Neil Patrick Harris to host the 63rd annual Tony Awards

Neil Patrick Harris is to host the 63rd annual Tony Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall on Sun 7 Jun 2009.

Harris can currently be seen as 'Barney Stinson' in the CBS comedy series 'How I Met Your Mother,' a role which recently garnered him a 2009 Golden Globe nomination and two consecutive Emmy Award nominations. He won the Young Artist Awards three times in a row for his starring role in "Doogie Howser, M.D."

His Broadway credits are "Assassins" (Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald: 2004), 'Proof' (Hal - replacement: 2000) and 'Cabaret' (Master of Ceremonies: revival 1998).

�The discipline of live theatre -- doing the same perfect thing night after night, eight times a week -- never ceases to amaze me,� said Harris. �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 Tony nominations where announced on 5 May 2009. Amongst this years crop of Broadway productions Billy Elliot, The Musical leads the way with fifteen nominations, followed by Next to Normal with eleven nominations, Hair & Shrek The Musical each have eight nominations and Mary Stuart and The Norman Conquests follow with seven nominations each.