62nd Tony Awards
The 62nd Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 15, 2008. The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre. CBS television broadcast the event from Radio City Music Hall in New York City as it has since the 51st Awards ceremony in 1997. The event recognized Broadway productions playing during the 2007 – 2008 season and was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg.
The cut-off date for eligibility in the 2007–08 season was May 7, 2008. The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced eligibility rules for many of the award categories. Two new categories debuted at this ceremony: Best Sound Design of a Musical and Best Sound Design of a Play.
The Tony Award nominations were announced on May 13, 2008 by David Hyde Pierce and Sara Ramirez. In the Heights, which premiered Off-Broadway, garnered the most nominations of any show with 13. Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific received 11, the second most of any revival to date. The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama August: Osage County earned seven nominations. The revival of Sunday in the Park with George received nine nominations, the revival of Gypsy received seven, as did the new musical Passing Strange.
The "Visa Signature Tonys Preview Concert" was taped at Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 11, 2008 and broadcast on CBS television affiliates in June. The concert featured performances from 10 Tony-eligible musicals as well as interviews with Tony nominees. This television show received a nomination for a New York Emmy Award in the Best Special Event Coverage category; the Awards were presented on March 29, 2009.
Eligibility
Shows that opened on Broadway during the 2007–08 season before May 8, 2008 are eligible.;Original plays
- August: Osage County
- A Bronx Tale
- The Farnsworth Invention
- Is He Dead?
- Mauritius
- November
- Rock 'n' Roll
- The Seafarer
- The 39 Steps
- Thurgood
- A Catered Affair
- Cry-Baby
- Glory Days
- In the Heights
- The Little Mermaid
- Passing Strange
- Xanadu
- Young Frankenstein
- Boeing-Boeing
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- Come Back, Little Sheba
- The Country Girl
- Cymbeline
- Cyrano de Bergerac
- The Homecoming
- Les Liaisons Dangereuses
- Macbeth
- Old Acquaintance
- Pygmalion
- The Ritz
- Top Girls
- Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
- Grease
- Gypsy
- South Pacific
- ''Sunday in the Park with George''
Awards ceremony
Presenters
The initial list of presenters was announced on June 2, 2008. Additional presenters were announced on June 5.- Alec Baldwin
- Gabriel Byrne
- Julie Chen
- Kristin Chenoweth
- Glenn Close
- Harry Connick, Jr.
- Laurence Fishburne
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Richard Griffiths
- Laura Linney
- John Lithgow
- Liza Minnelli
- Mary-Louise Parker
- Mandy Patinkin
- David Hyde Pierce
- Daniel Radcliffe
- Brooke Shields
- Marisa Tomei
- Lily Tomlin
- John Waters
- Adam Duritz
Performances
The cast of The Lion King opened the show with a performance "Circle of Life", celebrating the show's 10th anniversary. The cast of Grease, featuring Max Crumm and Laura Osnes as Danny and Sandy, then performed "Grease" and "We Go Together".Patti LuPone performed "Everything's Coming Up Roses" with Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti from Gypsy. This was followed by the cast of South Pacific in a medley of "There Is Nothin' Like A Dame", "Some Enchanted Evening", and "(I'm in Love with) a Wonderful Guy". Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell sang "Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George.
The cast of Cry-Baby next performed "A Little Upset". Stew and the cast of Passing Strange, including Daniel Breaker and De'Adre Aziza, performed "Keys "/"Keys ". Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of In the Heights followed this with "In the Heights"/"96,000", after which the cast of Xanadu performed "Don't Walk Away".
The three new musicals that were not nominated for Best Musical also gave abbreviated performances of a song from each show. Sierra Boggess performed "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Faith Prince performed "Vision" from A Catered Affair, as Leslie Kritzer and Matt Cavenaugh danced in the background, and Megan Mullally and Shuler Hensley performed "Deep Love" from Young Frankenstein.
The cast of Rent performed part of "La Vie Boheme", introduced by original cast member Anthony Rapp. Rapp then invited the rest of the original cast on stage, and they performed part of "Seasons of Love". All of the original cast members were there except for Kristen Lee Kelly and Jesse L. Martin.
Winners and nominees
'Special Tony Awards
Regional Theatre Tony AwardSpecial Tony Award
- Robert Russell Bennett, for achievements in orchestration
- '''Stephen Sondheim'''
Multiple nominations and awards
These productions had multiple nominations:- 13 nominations: ''In the Heights
- 11 nominations: South Pacific
- 9 nominations: Sunday in the Park with George
- 7 nominations: August: Osage County, Gypsy & Passing Strange
- 6 nominations: Boeing-Boeing, Macbeth & The 39 Steps
- 5 nominations: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
- 4 nominations: Cry-Baby, Rock 'n' Roll, The Seafarer & Xanadu
- 3 nominations: A Catered Affair, The Homecoming & Young Frankenstein
- 2 nominations: The Little Mermaid
- 7 wins: South Pacific
- 5 wins: August: Osage County
- 4 wins: In the Heights
- 3 wins: Gypsy
- 2 wins: Boeing-Boeing & The 39 Steps''