Tony Award-winning Dear Evan Hansen star Ben Platt, who hosted this year’s ceremony, introduced a musical tribute to Mr. Nederlander, who passed away in July 2016.
Directed by Van Kaplan and choreographed by Kiesha Lalama, the tribute, which can be seen above, featured the finalists for the competition: Sam Bennett, Briley Blade, Trey Caperton, Jack D’Angelo, Seamus Foley, Eric Garden, Ian Hayes, Levi Hopkins, Nathan Keffer, Lane Mogen, Joey Myers, Ramone Nelson, Patrick Shannon, Nathan Sink, Jacob Swanson, Cameron Vargas, William Webster, Stephanie Ainsworth, Grace Auer, Laurel Bollard, Elleon Dobias, Shelby Ennis, Kayla Fallick, Briana Fleming, Sophia Rose Franklin, Hatty King, Jessica Lewis, Jaynie Parmenter, Morgan Roberts, Adriel Salinas, Marisa Spahn, Jilian Strattman, Adeline Tourondel, and Liz Valentin.
The tribute was arranged and conducted by Michael Moricz and orchestrated by Michael M. Morris.
As previously announced, high school students Sofia Deler and Tony Moreno earned the top honors for the evening. Both were awarded a $10,000 scholarship, while the remaining finalists received $2,500 toward their education.
James M. Nederlander transformed what was a regional theatre business based in Detroit into a New York powerhouse when, in the 1960s, he set his sights on New York City and began buying Broadway theatres. The Nederlander Organization now has holdings second only to the Shubert Organization. Read his full obituary here.