2015 Tony Awards - Michael Dale's Live Blog from Backstage at Radio City in the Press Room!

Welcome to Michael Dale's 2015 Tony Awards Live Blog! Follow along with him, live from backstage at Radio City Music Hall's press room where he'll be reporting on the winners as they come backstage, scoops and much more!

11:50 - Well, that wraps up my Tony night. Thank you very much for joining me. The new season has already started so see you at the theatre!

11:33 - Kelli O'Hara: "Anna is a very strong woman with a great backbone and lot of "chutzpah," as Seth Rudetsky told me to say instead of balls."

11:17 - Alex Sharp: "My fellow nominees are such extraordinary actors, I feel blessed to be considered their equal. I feel this award is for the part I got to play."

11:03 - The broadcast is over but I'll be sticking around to see if any more winners are coming to the press room.

10:56 - Bravi, Tony Voters.

10:51 - Corey Mitchell, winner of the Carnegie Mellon Award for Educators. "Theatre education is the lynchpin to every other subject matter. Theatre connects in so many ways."

10:45 - "I had this vision of Kelli O'Hara dancing around the Beaumont in a full hoop skirt." - Andre Bishop on why he produced The King and I.

10:31 - Richard McCabe told the press room that while in The Audience on the West End he was offered the role of Oliver Cromwell in Wolf Hall but decided to turn it down because he knew The Audience was coming to Broadway.

10:24 - Christian Borle's comment in his acceptance speech about not chasing every mouse referred a note he got from director Roger Rees during Peter and The Starcatcher. It was advice to not chase after every possible laugh in his role.

10:13 - Very touching moment in the press room as Ruthie Ann Miles talks of the sacrifices of her mother, working three jobs so that she could go to college.

9:39 - Sam Gold talks about being nervous about directing Sydney Lucas in "Ring of Key." But she explained to him exactly what it was about and from then on he directed her the same way he directed the adults.

9:35 - Commercial Break: Best Orchestrations goes to team from An American In Paris.

9:30 - Helen Mirren enters the press room with a half-filled martini glass. "I really want a Grammy now. I should do an audio book."

9:29 - Testing. Been having technical problems for the past hour. Seeing if this works.

8:40 - Regional Theatre winner Cleveland Theatre will soon be premiering Ken Ludwig's, A Comedy of Tenors.

8:29 - Commerical break. Best Book goes to Lisa Kron for Fun Home.

8:15 - Comercial break. Best Score goes to Fun Home. "'Ring of Keys is not a song of love, it's a song of identification. For girls you have to see it to be it." - Jeanine Tesori

8:01 - Tonight, Broadway gives America two eunichs, an 11-year-old lesbian and Alan Cumming's knees.

7:57 - Tony orchestra plays a medley that goes from "I Got Rhythm" to "New York, New York" to "Ring of Keys."

7:48 - Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Natasha Katz, An American in Paris

7:46 - Best Lighting Design of a Play: Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

7:32 - Special Tony for John Cameron Mitchell. "What's an old drag queen doing uptown?"

7:28 - Lifetime Achievement Award to Tommy Tune. He enters to his own voice singing "I Can't Be Bothered Now." "Right now I'm thinking of Texas in the 50s. You see, my father's great dream for me was the same as every Texas father's dream for their first born son. They wanted us all to leave Texas, go to New York, and dance in the chorus of a Broadway show."

7:24 - Cleveland Playhouse receives the Regional Theatre Tony. Founded in 1915, it has has produced over 1,600 plays and over 150 world premieres.

7:23 - James Monroe Iglehart and Jessie Mueller are on stage and we're ready to begin the pre-broadcast awards.

6:41 - "Playwriting is a piece of cake. Libretto writing is hard." - Terrence McNally

6:38 - "I'm not one of those people who says he's just happy to be nominated. I really want to win." - Nigel Lythgoe, producer of On The Town

6:35 - Ben Vereen is wearing a baseball cap that says "Spiritual Enforcer."

6:17 - What Broadway song best describes The Tony Awards?

"I would have to say, 'It's Turkey Lurky Time.'" - Brian d'Arcy James

5:49 - George Takai says he would love to play Nostradamus in Something Rotten!, noting that in Elizabethan England all the soothsayers were Asian.

5:45 - Here in the press room we'll be watching everything that happens on the Radio City Music Hall stage, so check here for reports on awards given out during the pre-broadcast 7-8pm hour and during commercial breaks. Remember, the Tony Awards are like the Super Bowl. The best parts happen during commercial breaks.

5:41 - "Lots of people don't watch the Tonys for lots of reasons, but tomorrow night on the CBS Tony Awards broadcast, sometime around 9:00 pm, the brilliant young actor Sydney Lucas will sing "Ring of Keys" from our musical Fun Home, in which a little tomboy sees a kindred spirit in a butch delivery woman. It's going to be unlike anything that's ever been on national TV before, and I'm so proud of our company, our producers, and our show." - Lisa Kron

5:37 - "There are 700 Tony Voters. Half of them live out of town, half of them are dead." - Irene Gandy

5:29 - My Picks and My Bets

Best Play

My Bet: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

My Pick: Hand to God

Best Musical
My Bet: An American in Paris
My Pick: Fun Home

Best Revival of a Play
My Bet: You Can't Take it With You

My Pick: You Can't Take it With You

Best Revival of a Musical
My Bet: The King and I
My Pick: On the Town

Best Book of a Musical
My Bet: Fun Home, Lisa Kron

My Pick: Fun Home, Lisa Kron

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
My Bet: Fun Home, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: Lisa Kron

My Pick: Fun Home, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: Lisa Kron

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
My Bet: Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

My Pick: Steven Boyer, Hand to God

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
My Bet: Helen Mirren, The Audience

My Pick: Helen Mirren, The Audience

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
My Bet: Michael Cerveris, Fun Home

My Pick: Brian d'Arcy James, Something Rotten!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
My Bet: Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
My Pick: Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
My Bet: Micah Stock, It's Only a Play

My Pick: Micah Stock, It's Only a Play

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
My Bet: Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take It with You
My Pick: Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take It with You

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
My Bet: Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
My Pick: Tony Danza, Honeymoon In Vegas (not nominated)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
My Bet: Sydney Lucas, Fun Home

My Pick: Sydney Lucas, Fun Home

Best Scenic Design of a Play
My Bet: Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
My Pick: Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
My Bet: Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris
My Pick: Beowulf Boritt, On The Town (not nominated)

Best Costume Design of a Play
My Bet: Bob Crowley, The Audience
My Pick: Bob Crowley, The Audience

Best Costume Design of a Musical
My Bet: Catherine Zuber, The King and I

My Pick: Jeff Goldstein, On The Town (not nominated)

Best Lighting Design of a Play
My Bet: Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
My Pick: Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
My Bet: Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
My Pick: Jason Lyons, On The Town (not nominated)

Best Direction of a Play
My Bet: Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
My Pick: Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Direction of a Musical
My Bet: Sam Gold, Fun Home
My Pick: Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Best Choreography
My Bet: Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
My Pick: Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Best Orchestrations
My Bet: Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris
My Pick: Don Sebesky, Honeymoon In Vegas (not nominated)

5:13 - Which nominee would make the perfect prom date?

"Chita Rivera, because we'd just dance the night away." - Tommy Tune

5:08 - On the media room screen we're watching Laura Osnes and Sierra Boggess rehearse their red carpet coverage with staffers who are ad-libbing interviews as Jason Alexander, Christian Borle and other celebs.

5:00 - Happy Tony Night, everyone! And thanks so much for making BroadwayWorld, and this blog in particular, a part of your enjoyment of the 2015 Tony Awards! I'm sure most of you will be tuned into the CBS telecast of the event. I'll be reporting from the media room across the street from the spectacular 1930s art deco palace, Radio City Music Hall. Believe it or not, you'll probably be seeing more of the telecast than I will! This room will be loaded with about 100 press members watching the ceremonies on 2 large screens. As the evening goes on, winners will be taken to the media room to briefly speak with the press, so while you're enjoying the program, I'll be reporting on what they have to say. Across the hall, my BroadwayWorld colleague, the legendary Richard Ridge, will be taping interviews that will be posted onto the site. So just refresh this page whenever you want the latest updates. Sound good? Let's do this!