The Band's Visit, Harry Potter Sweep Tony Awards

The Band's Visit was the big winner at the Tony Awards, held last night at Radio City Music Hall. The musical, a relatively brief, elliptical piece about the members of an Eqyptian police band who get stranded in a one-horse Israeli town, was expected to take the award for best musical, but ended up staging the big sweep of the evening, winning in 10 out 11 categories. The award for best play went to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the two-part phenomenon, which swept the design categories for a play.

In the musical design categories: As expected took the award for scenery, for SpongeBob SquarePants. Catherine Zuber was cited for the Lincoln Center Theatre revival of My Fair Lady, the show's only win of the evening. Tyler Micoleau, making his Broadway debut, won for the lighting of The Band's Visit, and Kai Harada, who joined the Band's Visit design team for Broadway, won for sound design.

In the play design categories, it was Harry Potter all the way: Christine Jones (scenery), Katrina Lindsay (costumes), Neil Austin (lighting), and Gareth Fry (sound). In an oddity, the video designers Finn Ross and Adam Young were nominated, along with scenic designer Scott Pask for the musical Mean Girls, but Ross and Ash Woodward were not included in the scenic design nomination for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This is a clear sign that, having reinstated the sound design category, the Tony nominations committee will have to come to terms with the proliferation of video/projection design on Broadway.

The full list of winners:

Best Musical: The Band's Visit

Best Play: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Revival of a Musical: Once on This Island

Best Revival of a Play: Angels in America

Best Book of a Musical: The Band's Visit, Itamar Moses

Best Original Score: The Band's Visit,, David Yazbek

Best Leading Actor in a Play: Andrew Garfield, Angels in America

Best Leading Actress in a Play: Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women

Best Leading Actor in a Musical: Tony Shalhoub, The Band's Visit

Best Leading Actress in a Musical: Katrina Lenk, The Band's Visit

Best Featured Actor in a Play: Nathan Lane, Angels in America

Best Featured Actress in a Play: Laurie Metcalf, Three Tall Women

Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Ari'el Stachel, The Band's Visit

Best Featured Actress in a Musical: Lindsay Mendez, Carousel

Best Scenic Design of a Play: Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Scenic Design of a Musical: David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants

Best Costume Design of a Play: Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Costume Design of a Musical: Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady

Best Lighting Design of a Play: Neil Austin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Tyler Micoleau, The Band's Visit

Best Direction of a Play: John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Direction of a Musical: David Cromer, The Band's Visit

Best Choreography: Justin Peck, Carousel

Best Orchestrations: Jamshied Sharifi, The Band's Visit

Best Sound Design of a Play: Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Best Sound Design of a Musical: Kai Harada, The Band's Visit

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: Chita Rivera, Andrew Lloyd Webber

Special Tony Award: Bruce Springsteen, John Leguizamo

Regional Theater Tony Award: La MaMa E.T.C.

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Nick Scandalios

Tony Honors for excellence in the theater: Sara Krulwich, Bessie Nelson, Ernest Winzer Cleaners