Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Tony Awards
Tony Awards host Hugh Jackman hippity-hopped into Radio City Musical Hall on Sunday night like the Sexiest Human Pogo Stick Alive.
Was this Broadway's biggest night of the year - or a belated tour of the Easter Parade?
Jackman's bounding routine, a nod to the 1953 film 'Small Town Girl,' was also sparked by desire to 'do something fun and different,' the telecast's writer, Dave Boone, told the Daily News. Variety is the spice of emceeing.
Jackman, who won a Tony in 2004 for 'The Boy from Oz' and received a special honors from the American Theatre Wing for his charity work two years ago, has hosted the Tonys three times before.
Whether Jackman planned it, his bouncing provided a fitting metaphor for the 68th annual Tony Awards: There are ups and downs in any coveted contest. You win - and catch air. You lose - and return to earth.
But to avoid the potential buzzkill, Jackman kept his patter light. 'I picked the wrong night,' he said, referring to his bouncing manhood, 'not to wear my dance belt.' He later quipped that some of the seats gave 'the best view of the man from Down Under's down under.'
The evening got serious with the presentation of the first acting award, best featured actor for Mark Rylance, who played the Countess Olivia in 'Twelfth Night.'
'We had a ball doing Shakespeare in New York,' he said in his acceptance speech.
Rylance, who's won twice before, was one of dozens of nominees in multiple acting categories, including Bryan Cranston, Neil Patrick Harris, Idina Menzel, Chris O'Dowd, Tyne Daly and Mare Winningham.
Other early prizes included creative awards. 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' won for best sound design. 'Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill,' about the late, great Billie Holiday, won for the sound design of play. 'Act One' won for best scenic design for a play. The musical 'Rocky' won for its knockout of a set, which inspired designer Christopher Barreca to say backstage: 'Find something you really love to do and do it.'
'The Bridges of Madison County' took home the prize for best orchestrations.
The three-hour, live broadcast on CBS was also set to include wall-to-wall hoofing and belting, featuring numbers from the four shows in the highly competitive race for best musical: 'After Midnight,' 'Aladdin,' 'Beautiful' and 'A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.'
The three shows competing for best revival - 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch,' 'Les Miserables' and 'Violet' - had their moment in the spotlight.
'Violet' director Leigh Silverman, a nominee, told The News on the red carpet that her cast started celebrating even before the prizes were given out.
'We had a big champagne toast in our hotel room,' she said.
There was more music. 'Wickedly talented' nominee Menzel was slated to perform a solo from 'If/Then.' Nick Cordero, in the running for featured actor for 'Bullets Over Broadway,' was poised to lead a rousing number with tap-dancing gangsters. And the current witches of 'Wicked' were scheduled to duet to celebrate the blockbuster hit's 10th anniversary.
And since the Tonys don't only celebrate this year's outstanding work but often preview what's waiting in the wings, there were previews. Sting presented a song from his autobiographical musical, 'The Last Ship,' which starts performances on Broadway in the fall. And Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson, dressed in a sparkly silvery sheath, was set to sing a wistful tune, 'Finding Neverland,' slated for the Great White Way further down the road.
Playwright Terrence McNally, nominated for his drama 'Mothers and Sons,' came dressed for success. 'I bought a new tuxedo at Barneys today,' he told The News before the show began. 'Women get to look good at these things so I thought, I can too.'
Like nominees, presenters were dressed to the nines - and included famous faces. Like every year, the producers of the Tonys relied on presenters from film, TV, music and stage to hand out the coveted prizes. They included Bradley Cooper, who'll return to the Great White Way in the fall to star in 'The Elephant Man,' Lucy Liu, Ethan Hawke, Kenneth Branagh, Orlando Bloom, Fran Drescher, Gloria Estefan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin Bacon and Clint Eastwood, who directed the film version of the long-running hit 'Jersey Boys.'
With Molly Friedman
jdziemianowicz@nydailynews.com
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