ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Perhaps it was an awful presentation night for the American Theatre Wing, but good effing Lord, it was far from uneventful.
I'm still giggling.
I can't stop, in fact.
Not only did Avenue Q take home the three largest prizes (and the upset) of the evening, but Idina Menzel almost fell off of the podium she was scaling for "Defying Gravity."
It was a good evening.
Jackman, I suppose, deserved his Best Actor, as did Jefferson Mays. Rashad's speech was...Elitist; Menzel's was frazzled. I enjoyed the opening sequence, especially the awkward Jews swaying in rhythm from Fiddler. Jackman made out with not one, but two puppets, which brings his count to somewhere around sixteen inanimate objects he's violated in the last two years, I believe.
I have just a few minor questions:
---Did anyone else notice the two comedic ploys of the front runners for Best Musical? Sure, Rod was a cute homosexual puppet, but who can beat Chenowith's "Yes, it is good to see me, isn't it?"
---How much of the "Sopranos" population was actually going to switch to the TONY AWARDS? The classy mobsters?
---Why were the Featured Actor/Actress awards presented so early? Last year, Book and Score were presented first, then the Featured categories. It makes very little sense.
---Who in the universe actually wanted to see that stick, Sarah Jessica Parker, gyrate? No one. Except for Jackman.
---Speaking of Jackman, was the "mutant" comment to co-star Paquin just a bit over the top?
---How gorgeous was James Barbour? Really, really effing gorgeous.
---What was my favorite quotes of the evening? Curtsey of I Am My Own Wife writer Doug Wright ("Our entire cast just won Tony Awards!") and producer David Richenthal ("The entire cast: Jefferson Mays, Jefferson Mays, Jefferson Mays and Jefferson Mays.").
Here are some others that rate high on my list:
"Oh, I always loved it. Don't we all? Only miserable sick people don't. It's downright American!" --Carol Channing on rap music
"Do any of you want to know what orchestrations are?" -Michael Starobin, who won the Best Orchestrations category for his work on Assassins
"I think we can now announce that Rod will be replacing Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz." --Avenue Q producer Kevin McCollum
"I beat Smarty Jones" --Wicked costume designer Susan Hilferty on winning the triple crown of theater: the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Tony Award
"I feel like Smarty Jones." --Avenue Q's Jeff Whitty
"In fact, Smarty Jones is coming to our party!" --Avenue Q producer Kevin McCollum
"You know, Hugh, you are a very successful gentleman and I'm an investment banker, so if you ever need anyone to take care of your assetsÂ?" --Rod from Avenue Q
"Deb, if I go to the Avenue Q party, you'll know why." --Hugh Jackman to his wife after Rod's flirtation
"Here is what you missed at our little barbeque: I danced with the Rockettes, a witch came on in a bubble, a lot of Jews danced their way out of Russia, Tony Bennett sang, Harvey Fierstein presented an award, there was swing dancing, a whole bunch of people did a musical number about assassinating presidents and there were puppets in group therapy. It's not TV, it's the Tony Awards."--Hugh Jackman recapping the evening so far for people just tuning in
More later. I have to go rewind the tape and watch again.