Cyndi Lauper wins first Tony for Kinky Boots

Cyndi Lauper performs onstage at the Tony Awards in New York With lots of big stars on hand showing Hollywood can do Broadway, '80s rocker turned musical-maker Cyndi Lauper won her first Tony for Kinky Boots at the 67th Tony Awards. "I can't say I wasn't practicing in front of the shower curtain for a couple days for this speech," Lauper said Sunday, picking up one of six gongs for the show, for best original score.
"All right, I gotta thank my mom for sharing all that wonderful music. I wrecked all her Broadway musicals when I was a kid, the cast albums. That's how I learned how to sing, and I want to thank her for sharing the music with me," Lauper added.
The show, which was nominated 13 times, also won best musical and best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical, as well as three other categories.
Based on a British movie, Kinky Boots tells the story of the unlikely reincarnation of a near bankrupt shoe factory. Lauper - famous for her song Girls Just Want to Have Fun - wrote the music and lyrics.
Another top winner for the night was Broadway stalwart Pippin, which won in four out of its 10 nominations: best revival of a musical, best actress in leading and featured roles in a musical and best direction of a musical.
Television actor Neil Patrick Harris, hosting in New York, welcomed presenters and performers like Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Martha Plimpton, Sigourney Weaver, Zachary Quinto and Sally Field, AFP reported.
Hanks, better known for his work on the big screen, was considered a favourite for the best actor prize for his performance in Lucky Guy, a Nora Ephron play about the ups and downs of controversial New York journalist Mike McAlary.
But Hanks was passed over in a surprise upset when the award went to playwright and actor Tracy Letts for his performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Letts had won a Tony previously for his writing.
Veteran actress Cicely Tyson, whose stage and screen credits date back to the 1950s, won best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play for her role in The Trip to Bountiful. It was the first time the Tyson, who has won an Oscar and numerous Emmys, had been nominated for a Tony.
Matilda, the adaptation of the beloved children's book by Roald Dahl, was another favourite of the night, with 12 nominations. The musical won four awards, including best book of a musical and best performance by an actor in a featured role.
Matilda, which recounts an exceptionally - and supernaturally - gifted girl's determination to make something of her life, has enjoyed rave reviews and is produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The nominations list snubbed some major stars, including Johansson in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Al Pacino in the intense real estate salesmen drama Glengarry Glen Ross.