After host Hugh Jackman's bounce-filled segment in reference to the 1953 film Small Town Girl, the Tony Awards kicked off with a high-energy song-and-dance spectacle, with After Midnight guest stars Gladys Knight, Fantasia Barrino and Patti LaBelle first joining forces for "On the Sunny Side of the Street."
The number then transitioned into "It Don't Mean a Thing," featuring multiple dance styles — including tap, as host Hugh Jackman joined After Midnight emcee Dule Hill joined in for the final sequence.
Hugh Jackman's opening monologue included jokes that called Broadway "the only place where you can see Rocky in a boxing ring, Bryan Cranston in the Oval Office, and Wolverine in tap shoes — you don't see this at Comic-Con." He summarized Casa Valentina as a story about "two sides that never really understood each other — it's kind of like how people who are against same-sex marriage and people who mind their own business," and he pointed out his hosting duties in comparison to Neil Patrick Harris' run: "He is a legendary four-time Tony host, but Angela Lansbury has hosted five times, so Neil is right behind her and I was right behind him, which is still illegal in 13 states."
Mark Rylance won his third Tony for his featured role in the play Twelfth Night, choosing to pay tribute to Sam Wanamaker for helping to rebuild Shakespeare’s Globe in London instead of reciting a poem.
Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo and the cast of Les Miserables performed the ensemble number "One Day More."
Lena Hall won for featured actress in a musical, thanks to her gender-bending turn as Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, opposite Neil Patrick Harris.
Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart joined Adam Jacobs and the Aladdin cast to perform the production's elaborately choreographed number "Friend Like Me."
Tony nominee Idina Menzel took the stage to perform "Always Starting Over," the final gut-wrenching ballad from If/Then (but only after Jonathan Groff introduced her as "wickedly talented," in reference to John Travolta's name flub at the Oscars earlier in the year).
Clint Eastwood, who directed the big-screen adaptation of Jersey Boys, announced the awards show's nominees for best direction of a musical and a play, but had trouble pronouncing The Cripple of Inishmaan — twice, as he referred to the title's final word as both "Irishman" and "Ishiman."
Darko Tresnjak won best director of a musical for A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, and during his acceptance speech, he tenderly thanked his ailing mother in his native language.
Kenny Leon took home the Tony for directing the revival of A Raisin in the Sun, and immediately kicked off his acceptance speech with "Denzel, Denzel, Denzel," in reference to his snubbed star, Denzel Washington.
Tony nominee Andy Karl took a few punches after sampling the "Eye of the Tiger" sequence from Rocky, and then revealing the production's final boxing scene onstage.
James Monroe Iglehart won for featured actor in a musical for hilariously playing the Genie in Aladdin, and ended his acceptance speech with a spontaneous praise shout and dance.
Alan Cumming took the stage for "Willkommen" from Cabaret, in which he currently stars opposite Michelle Williams in the role that won him a Tony during the revival’s first time around, in 1998.
Sophie Okonedo won for featured actress in a play for A Raisin in the Sun, and used her acceptance speech to thank producer Scott Rudin for choosing to cast “a Jewish-Nigerian Brit” in the modern American classic.
Tony nominee Jefferson Mays introduced the performance from A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder while breezing through quick changes of costumes for three of his characters from the production.
Tony nominee Bryce Pinkham performed "I've Decided to Marry You" with the cast of A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder.
Audra McDonald won for lead actress in a play — her sixth Tony — for her starring role as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.
Bryan Cranston won for lead actor in a play for his Broadway debut as Lyndon B. Johnson in All the Way.
Tony winners Neil Patrick Harris and Lena Hall performed "Sugar Daddy" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, during which Harris gave Sting a lap dance, treated Orlando Bloom to a "car wash," licked Samuel L. Jackson's glasses and kissed David Burtka.
Tony nominee Sutton Foster performed "On My Way" and "Raise Me Up" with the cast of Violet.
Sting took the stage with a preview of his upcoming musical, The Last Ship.
A Raisin in the Sun won for best revival of a play.
Wicked celebrated its 10th anniversary on Broadway, with current leads Christine Dwyer and Jenni Barber performing the female-friendship anthem "For Good."
LL Cool J and T.I. joined Hugh Jackman onstage for an odd hip-hop rendition that adapted "Rock Island" from The Music Man.
Neil Patrick Harris won for lead actor in a musical for the title character of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Tony winner Jessie Mueller took the stage with the cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical — and Carole King herself — to perform "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" and "I Feel the Earth Move."
Hedwig and the Angry Inch won for best revival of a musical.
Zach Braff humorously introduced a performance of Bullets Over Broadway by saying, "I portray an aspiring young playwright who is forced to cast a mobster's talentless girlfriend in my play to get it produced — something that has never happened in the history of the theater."
Tony nominee Nick Cordero performed the tap-filled "Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do" from Bullets Over Broadway.
Jessie Mueller, who pulled out her running-man moves as Hugh Jackman sang the category's nominees, won for lead actress in a musical for the title character in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Jennifer Hudson offered a preview of the new musical Finding Neverland by performing "Never Neverland."
A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder took home the final award of the night for best musical.