| 62nd Tony Awards | ||||
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| Date | June 15, 2008 | |||
| Location | Radio City Music Hall,New York City, NY | |||
| Hosted by | Whoopi Goldberg | |||
| Most wins | South Pacific (7) | |||
| Most nominations | In the Heights (13) | |||
| Website | tonyawards | |||
| Television/radio coverage | ||||
| Network | CBS | |||
| Viewership | 6.2 million[1] | |||
| Produced by | Ricky Kirshner Glenn Weiss | |||
| Directed by | Glenn Weiss | |||
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The62nd Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 15, 2008. TheAntoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as theTony Awards, recognize achievement in liveAmerican theatre.CBS television broadcast the event fromRadio City Music Hall inNew York City as it has since the 51st Awards ceremony in 1997. The event recognizedBroadway productions playing during the 2007 – 2008 season and was hosted byWhoopi Goldberg.[2]
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.[3][4] Two new categories debuted at this ceremony: Best Sound Design of a Musical and Best Sound Design of a Play.[5]
The Tony Award nominations were announced on May 13, 2008 byDavid Hyde Pierce andSara Ramirez.In the Heights, which premieredOff-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 (one of these was in the new "sound design" category). ThePulitzer Prize-winning dramaAugust: Osage County earned seven nominations. The revival ofSunday in the Park with George received nine nominations, the revival ofGypsy received seven, as did the new musicalPassing Strange.
The "Visa Signature Tonys Preview Concert" was taped at Jazz atLincoln 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.[6] This television show received a nomination for a New YorkEmmy Award in the Best Special Event Coverage category; the Awards were presented on March 29, 2009.[7]
Shows that opened on Broadway during the 2007–08 season before May 8, 2008 are eligible.
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The initial list of presenters was announced on June 2, 2008.[8] Additional presenters were announced on June 5.[9][10]
The cast ofThe Lion King opened the show with a performance "Circle of Life", celebrating the show's 10th anniversary. The cast ofGrease, featuringMax Crumm andLaura Osnes as Danny and Sandy, then performed "Grease" and "We Go Together".
Patti LuPone performed "Everything's Coming Up Roses" withBoyd Gaines andLaura Benanti fromGypsy. This was followed by the cast ofSouth 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 andJenna Russell sang "Move On" fromSunday in the Park with George.
The cast ofCry-Baby next performed "A Little Upset".Stew and the cast ofPassing Strange, including Daniel Breaker and De'Adre Aziza, performed "Keys (Marianna)"/"Keys (It's Alright)".Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast ofIn the Heights followed this with "In the Heights"/"96,000", after which the cast ofXanadu 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" fromThe Little Mermaid.Faith Prince performed "Vision" fromA Catered Affair, as Leslie Kritzer and Matt Cavenaugh danced in the background, andMegan Mullally andShuler Hensley performed "Deep Love" fromYoung Frankenstein.
The cast ofRent performed part of "La Vie Boheme", introduced by original cast memberAnthony Rapp. Rapp then invited the rest of the original cast on stage, and they performed part of "Seasons of Love". All of theoriginal cast members were there except for Kristen Lee Kelly andJesse L. Martin.
(winners are inbold)
Special Tony Award
Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
These productions had multiple nominations:
| The following productions received multiple awards.
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