Oklahoma playwright wins Tony
Tulsa native Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County,” a vivid tale of a dysfunctional Oklahoma family, was named best play Sunday’s 2008 Tony Awards.
“Writing is better than acting. You get to use your words, you don’t have to be there eight times a week, and I can guarantee you this moment beats the hell out of auditioning for ‘Jag.’ I see some of you auditioned for that, too,” Letts said in his acceptance speech.
He also thanked the show’s producers, saying, ”They did an amazing thing. They decided to produce an American play on Broadway with theater actors.”
The play also received picking up two acting prizes – for Deanna Dunagan for lead actress as the play’s harsh matriarch and Rondi Reed for featured actress as her ditzy sister. Anna D. Shapiro won a Tony for direction on the play and gushed about the opportunity Letts gave her.
“If you’re really followed by a star, Tracy Letts hands you ‘August: Osage County’ and says, ‘Wanna?’ Then heaven opens up and you get the greatest cast you will ever work with in your entire life,” she said.
Letts’ Tony will go nicely with the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award he previously won for “August: Osage County.”
The lavish revival of “South Pacific” won five Tonys, including best revival of a musical. But Kelli O’Hara was not one of the production’s winners.
O’Hara, who grew up in Elk City and Edmond, was nominated for best actress-musical for playing the lively Nellie Forbush. That award went to Patti LuPone for her role in “Gypsy.”
Here’s the full list of winners:
BEST MUSICAL
Cry-Baby
In the Heights – WINNER
Passing Strange
Xanadu
BEST PLAY
August: Osage County – WINNER (Author: Tracy Letts)
Rock ‘n’ Roll
The Seafarer
The 39 Steps
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Grease
Gypsy
South Pacific – WINNER
Sunday in the Park With George
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Boeing-Boeing – WINNER
The Homecoming
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Macbeth
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Cry-Baby, Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan
In the Heights, Quiara Alegria Hudes
Passing Strange, Stew - WINNER
Xanadu, Douglas Carter Beane
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATER
Cry-Baby, Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger
In the Heights, Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda – WINNER
The Little Mermaid, Music: Alan Menken; Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater
Passing Strange, Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald; Lyrics: Stew
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing – WINNER
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 – WINNER
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, South Pacific – WINNER
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy – WINNER
Kelli O’Hara, 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
Raul Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer – WINNER
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 – WINNER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, South Pacific
Robin De Jesus, In the Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy – WINNER
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
de’Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy – WINNER
Andrea Martin, Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In the Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, South Pacific
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seaferer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County - WINNER
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, South Pacific – WINNER
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In the Heights – WINNER
Christopher Gattelli, South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu
BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park With George
Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, In the Heights – WINNER
Stew and 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 – WINNER
Anthony Ward, Macbeth
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park With Geroge
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
Robin Wagner, Young Frankenstein
Micheal Yeargan, South Pacific – WINNER
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses – WINNER
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, South Pacific – WINNER
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps – WINNER
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, South Pacific – WINNER
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 – WINNER
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park With George
Scott Lehrer, South Pacific – WINNER
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy
SPECIAL TONY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATER
Stephen Sondheim
REGIONAL THEATER TONY AWARD
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
SPECIAL TONY AWARD
Robert Russell Bennett
-BAM
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