The Ceremony
The opening number was "Wanna Sing A Show Tune". The special number was "Forty Years of Broadway Show Music", which included songs from musicals including, among others, Annie, Big River, Finian's Rainbow, Hello, Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, La Cage aux Folles, and Sweet Charity. The finale was the company singing "Give My Regards to Broadway".
There were also vignettes from past Tony Award winning plays.
The presenters and performers were: Debbie Allen, Susan Anton, Bea Arthur, Nell Carter, Agnes De Mille, José Ferrer, Sandy Duncan, Phyllis Frelich, Helen Hayes, Michael Kidd, Jack Lemmon, Cleo Laine, John V. Lindsay, Dorothy Loudon, Hal Linden, Bernadette Peters, Karen Morrow, Stefanie Powers, Juliet Prowse, Tony Randall, Ann Reinking, Lee Roy Reams, Lee Remick, Chita Rivera, Alfonso Ribeiro, Rex Smith, John Rubinstein, Marlo Thomas, Leslie Uggams, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterson, Ben Vereen, Tom Wopat.
Musicals that performed were Big Deal ("Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar" - Company); Song & Dance ("Unexpected Song" - Bernadette Peters); Tango Argentino (Dance Excerpts - Company); and Drood ("There You Are"/"Don't Quit While You're Ahead" - George Rose and Company).
Read more about this topic: 40th Tony Awards
Famous quotes containing the word ceremony:
“Every ceremony or rite has a value if it is performed without alteration. A ceremony is a book in which a great deal is written. Anyone who understands can read it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books.”
—George Gurdjieff (c. 1877–1949)
“The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)