LIVE BLOG: Backstage at the TONYs!

11.45pm: And that's all the glamour and gossip for this evening. Thanks for your company during the 2010 Tony Awards - if you've missed anything or want to see pictures, click through to our fabulous exclusive coverage. Otherwise, goodnight!

11.42pm: Dave Bryan is flying back to London ready to resume his position behind the keyboards of Bon Jovi on their tour tomorrow. I think he will probably be tired.

11.38pm: The writers and producers of Memphis return to do their victory lap. Joe DiPietro tells us that you have to be an eternal optimist to work in theatre. A good motto, I feel.

11.31pm: Hooray, here's Douglas Hodge! What shall I ask him? He says that he has five new costumes and they are all better than they ever have been before, and reveals that he intends to stay in New York for a bit longer, but it depends on his children. Awww. He says his "inner Zaza" thinks it's about time he got a prize like that, and it will certainly feel different next time he goes out on stage, but he never anticipated a Broadway transfer when he first took the role.

11.30pm: It's slightly hilarious that we've had neither Scarlett Johansson or Catherine Zeta-Jones available to chat to this evening. Denzel Washington, on the other hand, took everyone's questions and was utterly delightful.

11.18pm: Sonia Friedman and David Babani come backstage to talk about the revival of La Cage Aux Folles. Babani reinterprets what Terry Johnson says earlier - he wanted to try out "a different way" of staging it. Friedman doesn't know what she'll be bringing to Broadway next year but she intends to keep winning Tonys...and then apologises for not being famous, and promises us much more famous people shortly. Ah, that's nice. Oh, and a tour will be on the road in about a year's time.

11.01pm: Hayes is completely confused, but the cast of Memphis perform again. Seems a bit cruel to have the casts of all the Best Musical nominees sitting there waiting in full costume on the off-chance they win, but there you go. Anyway, that's the last bit of action this evening. On stage, at least. Still more gossip and chat to come, so don't go anywhere.

10.58pm: Lovely Bernadette Peters arrives to present Best Musical to...Memphis!

10.55pm: He can add that to his Olivier Award. He thanks his "husband" Kelsey Grammer, and says, "If you want to see a Democrat kissing a Republican, come to the Longacre Theatre." LOVE Hodge. He thanks his family as well and says that the award makes it worth being away from home for so long. Aw.

10.54pm: And Best Actor in a Musical to Douglas Hodge for La Cage Aux Folles!

10.51pm: They present Best Actress in a Musical to Catherine Zeta-Jones for A Little Night Music. She looks like she is going to actually have some kind of fit, and tries to drag Michael Douglas on stage with her. He's having none of it, and she eventually gets up there. Her accent is very strange these days, isn't it? She thanks Angela Lansbury, among others, bless her, as well as the gorgeous and fabulous Alexander Hanson. Her parents are in the house tonight so she thanks them too. And then she gets played off as she shouts, "And that man there is a MOVIE STAR and I GET TO SLEEP WITH HIM EVERY NIGHT." Nice.

10.48pm: Oh, it's Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth! She says they'd totally forgotten about the Tony Awards; he adds, "Or as we call it in my house, Passover." HA! They're presenting Best Actor and Actress in a Musical. "Holy crap, this isn't going to be pretty," says Lane, swigging from a hipflask.

10.42pm: OK, the lighting for American Idiot is amazing, but the strobe-laden opening number doesn't work quite so well on this stage for live television. Nor do the big gaps where the expletives are omitted by necessity.

10.40pm: Billie-Joe Armstrong meanders on and announces that he will be pretending that he isn't reading from an autocue prior to introducing the cast of American Idiot for a performance.

10.36pm: Back to Hayes who mocks both Lea Michele and Spider-Man in one fell swoop before introducing Raquel Welch, who is presenting the award for Best Revival of a Musical to...La Cage Aux Folles! HOORAY! I am so happy. If you've read anything I've written about musical theatre over the past two years you'll know I love this production. The entire cast pile on to the stage and it looks utterly crazy. Sonia Friedman keeps everything to time, saying the thank-yous very quickly and getting everyone back to their seats again. Highly efficient. Good work.

10.24pm: Ooh, here's Laura Bell Bundy. She's introducing Glee stars Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison for a performance. It's so nice to hear them sing properly without their voices being insanely over-produced to the point of distortion.

10.21pm: ...and Best Play to...Red.

10.20pm: Cate Blanchett is dressed in something skintight and sparkling and yet still reminiscent of rubber. She's here to award the Tony for Best Revival of a Play to...Fences.

10.15pm: So what are we thinking so far? Your views, please - post them below!

10.08pm: Bill T Jones wins Best Choreography for Fela. And then Stanley Tucci comes on to introduce the depressing montage of people who have died this year, backed by a soundtrack of plinky sad music.

10.02pm: Holy moly, is Paula Abdul wearing a wedding dress? She is going to present the award for Best Choreography, but first we must see the dancing that's being honoured, with a routine from Come Fly Away, and then Promises, Promises (we've already seen stuff from Fela! and La Cage, the other two nominees in this category).

9.51pm: The Pinkett-Smiths introduce a performance from Fela. Jada Pinkett looks really angry. David Hyde Pierce, bless his little heart, comes in to talk about his honorary award and his brilliant work with the Alzheimer's Association, as well as his current rehearsals for La Bete.

9.48pm: Finneran continues to give us her views on relationships, while Denzel Washington wins Best Leading Actor in a Play for Fences.

9.45pm: Dame Helen Mirren is as classy as usual, and prepares to present Best Leading Actress in a Play to...Viola Davis for Fences. She says she believes in the presence of God. Meanwhile, Katie Finneran comes in to talk to us and tells us that normally people think she's drunk. Fair enough.

9.33pm: Another one of those peculiar synopses inserts where the casts of the Best Revivals of a Play talk about their productions. For some fine actors, these little recitals are ever so stilted.

9.30pm: Ooh, here's the Menzel. The fangirls are in the house, evidently, judging by the screams. She introduces a performance from Christiane Noll, nominated for Ragtime.

9.20pm: Barbara Cook introduces Catherine Zeta-Jones singing Send In The Clowns. Her vowel sounds are odd and I'm incredibly hypnotised by her earrings pinging around as she moves her head, but it's a lovely performance. Her voice has clearly had problems - she's rasping on some of those notes.

9.16pm: And another British director arrives - Michael Grandage comes in, but Kristin Chenoweth is back on stage for a bit of business with Sean Hayes. Which ends in her fainting very elegantly bearing in mind how low cut and how short her dress is. She's presenting Best Featured Actor in a Musical to...Levi Kreis for Million Dollar Quartet.

9.09pm: Terry Johnson, director of La Cage Aux Folles and my Facebook friend, is here and talks about how small the Chocolate Factory is. I'm not sure the people here quite realise exactly how small it is. Johnson says that he thinks David Babani saw the previous La Cage revival on Broadway and thought, "There's a show here - but I'm not quite seeing it." He then does a brilliant impression of Harvey Fierstein. I wish I'd recorded that. He's asked if he would have brought the production over if they hadn't cast Douglas Hodge, which he says is an odd question because the issue never arose.

9.07pm: I have absolutely no idea who this nice young man on stage is at the moment. I'm told he's a quarterback, or something, whatever that may be. (I'm kidding, I'm kidding.) He confesses that he has become a fan of musicals since moving to New York, which he's been teased about roundly, of course, and he introduces the cast of Memphis.

9.03pm: The Crane brothers come on - Kelsey sobs a bit over David's charity work, David sobs a bit over Kelsey's Tony nomination - and present Best Featured Actress in a Musical to Katie Finneran for Promises, Promises. She is AWESOME and flaps her way around the stage, thanking the Chenoweth for lending her her eyelashes. HA! And then she goes a bit crazy over her fiance. I'm a bit scared.Maybe he should be.

9pm: New honorary chairman of the American Theatre Wing Angela Lansbury does a commercial break about the training opportunities available.

8.55pm: Ooh, a video message from Jon Bon Jovi, who wishes Dave Bryan good luck from the O2 Arena in London.

8.52pm: The actors from the various Best Play plays do little bits about how great their plays are, with short synopses. And yet we don't actually find out who wins that particular gong; we'll be told later. Right, whatever. Even Chris Noth, who's helming this bit, looks confused.

8.49pm: And then the Banderas presents Best Direction Of A Musical to...Terry Johnson for La Cage Aux Folles. Oh my goodness me, someone I'm friends with on Facebook HAS A TONY! Good show for the Brits so far.

8.45pm: Sean Hayes returns to the stage in ballet tights ready for a Billy Elliot gag, which I shan't repeat as it works better when said out loud. Anyway, here is ANTONIO BANDERAS. Swoon. He presents Best Direction Of A Play to...Michael Grandage for Red.

8.36pm: HA! Hodge is off into the audience. How I love Douglas Hodge. He is holding hands with Matthew Morrison, who gives him a dollar bill. And then Hodge is on the lap of Will Smith.

8.35pm: Right, time for a little bit of La Cage. HOORAY AGAIN! Kelsey Grammer sets the scene for us, and it looks like we're going into The Best Of Times. Oh, I've missed this.

8.32pm: Here's Lucy Liu, who made her Broadway debut this year in God of Carnage. She has a beautiful dress that makes her look like an angel. Except I keep expecting to say something acerbic like she does in Ally McBeal, or fight someone with a samurai sword like in Kill Bill. Anyway, she presents Best Featured Actor In A Play to...Eddie Redmayne for Red. Hooray!

8.25pm: By the way, you can read the winners' speeches with our brilliant coverage over here!

8.22pm: It's RICKY MARTIN! I think he'll be excellent in Evita. I shall have to return to New York just for that. He introduces the cast of Million Dollar Quartet for another performance.

8.20pm: To be fair to her, she does seem genuinely choked. She struggles to put coherent sentences together but does seem to thank everybody necessary.

8.18pm: Basically we're just going through all the celebrities in the audience before we get this under way properly. Shout-outs to Scarlett Johansson, Nathan Lane and Christopher Walken to start with...and then Katie Holmes (in a badly-fitting dress) and Daniel Radcliffe (who is a head shorter than her) arrive to present Best Featured Actress In A Play to...Scarlett Johansson. She does an excellent surprised look. That's the kind of acting that is being rewarded tonight, guys.

8.14pm: Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes have just attempted to suck each other's tonsils out live on stage. Hayes then makes a gag about Angela Lansbury being old. Cut to her looking appalled and amused in the audience. God bless her.

8.12pm: Ah, this is hilarious, the Tonys audience clapping along to Green Day. I love when theatre people look incredibly uncomfortable but try to look hip with the kids.

8.08pm: Am I allowed to ask Dave Bryan for an autograph? Is that a proper question to ask in a press conference? Of course it's not, Carrie. Shush now. He says that he's just missed his first show with Bon Jovi ever. Meanwhile, the cast of American Idiot are singing Boulevard of Broken Dreams...and John H Gallagher introduces Green Day, who come on with multiple pyrotechnics.

8.05pm: Oh my goodness me, Dave Bryan and Joe DiPietro are in the same room as me. Fortunately that means I'm distracted from the number from Everyday Rapture, which I really loathed. Oh, what do I do? Do I listen to Dave Bryan from Bon  Jovi talking to me? Or do I listen to the performance from the main stage? Maybe I can do both.

8.02pm: And we segue into Memphis, trailing the rest of the evening's performances, and then Kristin Chenoweth singing I Say A Little Prayer. And then an incongruous move into a selection from Come Fly Away.

7.59pm: Catherine Zuber came back to talk to us briefly, but none of the others have yet. And now it's time for the main event - and an opening number from Million Dollar Quartet.

7.45pm: Karen Olivo and Gregory Jbara bid us farewell, for that is the first part of the evening over with. While we wait for the main event, let's see what the winners so far have to say...

7.42pm: Robert Kaplowitz wins Best Sound Design of a musical for Fela. He calls his award the best piece of bling ever.

7.40pm: Adam Cork wins Best Sound Design of a play for Red.

7.39pm: Um, did she just throw glitter?

7.37pm: Christine Jones scurries on to stage to collect her award for Best Scenic Design of a musical for American Idiot. She talks about giving birth to her children, and then draws parallels between her babies and her shows. And she cries a bit while eulogising Michael Mayer.

7.35pm: Christopher Oram wins Best Scenic Design of a play for Red.

7.34pm: They have literally just played Adams off the stage in the middle of his acceptance speech.

7.31pm: Neil Austin wins Best Lighting of a play, but he's not there to accept; Kevin Adams wins Best Lighting of a musical for American Idiot - and it is stunning, to be fair.

7.30pm: Catherine Zuber wins Best Costume Design of a play for The Royal Family; and Marina Draghici wins Best Costume Design of a musical for Fela.

7.27pm: And one more for DiPietrio - Best Book this time! Exciting stuff, yes? He says he never thought he'd be here - and nor did the New York Times. Heh.

7.25pm: And then Bryan and Joe DiPietro win for Best Original Score as well.

7.23pm: Oh my goodness me, that's DAVE BRYAN FROM BON JOVI in a tux. Never thought I'd see that, you guys. Anyway, he and Daryl Waters win for Best Orchestrations, for Memphis.

7.20pm: David Hyde Pierce gets the Isabelle Stevenson award for his work in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. He thanks his siblings and his partner for their support...and the team behind La Bete for letting him out of rehearsal.

7.18pm: Marian Seldes gets her award for Lifetime Achievement as well. Another huge ovation for her. She says nothing and then leaves the stage. Amazing.

7.13pm: Sir Alan Ayckbourn gets his gong for Lifetime Achievement, and we're reminded of last season's Norman Conquests trilogy that did so well on Broadway and in London. He says he's going to keep his speech short, which is good of him.

7.12pm: The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center get their award for Regional Theatre. (We know these first awards already, by the way - you can check out the already-announced winners as well as the nominees here.)

7.11pm: Karen Olivo comes on stage with Gregory Jbara, and they're our presenters for this first section of the evening. She's on crutches and looks very uncomfortable. As you would, I guess.

7.10pm: OH MY. The speakers have just blasted out the sound feed from the creative arts awards, and having recovered from a minor embolism caused by the shock, we're going to get under way...

6.50pm: Brilliantly, one of the other hacks here has just gone on to the stage and got one of his friends to take a photo of him. I MUST do that before I go tonight.

6.25pm: Do feel free to comment with your thoughts and predictions - I'll respond to as many as I can. Starting with a big hello to all my friends on the West End messageboard, and a hello to you there Scripps! I'm backstage. Not in the stellar seats. (Am I playing it down enough? Or at all convincingly?)

6.15pm: While we're here, you can follow Broadway World on Twitter as well, you know - editor-in-chief Robert Diamond tweets here, all the news via Broadway World's main tweet page here, and me here.

6.10pm: Sound-checking. People are wandering around saying, "Check one-two" into all the microphones. It's surreal.

5.55pm: I am going to flag up right here and now that I am not making any pretence of impartiality tonight; I have my favourites just as you do, and I'll be whooping (though inwardly - they might kick me out if I make too much noise) for the winners as well. Of course, if you think I'm totally wrong - or if the voters have made the stupidest call you have ever heard of - feel free to comment!

5pm: Good evening, everybody, and welcome to a very rainy Radio City Music Hall, where my posh frock and nice hair have both been utterly ruined by the downpour that began sometime this afternoon when I was safely ensconsed in a theatre watching In The Heights (my thoughts on that to follow later tonight). I'm live backstage at the Tony Awards 2010 and will be bringing you all the action and gossip as fast as my fingers can type it. Keep clicking refresh for the latest - newest entries will be at the top, because I'm helpful like that.

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