John Patrick Shanley added a Tony Award to his Pulitzer Prize on Sunday as his play “Doubt” about a nun who suspects a Catholic priest of abusing children picked up Broadway’s top honor. “Doubt” won four Tonys, including best play and best director, a tally topped only by “The Light in the Piazza” which won six awards, though it missed out on best musical which went to “Monty Python’s Spamalot.” “I have an Oscar and a Pulitzer and now a Tony Award and I still can’t do the Sunday Times crossword puzzle,” said Shanley, who won an Academy Award for “Moonstruck” in 1988 and a Pulitzer earlier this year for “Doubt”.

In the musical categories, the evening had been billed as a face-off between the David and Goliath pair of the star-studded “Monty Python’s Spamalot” and the low-budget underdog “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” “Spamalot,” based on the works of the offbeat British comedy troupe, had garnered 14 nominations, but had to make do with three awards. Still, it won the big ones: best musical and best director, for veteran writer and director Mike Nichols. Sara Ramirez won the award for best featured actress in a musical. It was the ninth Tony Award for Nichols, who said the producers hoped to take the show to London next year. Nichols admitted he was feeling nervous during the ceremony as a string of early awards went to “The Light in the Piazza.” “I sat there thinking ‘We’re in the toilet, this is backlash big time’... but then it turned out OK,” he told reporters backstage after paying tribute to original Python Eric Idle who created “Spamalot.”

“Spelling Bee” won two awards for best book of a musical and best featured actor, Dan Fogler, while “Light in the Piazza” won six including best score and best actress in a musical, Victoria Clark. “The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh may go down as the most overlooked play, picking up just two awards for scenic design and lighting of a play. There was no surprise in the category of best special theatrical event, won by comedian Billy Crystal for the one-man show about his life, “700 Sundays.” “I want to thank everybody on behalf of the entire cast,” he quipped.