The 54th Annual Tony Awards was held at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

on June 4, 2000 and broadcast by CBS. "The First Ten" awards ceremony was telecast on PBS television. The event was hosted, for the 3rd time since 1997, by Rosie O'Donnell, with special guest Nathan Lane.

The Ceremony

The opening number was "A Tony Opening", performed by Rosie O'Donnell, Jane Krakowski,

Jesse L. Martin Jesse Lamont Martin ('' né'' Watkins; January 18, 1969) is an American actor and singer. He originated the role of Tom Collins on Broadway in the musical ''Rent'' and performed on television as NYPD Detective Ed Green on '' Law & Order'' and ...

, and

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for playing Karen Walker on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award no ...

. Production numbers from musicals included ''

Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * ...

'',

Boyd Gaines Boyd Payne Gaines (born May 11, 1953) is an American actor. During his career, he has won four Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Gaines is best known for playing Mark Royer on '' One Day at a Time'' (1981-1984). Early life and education H ...

and the Girl in the Yellow Dress, Deborah Yates; '' Kiss Me, Kate'', "Too Darn Hot"; ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'', "Superstar" and "Gethsemane"; '' The Music Man'', Craig Bierko in "Seventy-Six Trombones" ; '' The Wild Party'', medley from Mandy Patinkin,

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

and Toni Collette; '' Swing!'', medley from company and Ann Hampton Callaway and

Laura Benanti Laura Ilene Benanti (née Vidnovic; born July 13, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Over the course of her Broadway career, she has received five Tony Award nominations. She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of '' Gypsy'', winni ...

; and '' James Joyce's The Dead'', "Parnell's Plight."Lefkowitz, Davi
"Putting It Together For PBS: How the First Tony Hour Is Created"
playbill.com, June 2, 2000 Ten awards were presented prior to the main ceremony and were broadcast on Public Television in a show titled "The First 10 Awards: Tonys 2000." The show had interviews and showed clips from the season's productions, and presented the awards: Direction (Play and Musical), Choreography, Original Score, Book of a Musical, Costume Design, Scenic Design, Orchestration, Lighting Design and Regional Theater.

Michael Blakemore Michael Howell Blakemore OBE, AO (born 18 June 1928) is an Australian actor, writer and theatre director who has also made a handful of films. A former Associate Director of the National Theatre, in 2000 he became the only individual to win T ...

is the only director to win Tony Awards as Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical in the same year. He won this year for ''Copenhagen'' (play) and ''Kiss Me, Kate'' (musical). The television ratings for this broadcast were 7.2, down from the 1999 Tony Award broadcast of 7.9. In prior years in which O'Donnell hosted, the program had ratings of 11.2 (1997) and 10.3 (1998).

''Contact'' controversy

The winner of the award for Best Musical, ''Contact'', raised controversy about what constitutes a musical, as it is a dance musical with no singing and minimal dialogue; and instead of original music, it uses pre-recorded music and songs. As a result of the controversy, a new category was created for the Tony Awards: Best Special Theatrical Event.Hofler, Robert
"Legit lightning strikes twice"
Variety.com, May. 1, 2006, accessed April 27, 2011

Winners and nominees

''Winners are in bold''

Special awards

Regional Theatre Award :*The

Utah Shakespearean Festival The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a theatrical festival that performs works by Shakespeare as their cornerstone. The Festival is held during the summer and fall on the campus of Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, United States. Awar ...

Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award :*T. Edward Hambleton Special Tony Award For a Live Theatrical Presentation :* Dame Edna: The Royal Tour Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre :* Eileen Heckart :*Sylvia Herscher :* City Center

Encores! Encores! is a Tony-honored concert series dedicated to performing rarely heard American musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, Encores! has revived shows by Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Ha ...

Multiple nominations and awards

These productions had multiple nominations: *''12 nominations:'' '' Kiss Me, Kate'' *''8 nominations:'' '' The Music Man'' *''7 nominations:'' ''

'' and '' The Wild Party'' *''6 nominations:'' '' Swing!'' *''5 nominations:'' '' Aida'', '' Dirty Blonde'', '' James Joyce's The Dead'', '' Marie Christine'' and '' The Real Thing'' *''4 nominations:'' '' A Moon for the Misbegotten'' and '' True West'' *''3 nominations:'' '' Copenhagen'' *''2 nominations:'' '' Amadeus'', ''

The Green Bird ''The Green Bird'' is a 1765 commedia dell'arte play by Carlo Gozzi. It is a sequel to '' The Love of Three Oranges''. The main plot of ''The Green Bird'' has several similarities with the widespread tale ''The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, a ...

'', ''

The Ride Down Mt. Morgan ''The Ride Down Mt. Morgan'' is a play by Arthur Miller. Plot The play's central character is Lyman Felt, an insurance agent and bigamist who maintains families in New York City and Elmira in upstate New York. When he is hospitalized following ...

'', '' Uncle Vanya'' and '' Waiting in the Wings'' The following productions received multiple awards. *''5 wins:'' '' Kiss Me, Kate'' *''4 wins:'' '' Aida'' and ''

'' *''3 wins:'' '' Copenhagen'' and '' The Real Thing''

References

External links

Official Site Tony Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tony Awards, 54 Tony Awards ceremonies 2000 in theatre 2000 theatre awards 2000 awards in the United States 2000 in New York City 2000s in Manhattan