Period Pieces Coast Through Tony Awards

The Coast of Utopia, Tom Stoppard’s marathon glance back at 19th-century Russia, became czar of the Tonys at last night's 61st annual ceremony in New York. The $7-million, 8-hour epic claimed more statuettes than any drama in history—including honors for best play and director—in a year when Broadway attendance smashed records.

Spring Awakening, a musical about sex-crazed teens in the same epoch in Germany, won big in its category, taking home eight awards including musical and book; the voters snubbed the more profitable revival of A Chorus Line. The best actress in a play trophy made for the most drama, with Julie White of The Dog that Laughed beating out legends Vanessa Redgrave and Angela Lansbury. (More Tony Awards stories.)