On June 19, the Tony Awards Administration Committee voted to add two new competitive categories for future Tony Awards ceremonies.
The newly announced categories for which the upcoming 2007-2008 season’s productions will be eligible are Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical. This is the first time the Tonys have recognized sound design along with other production elements in the competitive categories.
With the inclusion of these two new categories, there will now be a total of 27 competitive categories for which qualifying productions will be in contention.
The last time the Administration Committee changed the number of categories for competitive Tony Awards was in 2005. Beginning that year, the Tonys included separate awards for plays and musicals in the Scenic Design, Costume Design, and Lighting Design categories.
The 2008 Tony Awards—the 62nd annual awards—will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony on the CBS Television Network on a date to soon be announced.