The 71st annual Tony Awards, honoring the shows that opened in the 2016-2017 season in the 41 Broadway theaters of New York, will be presented starting at 8 p.m. tonight, June 11, 2017 at New York’s 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall.

How To Watch

Most Americans who watch will do so on CBS as a television broadcast that is scheduled to last three hours.

A total of 8.7 million viewers tuned into last year’s Tony Awards broadcast, which was the highest number in 15 years, pumped up by excitement over Hamilton. There is no similar juggernaut this year.

(There are ways as well to watch the Tonys online.)

Info for international viewers and intense fans (who don’t think the three-hour broadcast is enough.)

Host Kevin Spacey

The host will be Kevin Spacey, the Oscar-winning movie actor, currently the star of House of Cards on Netflix portraying a devious homicidal president of the United States (expect at least one Trump joke based on that.)  Spacey is also an eight-time Broadway veteran who won the Tony for best featured actor in 1991 for Lost in Yonkers and was nominated for best actor in 1999 for The Iceman Cometh. Few realize he is also a song-and-dance man, glimpses of which are available in his portrayal of Bobby Darin in the 2004 film Beyond The Sea.

Scheduled Performances

Musical numbers from nominated shows “Bandstand,” ″Come From Away,” ″Dear Evan Hansen,” ″Falsettos,” ″Groundhog Day The Musical,” ″Miss Saigon,” “Natasha,Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” with Josh Groban,″Hello, Dolly!” without Bette Midler,“War Paint”

plus Cynthia Erivo and Leslie Odom Jr. (last year’s Tony winners for The Color Purple and Hamilton, respectively.)

and the Radio City Rockettes

Scheduled Presenters

Orlando Bloom, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Josh Gad, Taraji P. Henson, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Wilde, Scott Bakula, Sara Bareilles, Rachel Bloom, Glenn Close, Brian d’Arcy James, Sally Field, Sutton Foster, Whoopi Goldberg, Jonathan Groff, Mark Hamill, Allison Janney, Nick Kroll, John Legend, John Lithgow, Patina Miller, John Mulaney, David Oyelowo, Chazz Palminteri, Sarah Paulson, Lea Salonga, Tom Sturridge and Tommy Tune.

There will also be an appearance by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

What To Watch For

Both Best Musical and Best Play categories are competitive this year. Look to see how many of its 12 nominations Great Comet nails as the evening progresses, and Dear Evan Hansen’s nine, and Come From Away’s seven.

Also, see what the Tonys do to celebrate an unusually strong season of straight (non-musical) plays. Normally, they’re given short shrift.

Tony Nominations

Below is the list of Tony nominations organized by category. (And below that is a list of the number of nominations each show received.)

(For a rundown on which I feel SHOULD win, plus links to my reviews, click here)

Best Play
A Doll’s House, Part 2
Indecent
Oslo
Sweat

Best Musical
Come From Away
Dear Evan Hansen
Groundhog Day The Musical
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Best Book of a Musical

Come From Away
Irene Sankoff and David Hein

Dear Evan Hansen
Steven Levenson

Groundhog Day The Musical
Danny Rubin

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Dave Malloy

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Come From Away
Music & Lyrics: Irene Sankoff and David Hein

Dear Evan Hansen
Music & Lyrics: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

Groundhog Day The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Music & Lyrics: Dave Malloy

Best Revival of a Play
August Wilson’s Jitney
John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation
Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Present Laughter

Best Revival of a Musical

Falsettos
Hello, Dolly!
Miss Saigon

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Denis Arndt, Heisenberg
Chris Cooper, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Corey Hawkins, John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation
Kevin Kline, Present Laughter
Jefferson Mays, Oslo

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Cate Blanchett, The Present
Jennifer Ehle, Oslo
Sally Field, The Glass Menagerie
Laura Linney, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Christian Borle, Falsettos
Josh Groban, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Andy Karl, Groundhog Day The Musical
David Hyde Pierce, Hello, Dolly!
Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Denée Benton, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Christine Ebersole, War Paint
Patti LuPone, War Paint
Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!
Eva Noblezada, Miss Saigon

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Michael Aronov, Oslo
Danny DeVito, Arthur Miller’s The Price
Nathan Lane, The Front Page
Richard Thomas, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
John Douglas Thompson, August Wilson’s Jitney

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Johanna Day, Sweat
Jayne Houdyshell, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Cynthia Nixon, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Condola Rashad, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Michelle Wilson, Sweat

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!
Mike Faist, Dear Evan Hansen
Andrew Rannells, Falsettos
Lucas Steele, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Brandon Uranowitz, Falsettos

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Kate Baldwin, Hello, Dolly!
Stephanie J. Block, Falsettos
Jenn Colella, Come From Away
Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen
Mary Beth Peil, Anastasia

Best Scenic Design of a Play

David Gallo, August Wilson’s Jitney
Nigel Hook, The Play That Goes Wrong
Douglas W. Schmidt, The Front Page
Michael Yeargan, Oslo

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Rob Howell, Groundhog Day The Musical
David Korins, War Paint
Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!

Best Costume Design of a Play

Jane Greenwood, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Susan Hilferty, Present Laughter
Toni-Leslie James, August Wilson’s Jitney
David Zinn, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Linda Cho, Anastasia
Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!
Paloma Young, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Catherine Zuber, War Paint

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Christopher Akerlind, Indecent
Jane Cox, August Wilson’s Jitney
Donald Holder, Oslo
Jennifer Tipton, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Howell Binkley, Come From Away
Natasha Katz, Hello, Dolly!
Bradley King, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Japhy Weideman, Dear Evan Hansen

Best Direction of a Play

Sam Gold, A Doll’s House, Part 2
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Jitney
Bartlett Sher, Oslo
Daniel Sullivan, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Rebecca Taichman, Indecent

Best Direction of a Musical

Christopher Ashley, Come From Away
Rachel Chavkin, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen
Matthew Warchus, Groundhog Day The Musical
Jerry Zaks, Hello, Dolly!

Best Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler, Bandstand
Peter Darling and Ellen Kane, Groundhog Day The Musical
Kelly Devine, Come From Away
Denis Jones, Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical
Sam Pinkleton, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Best Orchestrations

Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen, Bandstand
Larry Hochman, Hello, Dolly!
Alex Lacamoire, Dear Evan Hansen
Dave Malloy, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

* * *

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

James Earl Jones

Special Tony Award

Gareth Fry & Pete Malkin, Sound Designers for The Encounter

Regional Theatre Tony Award

Dallas Theater Center

Dallas, TX

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award

Baayork Lee

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre

Nina Lannan

Alan Wasser

Tony Nominations by Production

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 – 1

Hello, Dolly! – 10

Dear Evan Hansen – 9

A Doll’s House, Part 2 – 8

Come From Away – 7

Groundhog Day The Musical – 7

Oslo – 7

August Wilson’s Jitney – 6

Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes – 6

Falsettos – 5

War Paint – 4

Indecent – 3

Present Laughter – 3

Sweat – 3

Anastasia – 2

Bandstand – 2

The Front Page – 2

John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation – 2

Miss Saigon – 2

Arthur Miller’s The Price – 1

The Glass Menagerie – 1

Heisenberg – 1

Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical – 1

The Play That Goes Wrong – 1

The Present – 1