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

By Andrew Gans
and Ernio Hernandez
May 13, 2008

The 2007-2008 Tony Award nominations were announced May 13 by Tony Award winners Sara Ramirez and David Hyde Pierce at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Nominees for Best Musical include Cry-Baby, In the Heights, Passing Strange and Xanadu.

In the Heights, which began life at Off-Broadway's 37 Arts prior to arriving at the Richard Rodgers Theatre earlier this year, earned the most nominations of any show this season: 13. In addition to a Best Musical nomination, the Washington Heights-based musical also picked up nods for Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical and Best Sound Design of a Musical.

Other productions that fared well include the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, which picked up 11 nominations, and the revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George, which nabbed nine nominations. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Tracy Letts drama August: Osage County earned seven nominations, as did the revival of Gypsy and the new musical Passing Strange.

There were also several individuals who earned multiple Tony nominations. Pop artist Stew heads the list with four nominations for the new musical Passing Strange: Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score (with Heidi Rodewald), Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical and Best Orchestrations (with Rodewald). In the Heights' Lin-Manuel Miranda picked up two nominations: Best Original Score and Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical. Others with dual Tony nominations include David Farley (Scenic and Costume Design for Sunday in the Park with George; the former with Timothy Bird and The Knifedge Creative Network), Peter McKintosh (Scenic and Costume Design for The 39 Steps) and Donald Holder (Lighting Design for Les Liaisons Dangereuses and South Pacific).

A Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre will be given to famed Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, while another Special Tony will be awarded posthumously to orchestrator Robert Russell Bennet in "recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific." The Regional Theatre Tony Award will be given to Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

	David Hyde Pierce and Sara Ramirez read the nominations.
	photo by Aubrey Reuben

Notable omissions include Tony Award winner Kevin Kline, who did not receive a Best Actor in a Play nomination for his acclaimed performance in the revival of Cyrano de Bergerac; Cheyenne Jackson, who failed to receive a Best Actor in a Musical nomination for his work in Xanadu; Elizabeth Marvel, who was overlooked for her powerful performance in Top Girls; the exclusion of A Catered Affair from the Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score of a Musical categories; and the lack of a single nomination for the Debbie Allen-directed revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which features such Broadway favorites as Phylicia Rashad, James Earl Jones and Anika Noni Rose.

Nominees for the 62nd Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards follow:

Best Play:
August: Osage County
Rock 'n' Roll
The Seafarer
The 39 Steps

Best Musical:
Cry-Baby
In the Heights
Passing Strange
Xanadu

Best Book of a Musical
Cry-Baby, Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan
In the Heights, Quiara Alegria Hudes
Passing Strange, Stew
Xanadu, Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score
Cry-Baby, Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger
In The Heights, Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
The Little Mermaid, Music: Alan Menken and Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater
Passing Strange, Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald Lyrics: Stew

Best Revival of a Play
Boeing-Boeing
The Homecoming
Les Liaisons Dangereueses
Macbeth

Best Revival of a Musical
Grease
Gypsy
Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
Sunday in the Park With George

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play
Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell, Rock 'n' Roll
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play
Eve Best, The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton, August: Osage County

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical
Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park With George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Stew, Passing Strange
Paulo Szot, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O'Hara, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park With George

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play
Bobby Cannavale, Mauritius
Raúl Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play
Sinead Cusack, Rock 'n' Roll
Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Martha Plimpton, Top Girls
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical
Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Robin De Jesús, In The Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical
de'Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Andrea Martin, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In The Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Direction of a Play
Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seafarer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus, Boeing-Boeing

Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park with George
Thomas Kail, In The Heights
Arthur Laurents, Gypsy
Bartlett Sher, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights
Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu

Best Orchestrations
Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park with George
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In the Heights
Stew & Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick, A Catered Affair

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps
Scott Pask, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County
Anthony Ward, Macbeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park with George
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
Robin Wagner, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Michael Yeargan, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play
Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps

Best Costume Design of a Musical
David Farley, Sunday in the Park with George
Martin Pakledinaz, Gypsy
Paul Tazewell, In the Heights
Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps
Howard Harrison, Macbeth
Donald Holder, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Ann G. Wrightson, August: Osage County

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, Sunday in the Park with George
Howell Binkley, In the Heights
Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Natasha Katz, The Little Mermaid

Best Sound Design of a Play
Simon Baker, Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork, Macbeth
Ian Dickson, Rock 'n' Roll
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park with George
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Stephen Sondheim

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific.

How many nominations each show received:
In The Heights, 13
Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific , 11
Sunday in the Park with George, 9
August: Osage County , 7
Gypsy, 7
Passing Strange, 7
Boeing-Boeing, 6
Macbeth, 6
The 39 Steps, 6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses , 5
Cry-Baby, 4
Rock 'n' Roll , 4
The Seafarer , 4
Xanadu , 4
A Catered Affair, 3
The Homecoming, 3
The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, 3
The Little Mermaid, 2
Come Back, Little Sheba, 1
Cyrano de Bergerac , 1
Grease , 1
Is He Dead?, 1
Mauritius, 1
November, 1
Thurgood , 1
Top Girls , 1

The 62nd Annual Tony Awards — hosted by Tony and Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg — will be presented June 15. CBS-TV will broadcast the event live from Radio City Music Hall, 8-11 PM ET. (Red-carpet arrivals will begin at 6 PM).

The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. CBS has broadcast the annual event since 1978.

For more information visit www.TonyAwards.com.

*

At the League, Nina Lannan is chairman and Charlotte St. Martin is executive director. At the Wing, Sondra Gilman is chairman, Doug Leeds is president and Howard Sherman is executive director.