52nd Tony Awards

The 52nd Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 7, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall and was broadcast by CBS television. A documentaries segment was telecast on PBS television. The ceremony was hosted by Rosie O'Donnell, who hosted a total of three times (1997, 1998, and 2000).

52nd Tony Awards
Date	June 7, 1998
Location	Radio City Music Hall, New York City
Hosted by	Rosie O'Donnell
Television/radio coverage
Network	CBS

This ceremony is notable for its Best Direction of a Play and Best Direction of a Musical winners both being female, the first time a female has won either award. The writer of the Best Play winner was also female, the second female winner of the award.

Ragtime had 13 nominations, the most of the night, and Ragtime, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Cabaret each won four Tonys.

Eligibility

Shows that opened on Broadway during the 1997–1998 season before April 30, 1998 are eligible.

Original plays

• Art
• The Beauty Queen of Leenane
• Freak
• Golden Child
• The Herbal Bed
• Honour
• Jackie
• The Judas Kiss
• The Old Neighborhood
• Proposals

Original musicals

• The Capeman
• Forever Tango
• High Society
• The Lion King
• Ragtime
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• Side Show
• Street Corner Symphony
• Triumph of Love

Play revivals

• Ah, Wilderness!
• The Chairs
• The Cherry Orchard
• The Deep Blue Sea
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• Ivanov
• The Sunshine Boys
• A View from the Bridge
• Wait Until Dark

Musical revivals

• Cabaret
• 1776
• The Sound of Music

The ceremony

The opening number was "Broadway Divas", with Rosie O'Donnell and the Chicago dancers introducing: Patti LuPone ("Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita); Jennifer Holliday ("And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls); and Betty Buckley ("Memory" from Cats).

Musicals represented:

• Ragtime ("Ragtime" – Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald and Company)
• The Sound of Music ("Wedding"/"Do-Re-Mi"/"The Sound of Music" Finale – Rebecca Luker and Company)
• 1776 ("Sit Down, John" – Richard Poe and Company)
• The Lion King ("Circle of Life" – Tsidii Le Loka and Company)
• Cabaret ("Willkommen" – Alan Cumming and Company)
• Side Show ("I Will Never Leave You" – Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel ("Into the Fire" – Douglas Sills and Company)

Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold

Best Play	Best Musical
Art – Yasmina Reza The Beauty Queen of Leenane – Martin McDonagh Freak – John Leguizamo Golden Child – David Henry Hwang	The Lion King Ragtime Side Show The Scarlet Pimpernel
Best Revival of a Play	Best Revival of a Musical
A View from the Bridge Ah, Wilderness! The Chairs The Diary of Anne Frank	Cabaret 1776 The Sound of Music
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Anthony LaPaglia – A View from the Bridge as Eddie Richard Briers – The Chairs as Old Man John Leguizamo – Freak as Himself Alfred Molina – Art as Yvan	Marie Mullen – The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Maureen Folan Jane Alexander – Honour as Honor Allison Janney – A View from the Bridge as Beatrice Carbone Geraldine McEwan – The Chairs as Old Woman
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Alan Cumming – Cabaret as The Master of Ceremonies Peter Friedman – Ragtime as Tateh Brian Stokes Mitchell – Ragtime as Coalhouse Walker, Jr. Douglas Sills – The Scarlet Pimpernel as Percy Blakeney	Natasha Richardson – Cabaret as Sally Bowles Betty Buckley – Triumph of Love as Hesione Marin Mazzie – Ragtime as Mother Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner – Side Show as Violet and Daisy Hilton
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Tom Murphy – The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Ray Dooley Brían F. O'Byrne – The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Pato Dooley Sam Trammell – Ah, Wilderness! as Richard Miller Max Wright – Ivanov as Pavel Lebedev	Anna Manahan – The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Mag Folan Enid Graham – Honour as Sophie Linda Lavin – The Diary of Anne Frank as Mrs. Van Daan Julyana Soelistyo – Golden Child as Eng Ahn
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Ron Rifkin – Cabaret as Herr Schultz Gregg Edelman – 1776 as Edward Rutledge John McMartin – High Society as Uncle Willie Samuel E. Wright – The Lion King as Mufasa	Audra McDonald – Ragtime as Sarah Anna Kendrick – High Society as Dinah Lord Tsidii Le Loka – The Lion King as Rafiki Mary Louise Wilson – Cabaret as Fraulein Schneider
Best Book of a Musical	Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Terrence McNally – Ragtime Bill Russell – Side Show Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi – The Lion King Nan Knighton – The Scarlet Pimpernel	Ragtime – Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) Side Show – Henry Krieger (music) and Bill Russell (lyrics) The Capeman – Paul Simon (music) and Derek Walcott (lyrics) The Lion King – Elton John, Tim Rice, Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer (music and lyrics)
Best Scenic Design	Best Costume Design
Richard Hudson – The Lion King Bob Crowley – The Capeman Eugene Lee – Ragtime Quay Brothers – The Chairs	Julie Taymor – The Lion King William Ivey Long – Cabaret Santo Loquasto – Ragtime Martin Pakledinaz – Golden Child
Best Lighting Design	Best Orchestrations
Donald Holder – The Lion King Paul Anderson – The Chairs Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari – Cabaret Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer – Ragtime	William David Brohn – Ragtime Robert Elhai, David Metzger and Bruce Fowler – The Lion King Michael Gibson – Cabaret Stanley Silverman – The Capeman
Best Direction of a Play	Best Direction of a Musical
Garry Hynes – The Beauty Queen of Leenane Michael Mayer – A View from the Bridge Simon McBurney – The Chairs Matthew Warchus – Art	Julie Taymor – The Lion King Scott Ellis – 1776 Frank Galati – Ragtime Sam Mendes with Rob Marshall – Cabaret
Best Choreography
Garth Fagan – The Lion King Graciela Daniele – Ragtime Forever Tango Dancers – Forever Tango Rob Marshall – Cabaret

Special awards

• Regional Theater Tony Award
  • Denver Center Theatre Company
• Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
  • Ben Edwards
  • Edward E. Colton
• Tony Honor Winner
  • The International Theatre Institute of the United States

Multiple nominations and awards

These productions had multiple nominations:

• 13 nominations: Ragtime
• 11 nominations: The Lion King
• 10 nominations: Cabaret
• 6 nominations: The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Chairs
• 4 nominations: Side Show and A View from the Bridge
• 3 nominations: Art, The Capeman, Golden Child, The Scarlet Pimpernel and 1776
• 2 nominations: Ah, Wilderness!, The Diary of Anne Frank, Freak, High Society and Honour

The following productions received multiple awards.

• 6 wins: The Lion King
• 4 wins: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Cabaret and Ragtime
• 2 wins: A View from the Bridge

See also

• Drama Desk Awards
• 1998 Laurence Olivier Awards – equivalent awards for West End theatre productions
• Obie Award
• New York Drama Critics' Circle
• Theatre World Award
• Lucille Lortel Awards

References

• "Year by Year – 1998". TonyAwards.com. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.

External links

• Tony Awards Official website