61st Tony Awards

The 61st Annual Tony Award ceremony was held on June 10, 2007 at Radio City Music Hall, with CBS television broadcasting live. The cut-off date for eligibility was May 9, meaning that to be qualified for the 2006-2007 season, shows must have opened before or on this date.

Jane Krakowski and Taye Diggs announced the nominations on May 15, 2007.

This Tony Awards telecast won an Emmy Award, Outstanding Special Class Program, at the 59th Creative Arts Emmy Awards presented on September 8, 2007. Glenn Weiss, the director of the awards show, received a Directors Guild of America Awards nomination, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety (television). Spring Awakening, won 8 awards including Best Musical, the most of the night.

Eligibility
Shows that opened on Broadway during the 2006–07 season before May 10, 2007 are eligible.


 * Original plays
 * The Coast of Utopia
 * Coram Boy
 * Deuce
 * Frost/Nixon
 * The Little Dog Laughed
 * Losing Louis
 * Radio Golf
 * The Vertical Hour
 * The Year of Magical Thinking


 * Original musicals
 * Curtains
 * Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
 * Grey Gardens
 * High Fidelity
 * Legally Blonde
 * LoveMusik
 * Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
 * Mary Poppins
 * The Pirate Queen
 * Spring Awakening
 * The Times They Are a-Changin'


 * Play revivals
 * Butley
 * Heartbreak House
 * Inherit the Wind
 * Journey's End
 * A Moon for the Misbegotten
 * Prelude to a Kiss
 * Talk Radio
 * Translations


 * Musical revivals
 * The Apple Tree
 * A Chorus Line
 * Company
 * Les Misérables
 * 110 in the Shade

The ceremony
As with the 2006 Tony Award ceremony, there was no formal host and the show was emceed by the presenters.

Presenters

 * Jane Alexander
 * Christina Applegate
 * Zach Braff
 * Harry Connick Jr.
 * Claire Danes
 * Jeff Daniels
 * Brian Dennehy
 * Taye Diggs
 * Harvey Fierstein
 * Carla Gugino
 * Marvin Hamlisch
 * Marcia Gay Harden
 * Neil Patrick Harris
 * Anne Heche
 * Marg Helgenberger
 * Christian Hoff
 * Felicity Huffman
 * Mark Indelicato
 * Eddie Izzard
 * John Kander
 * Jane Krakowski
 * Angela Lansbury
 * Robert Sean Leonard
 * John Mahoney
 * Audra McDonald
 * Idina Menzel
 * Bebe Neuwirth
 * Cynthia Nixon
 * Donny Osmond
 * Bernadette Peters
 * David Hyde Pierce
 * Christopher Plummer
 * Daniel Reichard
 * Anika Noni Rose
 * Liev Schreiber
 * Kevin Spacey
 * J. Robert Spencer
 * Tommy Tune
 * John Turturro
 * Usher
 * Ben Vereen
 * Vanessa L. Williams
 * Patrick Wilson
 * Rainn Wilson
 * John Lloyd Young

Performances
The opening number showed the cast of A Chorus Line in rehearsal clothing dancing and singing "I Hope I Get It," outside of Radio City Music Hall accompanied by Marvin Hamlisch on the piano, with the cast then ending on the stage in full gold costumes performing "One".

The following musicals or performers performed:


 * 110 in the Shade ("Raunchy") – Audra McDonald and John Cullum
 * Grey Gardens ("The Revolutionary Costume for Today") – Christine Ebersole
 * Spring Awakening (medley of "Mama Who Bore Me," "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)," "The Bitch of Living," and "Totally Fucked")* – Company
 * Curtains ("Show People") – Company
 * Mary Poppins (medley of "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Step in Time," and "Anything Can Happen") – Company
 * Company ("Being Alive") – Raul Esparza
 * "American Idol" winner and replacement star Fantasia Barrino performed a song from The Color Purple in honor of Regional Theater Tony Winner Alliance Theater in Atlanta, GA, where the show premiered.

* (Because it was a live TV performance, some of the lyrics to "The Bitch of Living" and "Totally Fucked" were altered for that night's performance.)

Winners and nominees

 * Winners are in bold.

In Memoriam

 * Patrick Quinn
 * Kitty Carlisle Hart
 * Charles Nelson Reilly
 * Florence Klotz
 * Bob Fennell

Special Tony Award

 * Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event


 * Jay Johnson: The Two and Only!, Producers: Roger Alan Gindi, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, Dan Whitten, Herbert Goldsmith Productions, Ken Grossman, Bob & Rhonda Silver, Michael A. Jenkins/Dallas Summer Musicals, Inc., Wetrock Entertainment
 * Kiki & Herb Alive on Broadway, Producers: David J. Foster, Jared Geller, Ruth Hendel, Jonathan Reinis, Inc., Billy Zavelson, Jamie Cesa, Anne Strickland Squadron, Jennifer Manocherian, Gary Allen, Melvin Honowitz


 * Regional Theatre Tony Award


 * Alliance Theatre Company, Atlanta, Georgia


 * Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre


 * Not awarded

Multiple nominations and awards
These productions had multiple nominations:


 * 11 nominations: Spring Awakening
 * 10 nominations: The Coast of Utopia & Grey Gardens
 * 8 nominations: Curtains
 * 7 nominations: Legally Blonde & Mary Poppins
 * 6 nominations: Coram Boy & Journey's End
 * 5 nominations: 110 in the Shade
 * 4 nominations: Inherit the Wind, LoveMusik & Radio Golf
 * 3 nominations: Company & Frost/Nixon
 * 2 nominations: A Chorus Line, Heartbreak House, The Little Dog Laughed & Talk Radio

The following productions received multiple awards.


 * 8 wins: Spring Awakening
 * 7 wins: The Coast of Utopia
 * 3 wins: Grey Gardens