Billy Elliot was the toast of New York last night as Sir Elton John's musical picked up 10 Tony Awards.

The show's success spearheaded a triumphant night for British theatrical talent on Broadway.

The Old Vic production of Alan Ayckbourn's comic trilogy The Norman Conquests won Best Revival of a Play and Matthew Warchus landed Best Direction of a Play for God Of Carnage.

But it was the ballet-loving boy from County Durham who dominated New York theatre's equivalent of the Oscars with a record haul for a British musical on Broadway.

Gallery: More pictures from The 63rd annual Tony Awards

Billy Elliot won Best Musical while David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish, the three child actors who play Billy, shared the award for Best Actor in a Musical.

With 15 nominations, it was widely expected that Billy, the highest-grossing new musical of the season on Broadway, would fare well but the Tonys are renowned for springing upsets.

However, on this occasion the awards, held at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall, simply provided the platform for the latest chapter in the incredible Billy Elliot story.

Last night's success means the musical has now won 73 awards, starting back in 2005 with the Evening Standard Best Musical gong.

Stephen Daldry, who directed the hit Working Title film on which the show was based, won Best Director of a Musical. He described the accolade as "one of the great thrills of my life".

Lee Hall, who wrote both Billy Elliot's screen and stage incarnations, won Best Book of a Musical. Hall said he conceived its story in Manhattan.

He said: "I was in New York dreaming about my childhood I saw a little boy with a tutu down a back lane [in my mind] and I chased him."

The show also won Best Choreography (Peter Darling), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Gregory Jbara), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Ian MacNeil), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Paul Arditti), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Rick Fisher) and it tied for Best Orchestration (Martin Koch).

Sir Elton missed out on the Tony for Best Original Score losing to rock musical Next To Normal.

Sir Elton said the economic gloom engulfing New York when the show opened helped audiences relate to the story's setting - England's North-East during the miners' strike of 1984-85. "The real test of a show's stamina and its legs is always Broadway," he said.

"We were a little worried about the content and the colloquialism of the story.

"But I think we got a break at the fact that it opened at a really tough time last November."

Other British success stories included 83-year-old Angela Lansbury, who won her fifth Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the part of Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit.

God of Carnage, written by French playwright Yasmina Reza and translated by British writer Christopher Hampton, won Best Play.

Marcia Gay Harden, who stars in God Of Carnage, beat Mary Stuart's English actresses Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer for Best Actress in a Play.

Further English success came with Tim Hatley winning Best Costume Design of a Musical for Shrek.

Gallery: More pictures from The 63rd annual Tony Awards

Billy's Tony haul

Best Musical: Billy Elliot
Best Direction of a Musical: Stephen Daldry
Best Actor in a Musical: David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish and Trent Kowalik (who all play Billy)
Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Gregory Jbara (as Billy's father)
Best Choreography: Peter Darling
Best Sound Design of a Musical: Paul Arditti
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Ian MacNeil