Neil Patrick Harris To Host Tonys

Neil Patrick Harris will host the 2009 Tony Awards, honoring the best of the Broadway season. The show will be broadcast on CBS on June 7 from Radio City Music Hall.

Harris has appeared in hit TV series such as "How I Met Your Mother," where he plays the womanizing Barney Stinson, and "Doogie Howser, M.D." On Broadway, he has appeared in the revivals of "Cabaret" and in "Assassins" (playing the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald) as well as in the Tony-winning drama "Proof."

"The discipline of live theater - doing the same perfect thing night after night, eight times a week - never ceases to amaze me," Harris said in a statement Thursday. "I'm truly honored to have been chosen as the master of ceremonies for this year's Tony Awards, and I hope to help provide a first-class evening for all."

The nominations in 27 competitive categories were announced May 5. Competing for best musical are "Billy Elliot," "Next to Normal," "Rock of Ages" and "Shrek The Musical." Best play nominees are "Dividing the Estate," "God of Carnage," "reasons to be pretty" and "33 Variations." Winners will be chosen by more than 800 members of the theater community.

The Tonys are presented by the Broadway League, the industry trade group, and the American Theatre Wing, which founded the awards in 1947.
By Michael Kuchwara