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 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 ...

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 An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

, garnered the most nominations of any show with 13. '' Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific'' received 11, the second most of any revival to date (one of these was in the new "sound design" category). The

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning drama '' August: Osage County'' earned seven nominations. The revival of ''

Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatt ...

'' 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 The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in the Best Special Event Coverage category; the Awards were presented on March 29, 2009.

Awards ceremony

Presenters

The initial list of presenters was announced on June 2, 2008. Additional presenters were announced on June 5. *

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...

* Gabriel Byrne *

Julie Chen Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

* Kristin Chenoweth * Glenn Close * Harry Connick, Jr. * Laurence Fishburne * Whoopi Goldberg *

Richard Griffiths Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For his performance in the stage play ''The History Boys'', Griffiths won a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Drama Desk Aw ...

Laura Linney Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

* Mary-Louise Parker * Mandy Patinkin * David Hyde Pierce * Daniel Radcliffe *

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby'' (1978). She continued to model into ...

* 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 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 Laura Benanti from '' Gypsy''. This was followed by the cast of ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

'' in a medley of "

There Is Nothin' Like A Dame "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" (for 4 part male voices, 2 tenors and 2 basses) is one of the songs from the 1949 musical '' South Pacific''. The song was written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is widely popular in the ...

", " Some Enchanted Evening", and " (I'm in Love with) a Wonderful Guy". Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell sang "Move On" from ''

''. The cast of '' Cry-Baby'' next performed "A Little Upset".

Stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and ...

and the cast of '' Passing Strange'', including Daniel Breaker and De'Adre Aziza, performed "Keys (Marianna)"/"Keys (It's Alright)". Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of '' In the Heights'' followed this with "In the Heights"/"96,000", after which the cast of ''

Xanadu Xanadu may refer to: * Shangdu, the ancient summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire in China * a metaphor for opulence or an idyllic place, based upon Coleridge's description of Shangdu in his poem ''Kubla Khan'' Other places * Xanadu (Titan), ...

'' 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 Sierra Marjory Boggess (; born May 20, 1982) is an American theater actress and singer. She is best known for originating the role of Ariel in ''The Little Mermaid'' on Broadway, and for her multiple appearances as Christine Daaé in ''The Phant ...

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 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 ...

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 "Seasons of Love" is a song from the 1996 Broadway musical ''Rent'', written and composed by Jonathan Larson. The song starts with an ostinato piano motif, which provides the harmonic framework for the cast to sing "Five hundred twenty-five thou ...

". All of the original cast members were there except for Kristen Lee Kelly and

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 ...

. 2007-2008 Tony Nominations Announced; In the Heights Earns 13 Noms
,

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

, May 13, 2008

Winners and nominees

''(winners are in bold)''

Special Tony Awards

Regional Theatre Tony Award * Chicago Shakespeare Theater Special Tony Award *

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, ...

, for achievements in orchestration Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre *

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

Multiple nominations and awards

These productions had multiple nominations: *''13 nominations:'' '' In the Heights'' *''11 nominations:'' ''

'' *''9 nominations:'' ''

'' *''7 nominations:'' '' August: Osage County'', '' Gypsy'' & '' Passing Strange'' *''6 nominations:'' '' Boeing-Boeing'', ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' & '' The 39 Steps'' *''5 nominations:'' '' Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' *''4 nominations:'' '' Cry-Baby'', '' Rock 'n' Roll'', '' The Seafarer'' & ''

'' *''3 nominations:'' '' A Catered Affair'', '' The Homecoming'' & '' Young Frankenstein'' *''2 nominations:'' '' The Little Mermaid'' The following productions received multiple awards. *''7 wins:'' ''

'' *''5 wins:'' '' August: Osage County'' *''4 wins:'' '' In the Heights'' *''3 wins:'' '' Gypsy'' *''2 wins:'' '' Boeing-Boeing'' & '' The 39 Steps''

References

External links

The official website of the Tony Awardsconcert articleHip Hop vs. Roller Disco
Which will the 2008 Tony voters pick? {{DEFAULTSORT:Tony Awards, 62 Tony Awards ceremonies 2008 theatre awards 2008 awards in the United States 2008 in New York City 2000s in Manhattan Television shows directed by Glenn Weiss