Tom Cruise – being the great, charming, perfect husband that he is – made a big to do about Katie Holmes’ 30th birthday yesterday. Tom’s been running around promoting “Valkyrie” with an obsessive zeal and manic energy that’s surprising even for him. On Tuesday he skipped out on his son Connor’s first movie premiere in L.A. because he was in New York talking up the film – then yesterday he skipped out on Katie’s birthday in New York because he was in L.A. promoting the movie. You’d think somehow Tom could have reversed his schedule and switched things around a little and been there for both. But he did surprise Katie with a cake on stage, and seemed incredibly pleased with himself for it.

Katie Holmes spent her 30th birthday performing in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons – but her big day did not go unnoticed. As the curtain fell Thursday, the cast and crew presented her with a specially-made birthday cake, a surprise orchestrated by none other than Tom Cruise.

Addressing the audience, Holmes’s costar John Lithgow announced, “Tom Cruise, our good friend, devoted fan to the show, doting husband of Katie, could not be here tonight. He’s heartsick that he couldn’t be here … but he wanted to make his presence felt. So, he’s joining us, inviting all of you, to celebrate Katie’s birthday.”

And with that, crewmembers wheeled out a five-tiered, white-frosted, circular birthday cake as the crowd cheered and applauded. “I planned it so that when she comes out for the standing ovation, John [would] get the whole audience to wish her a happy birthday,” Cruise – who was in Los Angeles to premiere his new film, Valkyrie – told PEOPLE, just as the surprise was sprung.

“It’s going to be great,” he said, adding that they’d already had a private celebration the night before. (“That was the big one,” he noted.)

[From People]

Suri came on stage and helped Katie blow out her candles as the audience and cast sang “Happy Birthday.” The cast and crew had cake and champagne, which People made sure to note was “courtesy of Cruise.” He also told them, “‘I’m waiting to talk to her now… to see her reaction.’” Tom’s talking about it like he got crewmembers to wheel out the Hope Diamond or something. I can just see him standing there, his chest all puffed up, that maniacal grin on his face.

Tom, it’s a cake. It sounds like a big fancy cake, but it’s a cake, nonetheless. On someone’s birthday, that’s not exactly the biggest surprise ever. And considering you’re Tom Cruise, I doubt it took a lot of effort and thought to get it done. It probably involved telling your assistant to figure out some way to make Katie less annoyed that you couldn’t be bothered to show up that day.

I’m not saying it wasn’t thoughtful, but it wasn’t the greatest surprise ever, despite how Tom tries to spin it. Katie probably would have preferred to just have her husband there. Though it sounds like the cake was about as big as Tom, so it was probably an even trade.

Here’s Katie visiting The Baryshnikov Arts Center by herself before being picked up by her bodyguard and Suri on her birthday yesterday. Tom is shown at the L.A. premiere of Valkyrie yesterday. Images thanks to Bauer-Griffin.