cyndi Lauper is now just an Oscar award away to EGOT after winning a Tony for Kinky Boot's Original Score. Overall, it was a fun night full of performances from current and past Broadway musicals. The latter included a performance from Phantom of the Opera which celebrates its 25th year. With the cast of Annie, Matilda the Musical, and Christmas Story performing, child performers were certainly a highlight. For me, the biggest thrill was seeing Doctor Who's Arthur Darvill (now playing Guy in Once) presenting and performing.