'History Boys' and 'Jersey Boys' win Tonys

NEW YORK - Alan Bennett's "The History Boys" won six Tony Awards, including best play today, while "Jersey Boys," a sing-along show about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, won the award for best musical.

The Tony Awards celebrate the best in theatre and are voted on by 754 theater professionals including actors, producers, writers, stagehands and theater owners.

"The History Boys" dominated the drama category, winning best director, actor and supporting actress, as well as best play, adding to a clutch of awards it picked up in London where it started life at the National Theatre.

The honours for musicals were more evenly spread between various shows, with "Jersey Boys" winning four, including best actor and supporting actor.

Its main rival "The Drowsy Chaperone," a parody of 1920s musicals, won five awards, including best book and best score.

Best actress in a musical went to LaChanze, the star of "The Colour Purple," a show based on Alice Walker's novel and produced by Oprah Winfrey that ended up with just one award despite 11 nominations.

A new production of "Sweeney Todd" first seen in London took the award for best director of a musical, for John Doyle.

On the dramatic side, it was a good night for the British.

Set in a boys' school, "The History Boys" stars Richard Griffiths as an eccentric teacher preparing a group of teen-agers for university entrance exams, and Bennett admitted he had been unsure if American audiences would appreciate it.

"When we were told we were coming to Broadway we were a bit nervous about the response and whether the play would mean anything really over here," Bennett said, accepting the award.

"But the audiences have been so generous and open hearted, they've surpassed anything we could have hoped for," he said.

Series of awards

Griffiths won the award for best actor, Frances de la Tour won for best supporting actress and Nicholas Hytner won best director. It also won awards for lighting and scenery.

Another Briton, Ian McDiarmid, won the award for best supporting actor in a play for "Faith Healer."

Cynthia Nixon, who won the Tony for best actress in a play for her role as a bereaved mother in "Rabbit Hole," paid tribute to the British imports on Broadway this season.

"I just feel other countries, particularly Britain, invest in their theatres in the way our government doesn't," Nixon told reporters after picking up her award.

Two classic American shows won the awards for best revivals -- Clifford Odets' "Awake and Sing!" in the play category and "The Pajama Game" on the musical side.

"The Drowsy Chaperone" won five awards, capping a fairytale success story for its creators who first wrote it as a skit to be performed at lead actor Bob Martin's bachelor party.

"This started as such a small thing and has grown to this marvellous creation," Martin said, adding that the musical had retained its "quirky" Canadian character through various incarnations, from fringe theatres to Broadway.

- REUTERS