A lot of people making comments about the technical difficulties have no clue what you are talking about. It's not a knock at you, it's just that your assumptions are wrong (generally speaking to the majority of comments).
I, too, do not know EXACTLY what the issue is with the sound, because I have never worked television (and the issue is the TELEVISION broadcast's sound, NOT the sound in the theatre because everyone at Radio City can hear fine!).
1) LIVE EVENTS on television in the past have gone on without a hitch. I do not remember the major sound issues from previous live events that I do with the Tonys the past two year. The Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, and most other award shows present LIVE. Other live events include New Year's Eve specials, the Thanksgiving Parade, etc.
The Tonys are unique in that there are live stage performances, so they need wireless mics as opposed to podium/handheld mics that a "host" or "presenter" might have at the Oscars.
2) While there have been singular issues at the Tonys in the past, they have not been as heavy as the sound issues last year in 2009's and this year in 2010's broadcasts. For those who have said there are issues "EVERY YEAR" I would argue that most of the broadcasts prior to 2009 have gone off without a hitch, sound-wise.
3) The venue has nothing to do with it. While yes, Radio City may be a contributing factor (depending on what the exact issue they're having is), a sound engineer hired for the event should know what they are doing - whether it be at Radio City or the Hollywood Bowl or little Susie's elementary school cafeteria. The "sound team" were hired because they have the knowledge, skills, and experience to provide sound for the event.
Yes, things go wrong. Things happen. But to have such a large list of mishaps is embarrassing - again, TWO YEARS IN A ROW.
PS: These sound issues are separate mishaps from other technical flubs of the night. Sean Hayes' spastic "goodnight!" at the end was caused because the director/stage manager cut off MEMPHIS' speech and as the camera was cutting to Hayes, he was told to 'GO' with his introduction to the performers, however MEMPHIS' producers were still talking so Hayes was going to let them finish, but when they stopped talking, he had a brief moment of not knowing "whose turn it was" so he took control and introduced the cast of MEMPHIS to perform.
Also -- yelling at Chris Noth to look at the camera is an unrelated issue. Nothing to do with the sound. He didn't know what camera to look at to deliver his line, and because this is LIVE and they need to keep things moving, they yelled to him which one to look at.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
