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hearts of theatergoers, just as it did with movie audiences in 2006.
• "Once" won eight awards in all, including for its lead actor, Steve Kazee, who brought movie-star looks and a soulful singing voice to the part of Guy, a street musician in Dublin who falls for a Czech immigrant flower-seller.
• Kazee gave one of the most poignant speeches of a night that had many of them, paying tearful tribute to his mother, who passed away on Easter Sunday. He also thanked his cast mates, especially co-star Cristin Milioti, for helping him cope: "They carried

me around and made me feel alive."
• "Once" triumphed over the more obviously commercial "Newsies" for the top prize, and that was a theme of the night -- many of the top-honored shows were neither big-budget nor star-driven, and a number had started off-Broadway in small theaters.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Clare Dickens only wanted to share her story to help others. But in the process, she became a successful independent author -- with the help of a local bookstore and its instant publishing machine.
• Dickens wrote "A Dangerous Gift" with her son Titus, a memoir of their life deal

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