Neil Patrick Harris was back on the CBS airwaves during Sunday’s Tony Awards broadcast — in high heels.
The How I Met Your Mother star donned a blonde wig and denim cutoffs on the Radio City Music Hall stage while performing “Sugar Daddy” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the rock musical revival in which he currently stars.
PHOTOS: Tonys Awards Red Carpet Arrivals
Introduced by RuPaul and alongside co-star Lena Hall, who won the Tony for best actress in a featured role in a musical, Harris treated Orlando Bloom to a “car wash” by standing over his head in a skirt made out of dangling twinkle lights, gave Sting a short lap dance, landed in Kevin Bacon‘s lap and kissed David Burtka.
Related Stories
Harris previously admitted to The Hollywood Reporter that the title character’s femininity was the hardest part of the transformation for him to crack. “It’s tough to strut around in high heels and not feel a fool, tough to manage a full wig of hair, to cock a wrist, to embrace a bra and not feel like you are somehow going to be exposed. … But in a role like this, you have to commit. You can’t tiptoe, you have to bulldoze. And the more I trusted, the further I went, the better it felt. Now her mannerisms seem second nature.”
STORY: Tony Awards Winners List
Hedwig nabbed eight nominations, including best musical revival, lead actor (Harris), featured actress (Hall), director (Michael Mayer), scenic design (Julian Crouch), costume design (Arianne Phillips), lighting design (Kevin Adams) and sound design (Tim O’Heir).
The production has been playing to capacity houses since it opened on April 22 to rave reviews at the Belasco Theater, grossing $9 million to date. Harris is contracted to perform in the show through Aug. 17, though an extension appears likely.
The Tonys broadcast, hosted by Hugh Jackman, also included a 10th anniversary celebration of Wicked and previews of upcoming productions Finding Neverland and The Last Ship, as well as performances from After Midnight, Violet, If/Then, Aladdin, Les Miserables, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Bullets Over Broadway and Rocky, among others.
