At the 2005 Tony Awards, everything is a surprise--the identities of the winners, the number of producers who will file onstage to receive a best play or best musical award, the words the winners will say once they accept their trophies.

But, aside from who wins, there are other surprises that turn the annual ceremony into a can't-miss event. And this year was no exception.

One surprise was that Billy Crystal, who won a 2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for his one-man show Billy Crystal 700 Sundays, turned out not to be the host of this year's ceremony. Although it was widely known that Hugh Jackman was actually this year's emcee, some audience members at Radio City Music Hall were briefly puzzled when Crystal was the one who appeared at the top of the show and announced that all the musical numbers this year "will be sung by Beyoncé--in French" (click for details).

Jackman soon returned to his place in center stage, and another unexpected happening occurred when Christina Applegate, the Tony-nominated star of Sweet Charity, twirled around an onstage lamppost and toppled over into a pit. It turned out to be an elaborately choreographed--and very funny--bit leading in to Applegate's presentation of the Tony Award for Best Choreography (click for details).

A Guest Speller

Later in the evening the Reverend Al Sharpton made an unexpected appearance as a spelling-bee contestant. He put on a numbered placard and took his place on stage, joining the very young and very multicultural cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. When his name was called, Sharpton approached the microphone and was asked to spell the word "dengue."

"Can you give me a definition please," Sharpton asked. And the reply was that dengue is a kind of hemorrhagic fever, caused by a virus, transmitted by mosquitoes and causing infected victims to experience skin rashes, headache, nausea and vomiting.

When the former presidential candidate failed to spell "dengue" correctly, the Spelling Bee cast escorted their bemused guest, in song, back to his seat.

The Host with the Most

A couple of other Tony surprises were improvised or choreographed moments that involved Hugh Jackman entertaining the Radio City Music Hall audience during TV commercials.

In one bit, Jackman publicly apologized to Matthew Broderick for Jackman's onstage antics when he danced with Broderick's wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, at the 2004 Tony ceremony.

Later Jackman took requests from the audience. Someone from the audience suggested that he sing "I Go to Rio" from The Boy from Oz, the show for which he won a Tony Award--and he did.

And to the delight of the Radio City audience, Jackman asked a couple of spectators (including a spirited female fan and a young man who sang from The Fantasticks) to come on stage. He gave them a chance to show their stuff. "Come on, go do it" Jackman suggested, egging the two on. "This house is full of Broadway producers."

Speaking of Jackman's irrepressible hosting antics, Radio City Music Hall audiences were amazed to find out, during a commercial break, that his well-received opening "Gotta Dance" solo number was written and arranged by composer Michael John LaChiusa, directed by George C. Wolfe, and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. That's a lot of Broadway heavy-hitters.

Randy Gener is the senior editor of American Theatre magazine and the author of the plays, Love Seats for Virginia Woolf and What Remains of a Rembrandt Torn into Four Pieces, among others.

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The Tony Awards are presented by Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Theatre Wing.