South Pacific, In the Heights
Win Tony Awards

ASCAP-represented Broadway productions South Pacific and In The Heights stole the show at the 62nd Annual Tony Awards, held June 15, 2008 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific led with seven wins, followed by Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights with four wins.

The Lincoln Center production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. The show also won Tonys in all four musical design categories, in addition to Best Direction and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Set on a tropical island during World War II, South Pacific tells the romantic story of two couples and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices. Well known for its beautiful score, the iconic musical features the songs of ASCAP legends Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers, including "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "There Is Nothin' Like A Dame" and "A Wonderful Guy," and many other favorites.

The Tony for Best Musical was awarded to In the Heights, a Washington Heights-based musical about a vibrant and tight-knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. ASCAP members Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bill Sherman won for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, respectively. The show also won for Best Choreography. Composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda conceived and began writing In the Heights more than five years ago. In 2007, he received The ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, which recognizes emerging musical theatre talent. He recently participated in The ASCAP Foundation's "Children Will Listen" program, which is designed to introduce the American Musical Theatre to youngsters who might otherwise not have the opportunity to experience it.

A Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre was given to composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and a Special Tony was awarded posthumously to orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett in "recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific."

The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Award is bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement. For more information, go to www.tonyawards.com.

ASCAP's list of Tony® Award winners are:

BEST MUSICAL
In The Heights

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS)
WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
In The Heights – Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Bill Sherman – In The Heights

SPECIAL TONY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATRE
Stephen Sondheim

SPECIAL TONY AWARD
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific.