He lost out to Ed Harris whose portrayal of painter Jackson Pollock has won critical acclaim.
The weakest link in this finely meshed cast is Victor Slezak, whose portrayal of Peter is too uniformly dour.
Larry Hagman, whose portrayal of one of television's most beloved villains, J. R. Ewing, led the CBS series "Dallas" to enormous worldwide popularity, died on Friday in Dallas.
Best Leading Actor in a Musical should go to Michael Cerveris ("Fun Home"), whose portrayal of Bechdel's father is a stirring study of a broken soul.
The big news is the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who is singing her first Met performances as Dido and whose portrayal is sumptuous, regal and impassioned.
And who is there to contradict them?" Then there is Agnes — a heartbreaking character in whose portrayal Forna's formidable talents converge.
Few dramatic sopranos give more of themselves in performance than Evelyn Herlitzius, whose portrayal of the title role was a vocal and histrionic triumph.
All this is under the director of Ifans's louche boutique owner, whose portrayal the actor possibly sluts-up a touch too much.
But the real standout in the first cast was Diana Damrau, whose portrayal of Pamina was beautifully sung and gracefully nuanced.
Eddie Redmayne, 33, whose portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything pipped Cumberbatch to the best actor Oscar, receives an OBE.
"I just beat Hitler!," said Henry Huebchen after he won the best actor prize over Bruno Ganz, whose portrayal of the Nazi leader was widely praised.
