Afterthoughts: More Tonys Bests and Worsts

ON Tony Awards night, June 12, we were all pretty sure who would win most of the awards. But we didn't know what everybody was going to wear and say. Some significant successes and failures:

WORST FASHION CHOICE Frances McDormand's denim jacket (above). Have a little respect, Franny. Even the "South Park" boys dressed up.

Runner-Up: Whoopi Goldberg's Christopher Columbus hat.


BEST FASHION CHOICE Catherine Zeta-Jones's sparkly red, long-sleeved, gorgeously backless gown.

Runners-Up: Brooke Shields's strapless celadon, Sutton Foster's strapless moss green, Ellen Barkin's sparkly black with long, sheer sleeves.


BEST ACCEPTANCE SPEECH Nikki M. James, best featured actress in a musical ("The Book of Mormon"), on how bumblebees can fly. She cried too.

Runner-Up: Mark Rylance, best actor in a play ("Jerusalem"), on the joys of walking through walls. He would have won, except he's done the poetry thing before.


BEST PRESENTER PRE-CHAT James Earl Jones. Only he could make this kind of copy ("The theater is a shrine") sound like Shakespeare.

WORST HAIR Christie Brinkley. At first we thought Malibu Barbie. Then we recognized it: Connie Stevens, circa 1964. (And we haven't even mentioned her presentation style. Is Christie taking acting lessons with somebody from QVC?)

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP Edie Falco.

BEST CHARACTERIZATION OF LARRY KRAMER "The great badass of the American theater." (Coined by John Benjamin Hickey, winning best featured actor in a play for "The Normal Heart.")

BEST OF NEIL PATRICK HARRIS'S "SPIDER-MAN" JOKES " I sent Bono a congratulatory cable, but it snapped."

MOST SCANDALOUS SHORT SHRIFT The playwright Athol Fugard, recipient of a special Tony, given only the few seconds on screen in which he said: "Thank you, South Africa. Thank you, America."

MOST UNLIKELY USE OF THE WORD "AWESOME" Joel Grey introducing Sutton Foster for her "Anything Goes" number. (Not that she isn't. But shouldn't a 79-year-old man say "undeniably great" or "the cat's pajamas" or something?)

BEST GAY JOKE BY A STRAIGHT MAN Robin Williams, as a presenter: "This is an incredible room. The only beard here is on my face."

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll to read about the Top 10 Fabulous Moments at this year's Tonys. Then search to read more about lots of Tony winners, including "War Horse," "The Book of Mormon," Sutton Foster, Mark Rylance and Frances McDormand.