Perhaps the biggest surprise was that one critically acclaimed show - Passing Strange - won just one Tony, for best book of a musical, and the much-praised revival of Sunday in the Park With George took home none at all.
In his acceptance speech, August's playwright, Tracy Letts, took a swipe at the current trend in commercial theater when he thanked the Broadway producers "who decided to do something amazing: stage an American play on Broadway with theater artists."
August also picked up awards for best direction of a musical (Anna D. Shapiro), best actress (Deanna Dunagan) and best featured actress in a play (Rondi Reed).
Everything came up roses for Gypsy. Though it missed out on the best musical prize, it dominated the acting awards. Patti LuPone, as expected, was named best actress in a musical; Laura Benanti was lauded for best featured actress and Boyd Gaines as best featured actor in a musical.
Boeing-Boeing, a lighthearted spoof of the airline industry set in the 1960s, won best revival of a play.
And leave it to that show's star, Mark Rylance, the American who has spent his professional career in Britain, to inject a note of unpredictability into the evening, while picking up the award for best actor in a play.
In his acceptance speech, Rylance eschewed the usual thanks to seemingly deliver a lecture on fashion:
"In the city, wearing some kind of uniform is helpful," he said, "a policeman, a priest, etc. Driving a tank is very impressive. ... If you're in the woods, far from any human civilization, it is a good idea to wear orange."
Confused? You're not the only one.
The Regional Theater Tony went to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, while Stephen Sondheim, whose musicals have garnered seven best musical Tonys and one Pulitzer Prize, received the lifetime achievement award.
Sondheim has fashioned a career from exploring the nuances of ambivalence, and that quality was on display in his acceptance speech.
Though the songwriter did not pick up his award in person, an associate read a message in which he thanked his collaborators.
"The more venerable you get, the harder it gets living up to the praise bestowed on you," Sondheim wrote. "I, or rather we, promise you more achievement."
The live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in New York was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, who elicited a mixture of laughter and boos when she quipped that Baltimore native Thurgood Marshall was "the only African-American Supreme Court justice" - a gibe at conservative judge Clarence Thomas.
