The 2008 Tony Awards have been handed out and although no one show ran away with the lion’s share this year, a few productions stood out by receiving multiple awards for outstanding achievement.

With 13 nominations, the most for any show this season, IN THE HEIGHTS garnered four awards including Best Musical. The musical revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC had 11 nominations and won in seven categories, the most for any production this year. AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts, won in five of the seven categories in which it was nominated, including Best Play.

On hand at Radio City Music Hall for Broadway’s biggest night was last year’s Broadway Across America Tony Sweepstakes winner, Rachel Stewart from Fairfax, Iowa. Joined by her cousin Stephanie Lasko, Stewart said they “Enjoyed every minute of our time we spent in the city. The opportunity to go to the Tonys was the chance of a lifetime. We will remember it always.”

The 2008 Tony Award winners:

Best Musical
IN THE HEIGHTS

Best Play
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Best Revival of a Musical
SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Revival of a Play
BOEING-BOEING

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Paulo Szot, SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Patti LuPone, GYPSY

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Mark Rylance, BOEING-BOEING

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Deanna Dunagan, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Boyd Gaines, GYPSY

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Laura Benanti, GYPSY

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Jim Norton, THE SEAFARER

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Rondi Reed, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Best Direction of a Musical
Bartlett Sher, SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Direction of a Play
Anna D. Shapiro, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, IN THE HEIGHTS

Best Orchestrations
Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, IN THE HEIGHTS

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda, IN THE HEIGHTS

Best Book of a Musical
Stew, PASSING STRANGE

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Michael Yeargan, SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Todd Rosenthal, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Catherine Zuber, SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Costume Design of a Play
Katrina Lindsay, LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Donald Holder, SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Kevin Adams, THE 39 STEPS

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Scott Lehrer, SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Sound Design of a Play
Mic Pool, THE 39 STEPS

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Stephen Sondheim

Special Tony Award
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981)

By: Kirk Wingerson