“Doubt,” John Patrick Shanley’s drama set in a parochial school in the Bronx, was named Best Play at the 2005 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall last night.

“Monty Python’s Spamalot,” an irreverent romp inspired by the British troupe’s film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” took the prizes for best musical; Best Direction of a Musical, to Mike Nicholas (Mr. Nichols’s sixth Tony); and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, to Sara Ramirez, who portrays the diva-like Lady in the Lake.

Six Tonys were awarded to “The Light in the Piazza,” a tale of young love in old Europe, including the award for Best Original Score, given to composer Adam Guettel, grandson of the legendary Richard Rodgers.

“Doubt,” the season’s most honored play, already had picked up the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and several other top play prizes. Last night it was awarded four Tonys.

“I want to thank the Sisters of Charity for teaching me how to read and write,” Mr. Shanley said. “I want to thank the Irish Christian Brothers for throwing me out of high school.”

Cherry Jones received a Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play and Adriane Lenox for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. The director of “Doubt,” Doug Hughes, won for Best Direction of a Play.

“It must seem like a wild act of Oedipal revenge for the son of two actors to become a director, but I assure you that’s not the case,” Mr. Hughes, the son of theater veterans Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg, said.

Bill Irwin captured the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play prize, for his portrayal of the henpecked George in a revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical went to Victoria Clark, who plays a Southern matron touring Italy with her daughter in “Piazza.” Its other prizes were for sets, costumes, lighting, and orchestrations.

Norbert Leo Butz, an exuberantly obnoxious con-man in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” captured the prize for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.

To his co-star, John Lithgow, also nominated, he held his trophy aloft and said, “I have one of these, but you have what I really want, the respect and gratitude of everyone in this community.”

“The Pillowman,” a competitor for the Best Play award, won two design awards: for sets and lighting. The award for Best Costume Design of a Play went to “The Rivals.”

The choreography prize was taken by Jerry Mitchell for the athletic dances he created for the revival of “La Cage aux Folles,” which also won the prize for musical revival. The Best Revival of a Play award went to a production of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

“I feel like Rocky right now,” said Dan Fogler, who got the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical award for his portrayal in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” of a nasally challenged but expert wordsmith. “I was going to dance up here.”

A stunned Liev Schreiber took the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play prize for his portrayal of a sleazy real estate salesman in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

“To be part of this ensemble is an amazing experience for me,” Mr. Schreiber said. The cast includes Tony nominees Alan Alda and Gordon Clapp. “I’m so grateful.”

The musical-book prize was won by newcomer Rachel Sheinkin, who wrote “Spelling Bee.”

A special lifetime achievement Tony was given to playwright Edward Albee, author of such classics as “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “A Delicate Balance,” among other plays.

He dedicated his award to the memory of his partner of 35 years, sculptor Jonathan Thomas, who died in May. “He made me a happy playwright. And you have made me a happy playwright tonight.”

Among shows arriving during the year were 11 new musicals and several starry revivals, such as “On Golden Pond,” “Julius Caesar,” “The Glass Menagerie,” “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The nominations in 25 categories were voted on by 758 members of the theatrical community.

The Tonys, officially known as the Antoinette Perry Awards, were founded in 1947 by the American Theatre Wing, which runs educational and charitable programs. The organization now oversees the Tonys with the League of American Theatres and Producers, an industry trade group.