Broadway and additional stage vets led the pack with big wins at the Golden Globes last night, which marked the official start of the sprint to the Academy Awards finish line.
Broadway headliners and current Academy Award nominees Hugh Jackman (The Boy from Oz) and Jessica Chastain (The Heiress) took home the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Les Miserables and Best Actress for Zero Dark Thirty, respectively. Les Miz, which showcases Broadway veterans like Aaron Tveit (Next to Normal) and Eddie Redmayne (Red), beat out predicted winner Silver Linings Playbook for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), with Anne Hathaway continuing the winning streak with her Best Supporting Actress award for her standout performance opposite Jackman.
Theater legend Maggie Smith (Lettice and Lovage) also repped the stage as well with a much-deserved Best Supporting Actress Award for Downton Abbey.
The Golden Globes were a big night for the cable networks–HBO scored with wins for Game Change and Tony Award nominee Ed Harris. Scribe-actress Lena Dunham and her semi-autobiographical Girls (which features off-Broadway’s Really Really‘s Zosia Mamet and stage vet Adam Driver) won for Best Comedy or Musical series. Showtime’s American espionage drama Homeland bested competitor Breaking Bad, snagging Best Actor wins for stage alums Claire Danes (Pygmalion) and Damian Lewis (the West End’s Into the Woods). Homeland also stars Tony Award winner Mandy Pantinkin (Evita, Sunday in the Park With George), and has featured cameos by Alexander Gemignani (Assassins), Tony Award nominee Jamie Sheridan (All My Sons), and Tony Award nominee Marin Ireland (Reasons to be Pretty).
Homeland also beat out HBO’s The Newsroom, with its merry band of theater vets, including Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin, Tony Award winner John Gallagher Jr., Tony Award winner Sam Waterston, Tony nominees Thomas Sadoski and Alison Pill and Tony Award nominee Jeff Daniels.
Broadway continued to blow minds when Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill or something, showed up to cheer on Tony Award winner Tony Kushner and his Lincoln screenplay.
The biggest winners, however, were TV comedienne-turned-event-hosts Amy Poehler (Parks & Recreation) and Tina Fey (30 Rock) whose wit and charm won the room and left us begging for a joint stage appearance. An updated Arsenic & Old Lace, maybe? We’re just throwing it out there.
