Backstage at the Tonys

Billy Crudup communes with his Tony for The Coast of Utopia, which closed in May. Is he having withdrawal?
“It’s depressing! Totally and utterly depressing. You give up this thing that you’ve devoted all your time and creative energy to, and it’s gone.
For theater, it’s even worse because it’s in the ether. There’s nothing left anywhere but your experience.” Photographs by Harry Benson

Judd Hirsch, presenter, in a satin leopard-print barber’s cape.

Kevin Spacey and Jane Krakowski getting ready to present. They winged it, much to the TelePrompTer operator’s chagrin.
“Usually, those things can go really badly, and I’ve had, let’s say, a few prior missteps with presenting at the Tonys,” says Krakowski.
“We didn’t tank, but I did panic right as we were going onstage because they announced our names and I could swear
they’d announced different people. I thought Kevin and I were going to be stuck out there by mistake.”

Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts at the after-party. “I love these awards,” he says. “They’re better than the Oscars. At least these people know how to put on a show.” Schreiber, who was up for his performance in Talk Radio, says he was the first person Jack O’Brien
approached for Utopia. “I said no. I don’t have the balls those guys do.” Next up, fatherhood and writing a screenplay. “I don’t want to talk about it, because then I can’t change my mind. They’ll be like, ‘Ah, he didn’t win the Tony. And now he’s failed again.’”

Tommy Tune (second from left) with Zach Braff, Melina Kanakaredes, and others. “I think it was the best Tony awards in years, and I’ve been to fifteen of them,” says Tune. “They were so kind to us backstage. There were couches, and you could have coffee. You used to have to stand up in empty dressing rooms, in holding pens, like cattle.”

Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele celebrating Spring Awakening’s eight wins (with Duncan Sheik at left). Groff says he was comfortable with the musical’s racy themes from the start. “My mom’s a sex-ed teacher. The way I learned how babies were made was helping
her grade her exams in elementary school. But when I told her I had to show my ass onstage, she was like, ‘Do you have to?’”

Presenters Felicity Huffman and Sam Waterston in the wings.

David Hyde Pierce (Curtains), a surprise win over Company’s Raúl Esparza for Best Actor in a Musical.