Whoopi Goldberg hosts The American Theatre Wing's 62nd Annual Tony Awards, the most anticipated evening in American theater, to be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York, Sunday, June 15, 2008.
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Featured Actor in a Play
Despite the Irish scenery chewing in The Seafarer (two nominations), not a hard call for me: Raul Esparza, for making The Homecoming really sizzle.
Featured Actress, Play
I liked Rondi Reed in August: Osage County, but, in a rare snub of my favorite play, I'll go with Martha Plimpton, fascinating in multiple roles in the overlooked Top Girls.
Featured Actor, Musical
Weak category, with only one plausible choice, in my mind: Boyd Gaines, as a surprisingly formidable Herbie in Gypsy.
Featured Actress, Musical
Laura Benanti in Gypsy is getting most of the buzz, and she probably deserves it. But Andrea Martin's Frau Blucher was the best thing in Young Frankenstein, and I'm feeling a little sorry for Mel Brooks.
Best Scenic Design, Play
No flash or frills, but the looming, multi-story house that framed August; Osage County seemed as integral to the family drama as any of the characters.
Best Scenic Design, Musical
Sunday in the Park With George, with its elegant, computer-enhanced visuals, was certainly impressive, but South Pacific's lush settings were the most satisfying.
Best Costume Design, Play
Now for those tough technical awards. When in doubt, you can't go wrong with the 18th century — Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Best Costume Design, Musical
Sailors, native girls — what the heck, South Pacific.
Best Lighting Design, Play
My one chance to vote for The 39 Steps, a clever, campy re-staging of the Hitchcock movie - where the old-movie lighting effects are half the fun.
Best Lighting Design, Musical
And my one chance to reward The Little Mermaid, the critically dissed (as usual) Disney musical that got only two nominations, but looked great to me.
Best Sound Design, Play
Well, I could understand all the lines in Macbeth, in what seemed like an empty bathhouse, so somebody must have been doing something right.
Best Sound Design, Musical
South Pacific. Default choice.
Best Director, Play
Only one legit option here: Anna Shapiro for her terrific staging of August: Osage Country.
Best Director, Musical
Tough call. I think the pleasure in South Pacific is due less to director Bartlett Sher than to the musical itself. So my vote goes to Arthur Laurents, for convincing me that yet another version of Gypsy was worth the effort
Best Choreography
An unusually weak group in what is usually one of Broadway's strengths. No one besides Rob Ashford, who made Cry-Baby more fun than it probably deserved, impressed me.
Best Orchestrations
Why is this category last on the ballot? And why is it the one where South Pacific is omitted? In lieu of that show's unusually lush orchestrations, I'll go with Stew's onstage band in Passing Strange.