“Once is a story about when people believe in each other, they can move on in life, and so many people have believed in this project,” Tiffany said in his acceptance speech.  

Actor Steve Kazee fought back tears as he thanked his cast members, including his leading lady Cristin Milioti, and said after his mother died early on in performances, they “carried me around and made me feel alive and I will never be able to fully repay them”.  

Clybourne Park, a satire on race relations, won best play, with playwright Bruce Norris telling the audience that since the play premiered more than two years ago off-Broadway, “I have made so many friends in regional theatres and in other theatres around the world who have worked on this play.”  

Clybourne Park won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for best play.  

Brit James Corden upset Philip Seymour Hoffman to win best actor in a play for his comic turn in the London transplant spoof, One Man, Two Guvnors, while Nina Arianda won best actress in a play for her sexy performance in Venus In Fur.  

Esteemed film and stage director Mike Nichols was an early winner for his direction of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Nichols has won a record-setting six Tony Awards for best direction of a play. He also has been honoured twice as a producer.  

“You see before you a happy man,” Nichols, 80, said, thanking Miller’s daughter, Rebecca Miller, for permission to stage the play that also won best revival of a play.  

Nichols also thanked Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield as “a cast straight from heaven” and said the play, which premiered in 1949, “gets truer as time goes by.”  

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, a reinvention of the 1935 opera and comedy, won best revival of a musical and Audra McDonald won best actress in a musical for her stirring performance as Bess.  

The awards show kicked off with host Neil Patrick Harris welcoming the audience to the 66th Tony Awards, “or as we like to call it, ‘Fifty Shades of Gay,’” referencing Broadway’s campy reputation and the popular erotic fiction novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Judith Light of Other Desert Cities was an early winner for best actress in a featured role in a play.  

“I feel like I am the luckiest girl in New York tonight,” said Light, who first found fame in 1980s TV sitcom Who’s The Boss.  

Other winners included Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath for their featured roles in the comedy musical Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Christian Borle for his hilarious turn in the Peter Pan prequel, Peter and the Starcatcher.  

Once, which features the Oscar-winning song, Falling Slowly, received a total of eight Tonys. Peter and the Starcatcher captured five trophies.  

The Disney production Newsies, based on a 1899 New York newsboys strike, won best original score.  

The awards show featured star-packed performances from this season’s musicals, plays and revivals. Presenters included Paul Rudd, Ch ristopher Plummer an d Angela Lansbury.  

Here is the full list of winners:
Choreography: Christopher Gattelli – Newsies
Orchestration: Martin Lowe – Once
Book of a Musical: Enda Walsh – Once
Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Judith Light – Other Desert Cities
Sound Design of a Musical: Clive Goodwin – Once
Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Michael McGrath – Nice Work If You Can Get It
Sound Design of a Play: Darron L. West – Peter and the Starcatcher
Direction of a Musical: John Tiffany – Once
Direction of Play: Mike Nichols – Death of a Salesman
Costume Design of a Play: Paloma Young – Peter and the Starcatcher
Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Christian Borle – Peter and the Starcatcher
Costume Design of a Musical: Gregg Barnes – Follies
Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Judy Kaye – Nice Work If You Can Get It
Scenic Design Play: Donyale Werle – Peter and the Starcatche
Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre – Newsies Scenic Design of a Musical: Bob Crowley – Once
Revival of a Play – Death of a Salesman
Lighting Design of a Musical: Natasha Katz – Once
Play – Clybourne Park
Lighting Design of a Play: Jeff Croiter – Peter and the Starcatcher
Revival of a Musical – The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Steve Kazee – Once
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: James Corden – One Man, Two Guvnors
Performance by an Actress in Leading Role in a Play: Nina Arianda – Venus in Fur
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Audra McDonald – The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
Musical – Once