Tony Awards 2012: Best and worst

“Live from the Caribbean” ... Need we say more? Actor-playwright Harvey Fierstein appeared onstage clad in a puffy flotation device to announce Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas cast of “Hairspray,” which performed a number live from a cruise ship at sea. “Please welcome them,” Fierstein said in a thick Brooklyn accent, “for the first time ever at the Tonys -- or anywhere else for that matter!” Later, host Neil Patrick Harris commented: “I’ve just gotten terrible news that the cast of ‘Hairspray’ has been taken over by pirates.”  (Theo Wargo / Getty Images)

Neil Patrick Harris may have smooth-sailed through the Tony Awards, but just before the presentation of performance by an actor in a featured role in a play (snagged by Christian Borle), he was hanging by a thin thread. Literally. The actor descended, Spidey-like, upside-down from the ceiling. Any concerns he had about the stunt’s safety were replaced, he said, by “the searing pain in my junk.”  (Theo Wargo / Getty Images)

John Lithgow, with Bernadette Peters, wasn’t exactly considered a front-runner for his role as Alsop in “The Columnist.” But he had a sense of humor about it. On the red carpet before the show, he told The Times: “I know I’m probably not going to win. I was tempted to scratch myself like that horse at Belmont.” We don’t feel too badly -- Lithgow has two Tonys on his mantel already, one for 1973’s “The Changing Room” and another for “Sweet Smell of Success” in 2002.   (Jason Szenes / EPA)

The Tony Awards may have been packed with star power -- but overall, the fashions gracing the red carpet at the Beacon Theatre on Sunday night were, well, disappointingly tasteful. There was little Broadway-worthy razzle dazzle and next to no fashion faux pas. There was, however, a good amount of purple, and actress Deborra-Lee Furness, with husband Hugh Jackman, was a true Venus in Fur.   (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)

Amanda Seyfried gets the award for “best accessorized” at the Tonys. It might have been our computer monitor, but was her belt dyed to perfectly match her lipstick? Nicely done.  (Theo Wargo / Getty Images)

James Corden had his priorities straight at the Tonys. Yes, he won for performance by an actor in a leading role in a play for “One Man, Two Guvnors” (a snippet of which he gave during the telecast). But while accepting his statue, he noted Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Lithgow as inspirations. And when it came to his girlfriend, he got almost winded with thanks: “She’s my baby mama and I can’t wait to marry her!”  (Charles Sykes /Invision/Associated Press)

Mike Nichols’ rambling-but-genuine acceptance speech after winning best direction for the revival of “Death of a Salesman” was particularly touching. Who knew he had won a pie-eating contest as a kid near the theater! “That was nice, but this is nicer,” he said. Nichols, who’s been nominated for a Tony 18 times and attended the show with wife Diane Sawyer, wrapped up his speech with a nod to Arthur Miller’s play: “A salesman has to dream. It goes with the territory.”  (Jason Szenes / EPA)

Neil Patrick Harris ran through a few mash-up titles, should film and theater ever merge. “Field of Dream Girls,” “Psycho Calcutta” and “A Bridge on the River Kwai Baby” were among them. Our favorite? “My Left Footloose.” (“Think of the dance numbers...!” he said).   (“Field of Dreams” (Universal), “Dreamgirls” (Center Theatre Group), “My Left Foot” (Paramount Vantage), “Footloose” (Paramount), Neil Patrick Harris and Amanda Seyfried (Charles Sykes / Invision / AP))

Nina Arianda was particularly exuberant accepting her Tony for lead actress in a play for her performance in “Venus in Fur.” “Yeeaah,” she squealed, raising a fist in the air. But “Tony” wasn’t the only man’s name on her mind. To presenter Christopher Plummer, she said: “Sir, you were my very first crush.”   (Mike Coppola / Getty Images)

Asked backstage about what was next, Judith Light, a first-time winner for her role as a featured actress in a play for “Other Desert Cities,” demurred about possible TV, stage and film opportunities saying she wasn’t at liberty to discuss them. But she did pitch a jewelry line that she’s working on with a design partner. And it’s not the first time this awards season that Light has talked commerce; she told the New York Times last week that it was the project she was “most excited at the moment about.”  (Charles Sykes /Invision / Associated Press)