2014 Tony Awards - Carrie Dunn's Live BRITSNARK Blog

4.07am: Well, that's it. Goodbye, lovely Hugh Jackman! A bizarre night of theatrical celebrations, but then, that unpredictability and diversity is what makes theatre so entertaining. Thanks for your company this evening - feel free to follow me on Twitter @carriesparkle - and I'll see you next year...

4.05am: Much scurrying to the stage to collect the award for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder from Rosie O'Donnell, who's unusually subdued. This time there are approximately 954,943,294,103 people on the stage.

4.01am: Seriously, come on and award Best Musical. I've got to get up in two hours.

3.59am: Is that actually one of Jennifer Hudson's dresses from 'Dreamgirls'?

3.54am: Jackman does another singing intro to Best Leading Actress in a Musical. I quite want to be best friends with Jessie Mueller, who pops her way through the verse dedicated to her.

3.46am: I have to say it's good to see so many fantastic women winning prizes across stage and creative categories this year.

3.42am: What's with Zach Braff's voice? Is that his "theatre voice"?

3.39am: Jackman talking about his buttocks is rather distracting when one is writing and one has to get to sleep shortly.

3.33am: Apparently the In Memoriam montage is playing now, while those of us watching on TV have - yes - yet more ads. Presumably they'll show us the most high-profile passings when we return after the break.

3.28am: It's Carole King. She's magnificent. Jessie Mueller looks so chuffed to be singing with her.

3.24am: One of Ramin Karimloo's kids is asleep on the seat next to him. Karimloo shushes everyone as they applaud his nomination. This is why children shouldn't be allowed at events like this.

3.21am: I don't even know what to say about this rap version of The Music Man. Well, I do, but it's all obscenity-laden.

3.10am: A performance of 'For Good' from 'Wicked'. I would complain, but it is its tenth anniversary, so I'll let it off.

3.09am: It amazes me that Broadway (and the West End) maintain that their attendances are up as ticket prices soar and soar.

3.08am: Patrick Wilson! They missed a trick not putting him with Rossum. Surely they wish to be reunited to relive their cinematic love.

3.04am: Enjoying the look of concentration on Sting's face as he sings with an Irish accent.

3:03am: Haha Sting.

2.58am: 'Violet' looks great, although Sutton Foster, in my experience, can make most things looks great. Again, that's another show we'll never get over here. I'll have to look up the new cast recording.

2.48am: There are approximately 56,930,543 people on the stage accepting the Tony for All The Way.

2.42am: Alan Cumming is wearing a suit that looks like he's spilt ink down the front.

2.41am: OK, new favourite ad, for a toilet you don't need to touch to flush. Amazing.

2.35am: Screencaps needed of Samuel L Jackson's face as Neil Patrick Harris molests his glasses, please!

2.32am: Yep, it's just about time for someone's speech to go on too long so they get played off the stage. Step up, Bryan Cranston.

2.27am: Screaming standing ovation for Audra McDonald and her sixth Tony Award. She bawls her way through her speech, and is perfectly entitled to do so.

2.23am: Goodness me, 'Younger' looks like a dreadful premise for a show. Poor Sutton Foster. Can we not get her something fabulous to be in, please?

2.20am: And as I say that, it wins the award for costume!

2.18am: Not sure what I made of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. I can't get past the idea of it being a musical adaptation of Kind Hearts and Coronets, really. Its production values seem very high, though; will have to look out more.

2.12am: Sophie Okonedo accepts her Tony and is very complimentary about the "proper actors" she is working with before losing her thread a little. Amazing.

2.10am: They just zipped through the awards they presented in the break - the winner of set design seems to have made a really interesting speech about his grandmother, who taught him "how to make things beautiful" having been a set designer in the early part of the 20th century at Wellesley. Off to google that now.

2.08am: Alan Cumming and the cast of 'Cabaret' performing 'Wilkommen'. I'm sad about Natasha Richardson now.

2.02am: Maggie Gyllenhaal's dress looks like it has mould, it's so furry.

2.01am: The Genie from 'Aladdin' won a Tony! He's gabbling his way through his acceptance and seems very nice and happy.

1.54am: Oh MY. 'Rocky' looks INCREDIBLE. Is the entire show that fabulous? (I'm a sucker for choreography that involves skipping or boxing.)

1.51am: Why are people shouting from the audience this evening? Samuel L Jackson should not be subject to this kind of behaviour.

1.45am: Clint Eastwood's suit is very sharp. He isn't, so much, but I think we can make allowances. And he's significantly more on point once he subdues his vanity and dons his glasses so he can read the autocue.

1.42am: Wow, this song is really reminiscent of Next to Normal in places, isn't it? Menzel gets rapturous applause - I'd be interested to hear someone else interpret it, to be honest.

1.40am: Time for Adele Dazeem. Jonathan Groff, who introduces her, has a little jab at John Travolta, met with whoops.

1.38am: I've learned something this evening - this is what Jackman's bouncing was paying homage to.

1.32am: Hang on. The Genie from Aladdin is now singing a medley of other Disney songs. And now there's a chorus line of tap dancers, dressed as the dancers from A Chorus Line. I'm half-expecting the mirror wall to descend shortly.

1.29am: Lucy Liu is wearing a giant dress. GIANT. It's almost like she isn't really a samurai. I do enjoy when the award presenters and performance announcers sound so incredibly unconvinced by what they're saying.

1.27am: What on earth is Adriane Lenox wearing on her head? Lena Hall has absolutely lost her mind and it's so adorable.

1.17am: The cast of Les Mis sing 'One Day More' really, really quickly, just like the London cast did at the Oliviers, but with added shouting.

1.13am: Hurrah for Mark Rylance! He talks about Sam Wanamaker in his acceptance speech, and then gets played off with 'Music of the Night'. Presumably that's more of a nod to the next presenter, Emmy Rossum, than any aspersions being cast on him.

1.09am: Good stuff, time enough for a Jackman tap break. Glad to see they're catering for my specific interests.

1.07am: Fortunately the After Midnight ladies are not bouncing to any similar degree. If they did, I fear their dresses would fail to contain them and there'd be all kinds of Janet Jackson/Superbowl-esque scandal.

1.05am: I love Jackman and all his works, but I don't really understand why he's been bounding around the theatre for the past five minutes. Still, if nothing else, we can all admire the stamina required for that. My calves hurt just watching that.

12.57am: I forgot how much I love US television adverts. The ones where they list all the potential side effects of medicine are best. But the fact they're advertising Broadway shows on television is also fantastic, if directed at a rather already-converted audience.

12 midnight: I'm using my pre-Tonys time wisely - there's a documentary about Carole King on BBC Four. We're not going to get to see 'Beautiful' over here any time soon, so I'll console myself with this.

Sunday 10pm BST: I'll be honest with you. My US-based friends don't seem overly optimistic about this year's Tony Awards show, suggesting it will not be the best showcase for the elite of New York theatre.

Instead, they fear it'll focus on celebrity and "television-famous" stars, with the true Broadway best being shunted into tiny time-slots or - even worse - ad breaks.

Well, let's see, shall we? I don't know what to expect...I'm only here for Hugh Jackman. (Yes, I'm kidding.)

I'll be blogging along until my stream goes down, I fall asleep, or the end of the show.