award shows, Broadway, CBS, Josh Groban, musicals, New York City, plays, Sara Bareilles, Tony Awards
April 18, 2018
The following is a press release from CBS:
CBS announced today that Tony Award nominees Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban will host THE 72nd ANNUAL TONY AWARDS®, live from the historic Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Sunday, June 10 (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network.
This will be both Bareilles’ and Groban’s first time hosting the show. They each starred in Broadway shows last year – Bareilles in the hit show “Waitress,” for which she received a 2016 Tony Award nomination for Best Score, and Groban in “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.
The nominations for the 2018 Tony Awards will be announced live Tuesday, May 1 on CBS THIS MORNING by Tony Award-winning actor Leslie Odom, Jr. and actress Katharine McPhee (“Waitress”).
“The theater has completely transformed my life in every way possible. I have never felt more embraced and encouraged by a professional community, and I am so grateful for that,” said Sara Bareilles. “I feel incredibly lucky to get to spend an evening celebrating and applauding this outstanding collective of artists, friends, collaborators and creatives. It is my great honor to join my friend Josh Groban in hosting the Tonys this year, and use the opportunity to simply say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to this wonderful community…in high heels, with jokes.”
“I am humbled and ecstatic to be co-hosting the Tony Awards this year with such a brilliant artist and wonderful friend, Sara Bareilles. The dedication and inspiration surrounding live theater gave me my life path as a young kid, and the warmth and support of the Broadway community has been the highlight of my career,” said Josh Groban. “So to be at the helm of a night celebrating the best of that theater with a person I just laugh way too much with, is beyond words. But I will have words on Tony night! The best words! I look forward to flailing about in front of my peers. It will be with all the love and respect in the world for the room we’re lucky enough to be in.”
“Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban electrified and inspired audiences last year when they brought their incredible talents to Broadway,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment. “These two have great chemistry together, and we can’t wait to see what they have in store as hosts for this year’s Tony Awards.”
“Sara and Josh have been taking the music industry by storm for years. Then just last year, they both made their Broadway debuts, bringing audiences to their feet, night after night. And now, we can’t wait to see what they will do, together, on Sunday, June 10, when they take the stage at Radio City Music Hall to host the Tony Awards,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing.
“Love that these two good friends, musicians, actors, singers, songwriters, Tony nominees and just darn nice humans agreed to host the Tonys!” said executive producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner.
Sara Bareilles first achieved mainstream critical praise in 2007 with her successful hit “Love Song,” which reached #1 in 22 countries around the world, from her debut album, Little Voice. Since then, Sara has gone on to receive six GRAMMY® nominations throughout her career, which include Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Love Song” and Album of the Year for her highly acclaimed third studio album, The Blessed Unrest. Her book, Sounds like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song, was released in the fall of 2015 by Simon & Schuster and is a New York Times bestseller. Making her Broadway debut, Sara composed the music and lyrics for “Waitress,” for which she received her first Tony® Award nomination for Best Score and a 2017 GRAMMY Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. Also, she made her Broadway acting debut by stepping into the lead role in “Waitress.” What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress, her most recent solo studio album, is currently available on Epic Records. Recently, Bareilles appeared on television as Mary Magdalene alongside John Legend in “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Possessing one of the most outstanding and instantly recognizable voices in music, GRAMMY®-nominated singer, songwriter and actor Josh Groban has entertained fans across the globe with his multi-platinum albums and DVDs (over 30 million sold worldwide), electrifying live performances, and comedic film and television appearances. The 36-year-old Los Angeles native is the only artist who has had two albums appear on the Top 20 Best-Selling Albums list in the past decade, according to Billboard. Groban has appeared in the feature films “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Hollars,” “Coffee Town” and “Muppets Most Wanted,” as well as on the television series “The Office,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “The Crazy Ones.” He has released seven studio albums: his 2001 self-titled 5x-platinum debut; 2003’s 6x-platinum Closer; 2006’s double-platinum Awake; 2007’s 6x platinum GRAMMY-nominated Noel; 2010’s gold-certified Illuminations; and 2013’s gold-certified All That Echoes, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, giving Groban his first #1 debut and third chart-topper. In 2017 Groban concluded his Broadway run in “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” which Time Out New York called “one of the best musicals of the decade.” Also, he released his first coffee table book, Stage to Stage: My Journey to Broadway, which documented the past two years of his life on Broadway. Groban remains an active arts education philanthropist and advocate as a member of the Americans for the Arts Artists Committee and Groban’s Find Your Light Foundation, which helps enrich the lives of young people through arts, education and cultural awareness. Currently, Groban is filming the television series “The Good Cop,” starring opposite Tony Danza, and working on his eighth studio album, which is due out later this year.
This year marks the 72nd anniversary of the Tony Awards, which were first held on April 6, 1947 at the Waldorf Astoria’s Grand Ballroom. The ceremony is presented by Tony Award Productions, which is a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, which founded the Tonys.
Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment will return as executive producers. Weiss will also serve as director for the 19th consecutive year.
RATING: To Be Announced
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