Two-time Emmy nominee Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother") is hosting the Tony Awards on CBS Sunday night. And in the week leading to this kudocast, he is being seen around town drumming up interest in these top theater honors.

Neil Patrick Harris boasts both the TV name that the Tonycast needs to draw casual viewers and the stage credits to satisfy theater-goers who tune in to these kudos saluting Broadway's best. While Harris came to fame on TV's "Doogie Howser, M.D." in his teens, he then spent most of his 20s carving a niche for himself in the theater. He starred on Broadway and regionally to much success in productions of Tony-winning tuners like "Cabaret" and "Rent."

Four years ago, Harris returned to series TV as the lovable lothario Barney on the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." For that role, he has contended at the last two Emmy Awards, losing the supporting race both times to Jeremy Piven of "Entourage." (Piven might have been a Tony nominee this year for his acclaimed performance in the revival of "Speed-the-Plow" had he not bowed out of the show early.)

In an interview with Marc Malkin of E! Online, Neil Patrick Harris spoke about emceeing the recent TV Land Awards and picking up pointers from past Tony host Hugh Jackman. "The one thing Hugh said is that commercial breaks are longer on the Tonys than on other awards shows, so [you have] to keep the audience's attention at Radio City. He stayed out and had banter with them during the commercial breaks to keep them engaged, which I had never even thought about but is a very smart idea."

And speaking to the Vultures over at New York magazine, Harris extolled the efforts of Jackman, who presided over three Tonycasts in a row beginning in 2003 : "He's eclipsed everyone in the hosting world. He's the new [Billy] Crystal." Indeed, just as Billy Crystal won Emmys for hosting the 1991 and 1998 Oscars, Hugh Jackman picked up an Emmy for emceeing the 2004 Tonys. 

The Emmys just nixed this individual performance prize, so Hugh Jackman won't be contending for his much-praised hosting of the recent Oscarcast. Back in 2004, he was wowing Broadway audiences with his performance as showman as Peter Allen in "The Boy From Oz," which won him a Tony Award as best actor in a musical. In the opening number of that year's awardscast, he sang a special version of "One Night Only" from the 1982 Tony-nominated musical "Dreamgirls."

Expect Harris to be featured in an equally razzle-dazzle opening number at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday. Last year, he showed off his singing chops in the viral Web sensation "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." And as Jackman told the Vultures, "He's a very funny guy. He'll do better than me. He shouldn't listen to anything I say."

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Photo: CBS

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