Tony Awards 2009 winners: 'Billy Elliot' leads with 10 Tonys - 3 'Billys' share lead actor award

London imports had a big night at the Tonys.

"Billy Elliot the Musical," an underdog story about a boy who dreams of dancing, and "God of Carnage," an acid-tinged social satire, took top honors at the 63rd annual theater awards show Sunday night. "The Norman Conquests" won for Best Revival. All three shows are from hit runs across the pond.

The all-American "Hair" won as Best Musical Revival.

"Billy Elliot" won 10 Tonys, including the coveted Best Musical, the most of any show in the three-hour celebration of Broadway excellence.

"God of Carnage," a dark comedy of middle-class liberals by French author Yasmina Reza, author of the award-winning "Art," won Best Play.

"Carnage" also spelled Tony triumph for best actress Marcia Gay Harden and director Matthew Warchus, a double nominee who was also up for "Conquests."

Warchus said backstage, "I usually think of best directors winning for long plays and moving lots of scenery around, not orchestrating invisible emotions."

Geoffrey Rush took home Best Actor Tony for his portrayal of a dying monarch in the tragicomic "Exit the King."

The evening's first acting award, Featured Actor in a Play, went to Roger Robinson for August Wilson's stirring drama of black Americans in 1911 Pittsburgh, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."

"Joe Turner," the play Barack and Michelle Obama chose for their date night in New York a week ago, also won for lighting design.

Angela Lansbury took home the Tony for Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as a psychic medium in a revival of Noel Coward's comedy "Blithe Spirit," about a writer bedeviled by the ghost of his late wife.

It was her fifth win, tying her with Julie Harris, and had the Radio City crowd on its feet.

Featured performances in musicals brought emotional speeches from Karen Olivo, who won for her fiery take on Anita in "West Side Story," and Gregory Jbara, who plays the dedicated dad in "Billy Elliot."

Stephen Daldry won for his direction of "Billy Elliot," and called the three rotating Billys "three great gifts to Broadway."

That teenage trio - David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish - danced off with Best Actor in a Musical honors, the first time three actors were nominated for one role.

The show, based on the 2000 film about a ballet-obsessed kid, also danced away with awards for book, choreography, sets, lights and sound. It tied with "Next to Normal" for best orchestrations.
In one of the night's surprises, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's "Normal" score beat Elton John and Lee Hall's songs in "Billy Elliot."