'The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre' AKA The 67th Annual Tony Awards were held last night (9th June) at NYC's Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris for the fourth time (Barney in How I Met Your Mother).

The evening was a joyous affair as comedy, song, dance, and good showmanship combined to honour the best of the year's musical theatrical productions.

Described as "high-spirited" yet "tender hearted" by USA Today, Kinky Boots took on main rival RSC's Matilda The Musical and came out on a high (heel) to win 'Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role In A Musical' (for Billy Porter's performance), 'Best Choreography', 'Best Sound Design Of A Musical', 'Best Original Score (Music And/Or Lyrics) Written For The Theatre' (score by Cyndi Lauper) and, the biggest gong of the night: the coveted 'Best Musical' award.

Adapted from a 2005 British film, the Broadway musical tells of a struggling shoemaker who makes it big after entering into an unlikely business partnership with a drag queen.

However, rival Matilda didn't miss out on the awards action, with the acclaimed Broadway transfer of West End stage smash winning four awards, including the The Broadway transfer of the West End stage hit Matilda also won four awards including 'Best Book Of A Musical' as well as scene and lighting awards.

Despite losing out to Kinky Boots after such high hopes, the RSC's artistic director Gregory Doran failed to be embittered by Matilda's fewer awards, saying in a statement that he and his company were "so proud" to win the awards and that it was an "honour to be on Broadway and we want to pay tribute to the fantastic American cast and crew who have worked on the show since January and to the incredible response we have had from New York audiences."

The evening wasn't just a prize-giving event - it was an all-singing, all-dancing show designed to showcase performers from all the year's big productions. Other winners included Courtney B. Vance for 'Best Featured Actor In A Play' for his role alongside Tom Hanks in Lucky Guy and Christopher Durang's comical Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike which won 'Best Play'.

It is hoped that the glamour and success of the awards evening will inspire audiences and boost theatre attendance after falling figures in the 2011/2012 season from 12.3million to 11.6m - a fall of nearly a million audience members.

With so much talent and hard-work on show at this year's awards, one thing's for sure: the show will go on.

Kinky Boots

Kinky Boots Won Big At Last Night's Tony Awards. From L-R: Daryl Roth, Hal Luftig, Cyndi Lauper And Billy Porter.