Stoppard Epic Breaks Records With Seven Tony Awards

Tom Stoppard's epic trilogy Coast of Utopia last night set a new record at the Tony Awards, rounding off an exceptional Broadway season in which British imports have continued to dominate.

The Russian revolutionary drama took seven awards, including best play and director, exceeding the previous record for a play held jointly by last year's The History Boys by Alan Bennett and Arthur Miller's Death

of a Salesman in 1949. "They're both plays that I admire very much," Stoppard said. "What didn't they get?"

In a further result for a British play, Frank Langella won the Tony for best leading actor in a play for his role as Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan's play about the famous 1977 TV interviews with the fallen president.

The other overwhelming victory of the night was Spring Awakening in the musical categories. The rock show won eight awards, including best musical, for its tragic love story set in 19th century Germany.

The closing season has seen imported British shows, many originating from the National Theater, continue to thrive on Broadway, to the extent that the New York Times recently sniped at the "mania for all things British". Apart from Coast of Utopia and Frost/Nixon, the successes have included the first world war drama Journey's End. The notable exception to these triumphs was Coram Boy, a tale about 18th century British foundlings that flopped after just a month despite receiving six Tony nominations.

Three of the four Tony nominees for best direction of a play were British: David Grindley (Journey's End), Michael Grandage (Frost/Nixon) and Melly Still (Coram Boy). Jack O'Brien for Coast Of Utopia was the fourth nomination.

The extent to which British drama is hogging the Broadway limelight has prompted a degree of backlash locally. Charles Isherwood, the New York Times' theater critic, recently wrote that he had been disappointed by much of the London-originated material this season. "The cumulative effect has left me wondering whether this was simply an off season, or whether all the money being lavished on plays and productions from across the ocean is bringing much in the way of lasting rewards to the Broadway environment."

The awards come at a buoyant time for Broadway, which has just notched up its second record season in a row in terms of attendances and box-office takings. The League of American Theaters and Producers, which acts as the umbrella organisation for Broadway, reports that 12.3m tickets were sold in the 2006/07 season that has just ended, an increase of 2.6% on the previous record year.

At current rates, next year should see Broadway theaters break through the symbolically important $1bn mark, surpassing this year's gross takings of $939m.

Such statistics amount to an extraordinary success story for Broadway, and for New York as a whole. Fears that the city would take years to recover its confidence and economic bounce after 9/11 have long been forgotten.

Fueling the bonanza is the dominance of long-running Broadway musicals, with six shows, including Mary Poppins, at more than 90% capacity.

Spring Awakening is filling 88% of seats, and last night's sweep of the Tony awards is likely to enhance that even further.