Broadway Beat Tony 2010 Q&A: Sean Hayes

The Tony Awards Nominations were announced Tuesday, May 4th and the Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 13, 2010.

The day after the nominations, on Wednesday, May 5th, Broadway Beat talked to nearly all of the nominated stars in advance of a special two-part Broadway Beat Tony Awards extravanganza. Every day, we'll be presenting unedited, raw "Short Takes" sneak peeks of some of these amazing interviews. Next up - Sean Hayes, nominated for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance in PROMISES, PROMISES. Read the transcript of his interview below!

Click here for the complete list of Tony Reactions from all the nominees that BroadwayWorld.com checked in with after the nominations were announced!

Want to watch the nomination announcement and relive the fun? Click here.

Click here for complete photo coverage of 'The Women' and Click here for complete coverage of 'The Men.'

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SH: Oh my gosh, when you sign onto do a show like this, you go, "ok, my task of the day is, let's work on this scene." You don't think about the future or the results of anything. You do the best job you can do, and you do the best job you can do every night for a paying audience, and that's the only thing that's important. So to get this was kind of mind blowing and unexpected and the cherry on top of an already perfect kind of pie.

Bway Beat: When you were starting out, to me, I was brought up on Long Island, I watched the Tony's every single year on big TVs, little TVs, I mean this is the pinnacle of what it is. Was it a dream of yours?

SH: Yeah, I mean it's always been a dream to do Broadway. I think it is for pretty much any actor, any real actor, not a reality star actor. But, you know that's a very shaky kind of celebrity, celebrity is kind of thrown around. But yes, it was always a dream of mine to do Broadway and to kind of feel what it felt like to do this 8 times a week for a long period of time. I'm having a blast. It's more than I ever expected.

Bway Beat: It's a gorgeous musical, you're working with Rob Ashford. This is like the old fashion musical that you're doing...

SH: Yeah!

Bway Beat: Talk about what you love about the score, the material...

SH: Sure, I mean you're right. It's cool to do an old-fashioned show because it's kind of where it all started and where the comedy came from, and the music. So, opening night we took a bow with Neil Simon, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and that's when it kind of hit me. I was like wow, I...we just did a show with these three living legends and it was mind blowing. I was filled with emotion. It didn't really hit me until that moment, and it was pretty cool. But yeah, it's an honor. It really is an honor to be apart of this show.

Bway Beat: Talk about Chuck Baxter. What a great role! Like you said, a Neil Simon book - best comedy writer there is.

SH: When we first did the reading we realized, wow, not only are the themes timeless, the comedy is timeless. The comedy still works and that's what kind of got us all going is the story and how it's told through laughter. We're like "yeah, this should work." And it is, so it's pretty cool.

Bway Beat: It's like a rock concert at the Broadway Theater! To hear that audience every night, many of whom are young young fans coming to see Broadway for the first time because of you, this will be there first show...

SH: You know it's funny, my good friend Megan Mullally, who played Karen Walker on ‘Will and Grace' with me, she said the same thing. She said, "Do you realize that there's young people out there that will be inspired by the show and want to do this with their life?" And that's what really kind of touches me the most. You know, obviously there's people who touch all of us in a way that makes us want to pursue a career whereas otherwise we wouldn't, so to be that for anybody, even one kid, is pretty awesome and fills me with great joy.

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BroadwayWorld.com is THE place to watch for the best and most comprehensive coverage of the 2010 Tony Awards. Check back daily for new photos, videos and more from all the nominated shows and performers on our mega 2010 site!

Broadway Beat, the popular weekly television program for and about the Theatre World, right here on the web site. Broadway Beat is the premier, award-winning half hour television program covering theatre, music and performers. Each week, the show's popular and knowledgeable host, Richard Ridge, takes you behind-the-scenes for a look at the very best of New York Theatre - on Broadway, and beyond. The show always features beautiful footage shot by video veteran Bradshaw Smith.

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