As winner of Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Laura Benanti, who plays Louise in Gypsy, claimed she did not know what she said in her acceptance speech. As the realization sunk in, she declared she was going to start referring to herself as “Tony Award Winner” on her answering machine. She also said she was going to make her award into a necklace, asking, “You think it’ll be too much?”

Benanti’s joy was shared as her co-star Boyd Gaines won and Benanti yelled, “Oh my God!” mid-sentence.

Gaines’ win had a ironic back story to it. He had been stopped by someone on the subway that morning who said, “I’m sorry about the Tony.” When Gaines asked him what he meant, the man said he had read in the paper that Gaines was not going to win.

Paulo Szot, winner of the Best Actor award for his role as Emile in South Pacific, had never expected to win. He said after the first day of rehearsals for the show, he wntaed to take the first plane back to Brazil.

“I was so scared,” he said. Szot , an opera singer who has never performed on Broadway before, has been amazed by the response from the audience in the show. He can hear them singing along with him during the performances. “If I forget a word, they will help.”

Patti LuPone, winner of the Best Actress Award for her role as Rose in Gypsy, refused to stop her acceptance speech when the obligatory music began, shouting “Shut up It’s been 29 years!”

While she was honored to receive the award, LuPone said she thinks that people put too much emphasis on awards and should focus instead on the work they are doing. “The point is not the award,” she said. “It is how much you are moving the audience.”

“Art is the soul of the nation,” she said. “And we need to elevate our society. We need to put those ideas out there and stop censoring. Audiences are very smart and very hungry. They’re desperate for an emotional connection.”

She was thrilled to receive the award, after having been nominated and not winning for several different performances.

“It’s been a long time,” he said, spinning her award in a circle. “Wee!”

In the Heights won Best Musical and Miranda described it as “the best prom ever.”

Miranda said he was proud of the fusion of modern music and theater that he accomplished with the show. “Popular music and theater music were friends a long time ago, and I’d like them to be friends again,” he said.

The award was a wonderful validation for him, both personally and professionally. “As someone who never felt like he fit in anywhere, to have that validated and have people ...