New York laid out the red carpet and broke open the champagne for an Irish queen yesterday. Ecstatic celebrations in honour of the four Tony awards won by Martin Mc Donagh's play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, continued at O'Lunney's pub in Manhattan to 5 a.m. Garry Hynes had convinced herself that she wasn't going to win, Tom Murphy didn't rate his chances and Anna Manahan worried that she wouldn't make it up all the stairs to the podium if her name was called.
In the event, Garry Hynes made a bit of Broadway history by becoming the first woman director to win a Tony award.
Anna Manahan admitted: "I flew up the stairs even though I'm short-sighted."
Tom Murphy burst into tears in the wings after his acceptance speech. Marie Mullen was stunned by a barrage of photographers when she won the Tony for best leading actress.
It has taken more than half a century for the Tonys to present its first directing award to a woman. "It's another barrier coming down," said Ms Hynes yesterday. "This situation reminds people about the fact that there are women working in the theatre. I hope it will help them."
After their awards, Ms Hynes and her cast were wined and dined at a Tonys ball in the Hotel Mar riot. The event, attended by film stars Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin and comedian Rosie O'Donnell, had all the glitz that might be expected from the Oscars of the theatre world.
Irish actor Liam Neeson, whose wife Natasha Richardson won a Tony for her starring role in Cabaret, hugged the Irish winners.
At about 2 a.m. the Irish contingent moved to O'Lunney's pub, around the corner from the Walter Kerr Theatre where the Beauty Queen is playing to packed audiences. A noisy crowd of about 80 people connected to the play crushed into the pub.
As dawn broke, the party was only beginning to wind up.
"It was an amazing night, I don't suppose we'll come down for a few days," Anna Manahan said. "Given that the 700 Tony voters are all members of the profession, this is a very special award. It seems to me to crown my life."
Congratulations poured in from across the Atlantic. The President, Mrs McAleese, said: "The wealth of talent which is evident is a credit to you all and your achievements are a fitting tribute to your hard work and dedication."
"This is a triumphant day for Irish drama and the Druid Theatre Company in particular," the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, said.
Everyone paid tribute to the author, Martin McDonagh (27), who had decided to escape all the fuss by travelling to Tunisia. He had been strongly tipped to win the best play award, but was beaten on the night by Art, a crowd-pleasing comedy by the French-Iranian writer Yasmina Reza.
Some US patriots had complained that Broadway was overly dependent on foreign imports, but the quality of the two plays silenced the debate.
The Beauty Queen and Disney's The Lion King reign over a Broadway season which continues to break box-office records.