Tony Award Countdown: 30 Years In 30 Days, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS' Norbert Leo Butz Earns His Great Big Stuff, 2005

Welcome to BroadwayWorld's Tony Award Countdown: 30 Years In 30 Days, a look at some of the Tony Awards' most memorable moments from the past three decades.

The reviews weren't kind when THOU SHALT NOT, a New Orleans set musical version of "Thérèse Raquin" with a jazz score by Harry Connick, Jr., opened on Broadway in October of 2001. If it were a commercial production the closing notice might have quickly followed, but since it was produced by the non-profit Lincoln Center Theater, the show played out its limited run, allowing word to spread about the dazzling performance of a young unknown named Norbert Leo Butz, who sang a sweet ballad in the first act and went nuts with an eccentric song and dance turn in the second.

Soon after, he and Sherie Rene Scott were starring in the Off-Broadway premiere of Jason Robert Brown's THE LAST FIVE YEARS, but despite accolades and awards the run lasted only two months. Then came the chance to originate the role of Fiyero in WICKED, which was (and still is) certainly a smash, but it wasn't until Butz was cast as the two-bit con-artist who competes with the best in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS that New York got to enjoy his show-stopping talent showcased in a glitzy hit.

The American Theatre Wing's 70th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Tony Award winner James Corden, will air on the CBS Television Network on Sunday, June 12, 2016 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT) live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City.