The Tony Awards are given annually to recognize achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at a ceremony in New York City.
Tony Award Production

After its longest shutdown, Broadway reopened in New York in September 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of theaters in March 2020. Many Broadway productions relied on government funding to return to the stage. As a result, fewer musicals, plays, and revivals were eligible for the 2021 Tony Awards.

Moulin Rouge! won the most awards of any show of the night. Of its 10 Tony Awards, Moulin Rouge! brought home best musical. The musical had performances for seven months before the Covid-19 shutdown.

The Inheritance won best play. With The Inheritance, Matthew Lopez became the first Latino writer to win best play. Lois Smith won best-featured actress in a play as The Inheritance‘s sole female actor. At age 90, Smith became the oldest performer to win a Tony Award for acting.

A Christmas Carol became the first play to win best original score. All five nominees for the award were plays.

A Soldier’s Play won best revival of a play.  

Slave Play made history with a record 12 nominations. Despite its nominations, Slave Play was shut out of any awards.

The Tony Awards are presented annually for distinguished achievements the previous season in the Broadway theater in New York City. The awards are named for Antoinette Perry, an American actress, producer, and director. They are administered by the League of American Theaters and Producers and the American Theater Wing.

The Tonys honor achievements in about 20 categories, including best new play, best new musical, and best revivals of a play and a musical. Tonys are awarded for acting, directing, designing, orchestrations, and choreography. Special awards are also made for lifetime achievements in the theater and to a distinguished American regional theater.

A Tony Awards committee appoints a group of theater professionals to select four nominations for each category. Several hundred theater professionals and journalists then vote on the winners. Winning a Tony, or even being nominated for the award, has become important to the box-office success of many Broadway shows. The Tony Awards were founded in 1947.

June 9, 2015

The 69th annual ceremony to grant the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, better known as the Tony Award, was held in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night, June 7.

The Tony Award (Credit: Tony Award Productions)

The musical “Fun Home” was the big winner at the 2015 Tony Awards. It was the first show adapted from a graphic novel to win a Tony. The story portrayed the emotionally turbulent early life of popular cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The show took Tonys for best musical and for best score for Jeanine Tesori (composer) and Lisa Kron (lyricist). Kron also took the award for best book. Michael Cerveris, who played the cartoonist’s father, won the Tony as best actor in a musical for his performance, and Sam Gold won as best director of a musical.

As usual, the British took plenty of major awards. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by English playwright Simon Stephens was named best play. The play was based upon a 2003 novel by British author Mark Haddon and features a brilliant young man with social disabilities who tries to solve a neighborhood mystery. London-born Alex Sharp took the Tony in the category of actor in a leading role in a play for his performance as the teenager in the show. In addition, English director Marianne Elliott took the Tony as director of a play for “Curious Incident.” “Skylight,” a 1995 drama by English dramatist David Hare, won the Tony for revival of a play. Helen Mirren received the Tony for actress in a leading role as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience.” And Scottish actor Richard McCabe took home the Tony for actor in a featured role in a play for his supporting performance in “The Audience,” as British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic “The King and I” swept three major awards, starting with the award for revival of a musical. Kelli O’Hara received the Tony as best actress in a leading role in a musical for her performance as Anna. Ruthie Ann Miles took the prize for actress in a featured role in a musical, playing the part of Lady Thiang, chief wife of the king of Siam. The British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon won a Tony for his choreography for “An American in Paris,” an adaptation of the 1951 movie musical that became one of the big hits of the Broadway season. The musical features the music of George Gershwin.

The 76-year old Tommy Tune was one of the evening’s most popular winners, receiving the lifetime achievement award for his long career as a dancer, director, and choreographer on Broadway.

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