That’s a wrap from backstage at the Tony Awards.  Hope you enjoyed the show!

And here’s a shot of Mark Rylance going on about his obscure poems. http://twitpic.com/5av62u

Here’s a shot of The Book of Mormon boys here in the media room. http://twitpic.com/5av569

The Book of Mormon gang rolled into the media room, holding their Tony statuettes proudly.  Trey Parker said “we had to be prepared for winning,” but it was a “fun puzzle.”

The two South Park boys, Trey and Matt Stone, are working on a new piece, Vacation. Obviously a joke, they then said, “Hell no,” when asked if they would do something more on stage in the near future.  “This is it,” they said.  “We peaked.”

Robert Lopez, “we were worried about people throwing bricks on stage, but we didn’t dare to hope that people would embrace it on this scale.”

“Definite maybe” from Trey and Matt on the question of The Book of Mormon being turned into a movie.

Mark Rylance went further into his acceptance speech for his win, a prose poem by Louis Jenkins… “Last time I was at the Tony Awards, I gave a Louis Jenkins poem called Back Country, this one is called Walking Through Walls. I’d always love to come back, and after a little break, there are plans afoot to come back.  I left the Globe at the end of 2005 and I really want to do new work, new plays now, but I did spend 30 years doing Shakespeare, so I had a general plan that I would go back every 5-6 years to do it, and hopefully bring it over here to New York.  But it will be born at the Globe.”

Producers of Anything Goes swarmed into the media room.  A 2012 tour is currently being planned, but no cast or cities lined up yet.  Roundabout Theatre’s Todd Haimes said “we are always looking for plays that haven’t been revived in 20-25 years.  I was looking for something a little bit lighter.  So, I got the rights and the first thing I did was call Kathleen Marshall, and she said yes.  What everybody is overwhelmed by is Sutton Foster.  When she dances, she does it for 13 minutes then turns around and belts a song.  It is really incredible.

And per the producers, check out Sutton Foster and the cast performing “Blow Gabriel Blow” this week on David Letterman.

The author of War Horse, Nick Stafford joins us in the media room, telling us that he has a new play in the works, and is excited to see War Horse being transformed into a feature film by Steven Spielberg, but wants to ensure that the play stays in tact, including the sense of jeopardy felt on stage.

Here’s a picture of Nick speaking with us. http://twitpic.com/5au7y3

John Larroquette calmly walked into the media room and was still in awe over winning a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.  “It’s mind boggling.  It is emotional to be accepted into the community so fully for my first show.  It can’t be described in simple words.  I’ve got a lot of awards for acting, which I’ve been very fortunate to receive, but walking up to the stage tonight, I actually felt emotional.  That is not usual for me.  I literally had no saliva in my mouth.”

While this is his Broadway debut, he is no stranger to the stage.  “This is certainly going to be the longest I’ve ever done a play… but I did theatre in Los Angeles… but so far, and we’ve done about 100 performances so far… I look forward to being on the stage because every night is different.  Every night you try to find a new way to grab [the audience] and pull them and entertain them.”

John remains humble when it comes to his specific role in the musical, admitting that Daniel Radcliffe  “carries the water in this production.  I get the chance to walk in, like a designated hitter, come and do my part, and get a few rests backstage, and then come back on.  I don’t find it taxing at all.  I’m 63 years old, but I’m very agile and still find myself not tired after the show.  If I walk to the theatre tired, by the end of the first act, I feel very very energized.  I always get to the theatre early.  I like to sit and just think about the day.”

Here’s a shot of John with us in the media room. http://twitpic.com/5atqwp

Nikki M. James still looked in shock as she sat down to talk to us in the media room after winning an award for her performance in The Book of Mormon.  How was she feeling?  “Totally floored. I don’t read what people say and I didn’t win the Drama Desks… I did not feel confident.  I never in my life expected to get one of these things.  I feel like I have to move to a new apartment that is worthy of this.  I don’t know where I will put it.”

“The best thing is that I’ve been blessed doing some new works in my career and those are things that you can’t plan for.  The thing that I would like to do in New York is some more classical work… I learned so much about langauge and the power of words doing classics.”

“Our first day of rehearsal, they didn’t give us a script until 4 days… they were really working on it as we went.  Probably the first 20 minutes of the show are pretty much in tact from where it was then.  They worked tirelessly why they were doing [South Park]… they really made what I think is an almost perfect musical.”

“Our first preview, we were nervous, we had never put this show in front of people.  Our first paying audience was in New York City.  The pressure was on us… the Twitter universe let us know people were liking it.  Thank you Twitter.”

Here’s a shot of Nikki talking with us. http://twitpic.com/5atl3x

The co-directors of War Horse, Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris joined us in the media room, and discussed how the horse puppets came to life.  “In the very first work shop, there were no horses, at all.  We watched a lot of films, and did a lot of work into how horses behave and how they work with humans.  The puppets grew from that… gradually they went away and went to work on the design for the first puppet.”

They had no idea how the horse would come together on stage.  “The point about the creative team that we worked with on this show is that they came up with stuff that you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams.”

Marianne said that she is doing “The Light Princess,” new musical with Tori Amos, with a production hopefully on stage next year.

Here’s a picture of the duo here in the media room. http://twitpic.com/5atas4

Here’s a shot of John Benjamin Hickey talking to us in the media room. http://twitpic.com/5at6nl

John Benjamin Hickey joined us in the media room after winning for his performance in The Normal Heart, slightly raspy, and talked about how experience in this whirlwind Broadway production.  “Rehearsing this play is kind of like the trajectory of the play minus the tragedy of the play.  It’s such a rush of adreneline, such a roller coaster ride.  Filled with so much terror.  [director] George, who was in the room with us, had us embrace the terror… You want to show up and be ready to do your work, what you’re trained to do… there is more structure in the theatre [than in TV].

“The play is so electric and so alive, and filled with so much love and pain, and strangely enough, joy, because [playwright] Larry’s voice is so articulate, that it’s exhilarating to do this play.”

While there are no plans for extending the play, he would be more than happy to do it again.

Here’s a shot of Ellen Barkin joining us in the media room. http://twitpic.com/5aszvc

Ellen Barkin’s turn in The Normal Heart took home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play.  She has joined us here in the media room to answer questions.  She said she didn’t see Larry Kramer today, but he wanted to know what she was going to wear tonight.  “The most challenging part is that we only had 12 days rehearsal, and that was grueling, but the good part about that is we didn’t have time to be frightened.  We just threw ourselves into it.  The words are just so powerful.”  She hopes to do more theatre in the future, saying that “you only get the luxury of experiencing something this important once in a career, if you’re lucky.”

Here’s a picture of Kathleen Marshall answering our questions in the Tony Awards media room. http://twitpic.com/5asnh6

Kathleen Marshall has stopped by the media room to answer our questions.  It’s her third Tony Award.  She says she’s “working on a new Gershwin musical, Nice Work if You Can Get It. Says they are working towards a 2011-2012 opener, with an announcment coming in teh next couple of weeks.  It takes place in the 1920s and involved bootlegging.  It will have a little bit of a modern take on it, but is the ’20s through our eyes today.  It might just come straight to Broadway, avoiding an out-of-town run.  The Gershwins won’t be in a room writing songs throughout.”

Kathleen says tonight’s win for Anything Goes is exciting.  “It is such a huge season on Broadway, and especially for a revival of a classic show, it is very special.  I still don’t believe it.  It’s kind of incredible.”

Two more Creative Tony Awards handed out.  Congrats to Anything Goes’ Kathleen Marshall for winning best choreography and The Book of Mormon for Best Score.

The Creative Tony Awards have begun to be awarded.  Congratulations go to The Book of Mormon’s Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus for winning Best Orchestrations of a Musical.

First up tonight is the Creative Tony Awards, which will be handed out beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Beacon Theatre, although this brief ceremony will not be broadcast on television. You’ll have to either stop by Times Square where a simulcast will take place, or listen throughout the 8 p.m. CBS broadcast for an update on the winners. Once the winners pick up their statuettes, they’ll be brought over here to the media room, where I’ll make sure to get a question or two in for all of Broadway Direct’s readers. Keep refreshing those browsers.

Red carpet coverage is now underway, thanks to the folks at NY1. Scroll to the bottom of this article for a link to watch all the pre-awards action. Patina Miller and Douglas Carter Beane, from Broadway’s Sister Act look excited to be here at the Beacon Theatre.

Uptown is full of theatrical energy this afternoon, as the Tony Awards are nearly ready to be broadcast live from the Beacon Theatre. Along the backside of the theatre is the red carpet, where you can see press lined up and waiting for the first round of celebrities and Broadway talents to walk in. Take a look.