Thank You! The 2008 Tony Award Acceptance Speeches
They're gracious, gushing and outright grateful – but what do the newly crowned 2008 Tony Award winners have to say once their trophy is in hand? We think you deserve a recap. Some thanked mom and dad on Father's Day, appropriately, others praised their worthy opponents, most shouted out to supportive castmates… one even rapped his gratitude we'll give you one guess who that was, and it ain't Patti. Read on to see what Broadway's big winners say when they wrote the script. Our apologies if we missed a few names along the way!
"Oh thank you so much. This is wonderful, this has to be one of the happiest days of my life. Thank you, this is just great. I can't believe it! To be nominated in the company of such wonderful actors and to speak Conor McPherson's beautiful words night after night and to experience the warmth and generosity of spirit of the Broadway audiences and to win this, this is the icing on the cake. I share this happily with my fellow actors in The Seafarer, terrific team, you guys, Conleth Hill, Ciaran Hinds, David Morse and Sean Mahon. A big thanks to Bill Haber and his myriad of wonderful producers who brought this truly magnificent play to Broadway, thank you for that Bill, for looking out for us all so well. I can't leave without a big thank you to my wonderful Mary Larkin, we've been together, oh, 36 or 37 years, something like that. Without her love and support and her belief in me I would not be standing here tonight. I can truthfully say, I love New York!" —Jim Norton, Best Featured Actor in a Play, The Seafarer
"Omigod, omigod, is all I can say. I actually wrote a speech. Families, it's about families for us. My family in New York, Broadway, New York City, I have a big love affair with this city, there's no doubt about it. I need to thank the American Theatre Wing, the Tony producers, the Tony Awards. Our producers, Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel. The crew, our marvelous, number one, at The Imperial and the Music Box, the audiences, the people on the street in New York who talk to us, you cannot believe. Number two, my Wicked family, David Stone for letting me come and do this play and telling me, 'You have to go do it.' My Steppenwolf family, my onstage family, especially Fran Guinan, who I give 80% of this award to for supporting me every night. Amy Morton, Amy Morton, Amy Morton, thank you. Anna Shapiro, Tracy Letts, everyone in my life who has ever put up with me, kicked me in the butt, believed in me and told me I could do it. And this goes, part of it, to Dennis Letts; Happy Father's Day. Thank you." —Rondi Reed, Best Featured Actress in a Play, August: Osage County
"I used to dream about this moment, now I'm in it!
Tell the conductor to hold the 'ton a minute
I'll start with Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman
Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Jill Furman
Quiara for keeping the pages turning
Tommy Kail for keeping the engine burnin'
For bein' so discernin' through every all nighter
Dr. Herbert for tellin' me "you're a writer"
I have to thank Andy Blank for every spank
Matter fact thank John Bizetti for every drink
Thank the cast and crew for having each other's backs
I don't know about God but I believe in Chris Jackson
I don't know what else I got, I'm off the dome
I know I wrote a little show about home
Mr. Sondheim, look, I made a hat
Where there never was a hat!
It's a Latin hat at that!
Mom, Dad and Cita, I wrote a play,
Y'all came to every play
Thanks for being here today
Vanessa who still makes me breathless
Thanks for lovin' me when I was broke and makin' breakfast
And with that, I want to thank all my Latino people
This is for Abuela Risa in Puerto Rico
Thank you." —Lin-Manuel Miranda, Best Score, In the Heights
"I don't know all these people, I assume they're associated with the play. 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 that this moment beats the hell out of auditioning for Jag. I see some of you auditioned for that too. I want to thank the Tony committee for including a play with the other nominees. You know you're pretty stout company when Mark Twain doesn't get a nomination. Particularly Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler and Jerry Frankel, they did an amazing thing, they decided to produce an American play on Broadway with theatre actors. I see some of you are theatre actors too. I want to thank Steppenwolf Theatre, Martha Lavey, David Hawkanson, our board, our staff, Ed Sobel, Erica Daniels, these people have really helped foster the environment in which this play was made. A special thanks to our Chicago theatre community, they are the ones who made this possible. Thank you very much." —Tracy Letts, Best Play, August: Osage County
"When you're in town, wearing some kind of uniform is helpful. Policeman, priest, etcetera. Driving a tank is very impressive, or a car with official lettering on the side. If that isn't to your taste, you can join the revolution, wear an armband, carry a homemade flag tied to a broom handle or placard bearing an incendiary slogan. At the very least, you should wear a suit and carry a briefcase and a cell phone, or a team jacket, a baseball cap and a cell phone. If you're in the woods, the back country, some place far from any human habitation, it is a good idea to wear orange and carry a gun, or depending on the season, a fishing pole or a camera with a big lens. Otherwise, I will wrap it up very quick now, otherwise it might appear that you don't know what you're doing, that you're just wandering the earth, no particular reason for being here, no particular place to go. Thanks very much this." —Mark Rylance, Best Actor in a Play, Boeing-Boeing
"In the Heights is a show about family and chasing your dreams and I know I speak for everyone in the In the Heights family that we chased our dreams and they've been realized, so thank you to our Broadway family, to everyone in the League and the Wing for helping make our dreams come true. We love Broadway!" —Jill Furman, Best Musical, In the Heights
"Omigosh! Oh thank you so much! Hi Arthur, you're standing! I have never moved so quickly in my entire life, I almost knocked the camera guy over. Thank you so much, thank you especially to Arthur Laurents, not only for standing but for being the most amazing director in the entire world. I love you so much! Yay Arthur! Thank you to Patti LuPone and Boyd Gaines for being my family, on stage and off, I am so honored to be in your company. Stephen Sondheim, I just worship you, there's no other words. Jay Binder and our incredible producers, thank you for taking a chance on me ten years ago and never giving up. Innovative Artists, my incredible manager and friend Ellen Gerson Saines and most importantly, my family, the Benantis, who are here tonight. I love you guys so much, you're my everything! My incredible beautiful husband Steven Pasquale, I love being married to you so much. And a very, very special thank you to my mother, the anti-Momma Rose and the most amazing woman that I know. Thank you so much!" —Laura Benanti, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Gypsy
"This is unbelievable. Liza Minnelli, wow. Um, I have to read the paper. I'm very honored to be here to receive this award. It feels like yesterday I was introduced to this theater community and it feels very good to be part of it now. I have to thank my family, my dad, my mother whose birthday is today, happy birthday mom! Feliz anniversario. Thank you. My brothers and sisters, Eduardo, for their love and support. My agents, Bruce Zempsky, Alan Green, the entire Lincoln Center staff, Andre Bishop, Bernie Gersten, Ira Wietzman, Bart Sher, Adam Siegel, Ted Sperling, Fred Lessen, Mike Brunner, Matthew and Jessica, Philip Rinaldi, Larry, Barbara, my dresser Mark Caine, Cindy, the fantastic cast, my beautiful leading lady Kelli O'Hara, the Rodgers and Hammerstein family. I am proud to play Emile de Becque, this man who opposes war and fights for love. That's it, thank you very much." —Paulo Szot, Best Actor in a Musical, South Pacific
"Thank you, thank you so much. It just goes to show you what a lot of hard work and a number of well placed bribes will do for you. Just want to acknowledge the guys in my category, it's an honor to be nominated with you, especially my dear friend Danny Burstein, you will not find a finer actor or a finer person, God bless you. I got to do this wonderful part because Arthur Laurents and Jay Binder thought of me, asked me, convinced me and then Arthur guided me with patience and love and terrific work and insight and I so thank you. Thanks to the creators of the show, Stephen Sondheim and the late Jule Styne, I'm honored to be in this great American classic. I'd like to the thank the producers who have been so good to us, they've taken such good care of us, thank you. I'd like to thank the cast and crew at the St. James and also at City Center, they've been fantastic. We love you. All our stage mangers and particularly the people I get to work with nightly, which are Laura Benanti and Patti LuPone, who are brilliant, such giving and inspiring actresses and I so love them. I look into their eyes every night and they inspire me. Thank you so much. I'd also like to thank my wife Kathleen, I love you, thank you. Love to my daughter Leslie who's in Boston right now with her choir tour. " —Boyd Gaines, Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Gypsy
"Thank you. This is so overwhelming and I thought the Imperial was big! There are three balconies. Oh my God. This whole year has been entirely unexpected and astonishing. When we started rehearsals in Chicago a year ago, August: Osage County, none of us dreamed we would be here. I certainly didn't after 34 years in regional theatre, I never even thought about it, I watched on TV like everybody else. Tracy Letts wrote a brilliant new American play, Anna Shapiro brilliantly directed it, Steppenwolf mounted it, the Chicago theatergoers ate it up, made us a hit, which interested the New York producers, we came to New York and New York has embraced us so enthusiastically and with hearts full. I can't get over the reception we've had here. I have to recognize my fellow nominees and especially my stage daughter, Amy Morton, the astounding Amy Morton. Who should at the very least be standing up here with me and who can do things on stage I cannot do. I want you to know that ever since I was a little girl, all I ever wanted to do was get people together and put on plays and now I get to do it on Broadway. Thank you so much!" —Deanna Dunagan, Best Actress in a Play, August: Osage County
"Omigosh. This is amazing. I'm pretty sure that the only way that you get to have a life in the theatre is if somewhere in your life you come upon a group of people who although they don't need to, make room for you. And if you're incredibly lucky, that group of people is the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. And then if you're really followed by a star, Tracy Letts hands you August: Osage County and says "wanna?" And then, heaven opens up and you get the greatest cast you will ever work with in your entire life. Um, I would just like to thank my parents, who blazed this path for me, never made me feel like there was anything trivial about this job. Mom, I so wish that you had Dad to share this with tonight. And I would really like to thank my six nieces and nephews who mercifully just think if me as Aunt Anna and don't care about any of this. They just don't. They just wanted tickets to Little Mermaid. And I got them! And lastly, to Ian, who keeps the best spot in the world clear for me, and that is the one right next to him. Thanks so much. " —Anna D. Shapiro, Best Direction of a Play, August: Osage County
"Thank you to the Tony voters. It's been an incredible season for plays, so to be part of it is a huge honor and privilege. Boeing-Boeing has been an extraordinary journey, Matthew Warchus the director, it was all his idea, his inspiration. He can't be here but the award actually belongs to him. We started the production in London, the original cast had huge commitment and bravery and I want to thank the audacious co-producers who are amazing, many of whom are here, who stood by us and of course the brilliant creative team headed up by Matthew Warchus and ultimately the cast, I don't know if they're here though. They were going to come up on the stage but this happened so quickly, I think they're still getting dressed. I want to thank the brilliant cast, the great, great team and a particular thank you to Mark Rylance who was with us right at the beginning. It was because of him and because of Matthew that Boeing-Boeing exists now on Broadway and we really have the definition of revival. We brought it back to life, resurrected this wonderful, brilliant 60s comedy. Thank you very much."—Sonia Friedman, Best Revival of a Play, Boeing-Boeing
"Yeah, yeah, um. I used to write this play and then I would come out of my hole and I would put the pages on the table and Annie Dorsen and I would look at each other from across the table and Heidi would be sitting there on the other side and we looked at the pages like they had just kind of fallen from somewhere, it wasn't like "hey, here's my play". The three of us just dealt with this play like you would like a kid or a good meal, or something, I don't know. So it's like, it was this real crazy organic process and it's great to have this. I guess I'll cut this in half or something, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know what to say because I didn't know we were going to do this right now. I thought this was going to happen like an hour from now, so I was like, looking for some M&Ms in my pocket, you know or something. Yeah, I don't even know what to say right now, it's crazy. We did this shit right!"—Stew, Best Book of a Musical, Passing Strange
"Wow, thanks. We're Alex and Bill and we just pooped our pants a little bit. This is unbelievable. The first person we need to thank is Lin-Manuel Miranda for creating this, it's a masterpiece. Working on this show has been the ride of my life, man I've done the proudest work of my entire life. You have given a gift to theatre, it's a gift to Latinos, to musicians, it's indescribable, you're the best man. We need to thank our producers, Kevin, Jeffrey and Jill, we need to thank the League, we need to thank the Theatre Wing, we need to thank, Bill Sherman, my buddy..."—Alex Lacamoire, Best Orchestrations, In the Heights
"Thank you so much! It's such a wonderful gift to be an actor who makes her living working on the Broadway stage and then every 30 years or so, pick up one of these! I was afraid to write a speech because I've written a couple before and they never made it out of my purse, so I'm going to use one of the old ones and add a few names. I want to send out first and foremost all of my love to my husband Matt and my son Joshua, I would be dead without both of you and to our extended family of friends. This won't take long, I promise. I want to thank my singing teachers, the one I forgot to mention the last time I stood up here 28 years ago, David Mossberg, Esther Scott, my high school inspiration, and the teacher who taught me how to sing, Joan Lader. All of my agents, especially Nevin, Gary and Philip, Carole Shorenstein Hays because I said I would, the Acting Company—John and Margo; Second Stage Theatre—Robin and Carole; Lincoln Center Theatre—Bernie and Andre; City Center Encores—Jack, Michael, Judy and Arlene; the Ravinia Festival where my involvement with Gypsy first began, thank you Wells and Lani, and for Gypsy itself, thank you Jule, Steve, my beloved Arthur who assembled and directed the finest, most dedicated cast of actors I have ever had the privilege of working with and who is an inspiration to all of us in the theater. Thank you Bonnie, to the designers of Gyspy, the backstage crew, front of house, stage management, ghosts of the St. James Theatre, my trusted friend and company manager Sammy, the dressing room, Angelina, Nessa, Lyle and my very own Thelma Ritter. Friend and wrangler Pat, who gives me a shot every single night. I don't know what's in it, but I'm giving the performance of my life! My producers Roger, Roger, Richard, Tom, Jack, Steve, Boyd, Ted, Scott, SHUT UP IT'S BEEN 29 YEARS! My acting partner, sweet Leigh Ann, beautiful and sweet Sicilian sister Laura, and the very wise anchor of our show, my favorite leading man who breaks my heart every night, Boyd! To the real Rose Hovick who gave all of the women who ever played this role the part of a lifetime, GOOD NIGHT!" —Patti LuPone, Best Actress in a Musical, Gypsy
"Thank you Tony voters, Bernard Gersten and Bob Boyett and I are most pleased and grateful. South Pacific, as many of you know, is a big complex show and there are quite literally hundreds of talented, caring people who deserve to be named and thanked tonight if we only had a little more time. But there are a number of musts, Mary Rodgers Guettel and Alice Hammerstein Mathias, brilliant daughters of brilliant men, Ted Chapin and the Rodgers and Hammerstein staff, you bravely entrusted the first Broadway revival of South Pacific in 60 years to Lincoln Center Theater and we really wanted to make you proud. Cast and casting director, designers, choreographer, Bart Sher, Ted Sperling and the orchestra, Beaumont Theatre amazing backstage crew, beloved stage managers and company managers, house manager and ushers, vigilant and indulgent board of directors and Mr. Bob Boyett, a real gentleman if there ever was one. South Pacific belongs to all of you. And finally we salute the entire staff and please forgive my little moment of pride of a great theater company. You are rarely mentioned and you deserve our love and gratitude, and Ira, Mr. Musical True Believer, thank you. Finally, Bernie and I are well aware that there are a couple of extraordinary productions of extraordinary productions of iconic American musicals currently running on Broadway. South Pacific is honored to be in their company this season. Peter, Katie, I love you madly. Thank you all. " —Andre Bishop, Best Revival, South Pacific
