Jaunted

French playwright Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage," a star-studded play about two sets of suburban parents at war after one child attacks another, took home the Tony for best play (and its director was similarly awarded). Boasting an indie-movie-level cast of Marcia Gay Harden, James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis, "God of Carnage" has been achieving near-packed houses despite what we hear is some spectacular onstage heaving. And the British farce "The Norman Conquests" took home Best Revival despite being actually a cycle of three plays which fill up a 12-hour day. (They're shown separately or every Saturday -- and someone we know survived!)

The heat was on for Harris, who is known to most of the Broadway-going audiences as "that nice boy Doogie Howser." But he was a true stand-up dude, goofing onstage about Jeremy Piven's infamous drop-out last fall and singing a song set to "West Side Story"'s "Tonight" at the end of the broadcast recapping the entire show and joking that the show couldn't be "any gayer" than if Special Theatrical Event Tony winner Liza Minnelli were its mayor.

What discontent existed among drama nerds had to do with the format for including 15-second clips of nominated plays but entire musical numbers from popular but critically derided touring shows like "Jersey Boys" and "Legally Blonde." The "Mamma Mia!" number in particular was plagued with technical difficulties, leading audiences in the know to wonder when the ABBA jukebox musical will die. (Answer: Never. It is Scandinavian, and a zombie.)

Also, Bret Michaels and his Poison band jammed with the "Rock of Ages" crew and then got taken out by a descending set piece, proving that Broadway should be left to the professionals.

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· Last Year: Jeremy Piven Pleads Sinking Ship [Jaunted]
· Broooaaadwaaaaaaay coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Tonyawards.com]