The American Theatre Wing’s 72nd Annual Tony Awards, with hosts Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles, will broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on CBS tonight, Sunday, June 10, 2018 from 8:00 to 11:00 PM, Eastern Time. Here’s a preview guide..
How to Watch
Why Watch
Scheduled Performances
Scheduled Presenters
What to Look For
Nominations and Special Awards
How To Watch
You can of course buy a ticket to the Tony Awards ceremony t and attend the ceremony in person at Radio City Music Hall. But The Tony Awards have been televised since 1956; this year it will be broadcast on four continents. Check local listings. In England, for example, Elaine Paige will serve as host on BBC Radio 2.
In the United States, the broadcast will air on CBS from 8 to 11 p.m.
You can also watch it online on CBS All Access or on your subscription live streaming TV service (such as YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV)
You can watch the Red Carpet arrivals and interviews on Spectrum NY1 online, or the CBS Facebook Live page.starting at 5 p.m.
The “creative arts awards” will be handed out before the broadcast or during the commercial breaks. You can watch them online on this page at TonyAwards.com
And then of course you can also follow along on your Twitter feed, best probably as a supplementary source.
There are, for the more gregarious New York theater lovers, innumerable Tony Watch Parties, for example, at Joe’s Pub with the Skivvies, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Cafe, at Umami Burger at the Hudson Hotel, at a fundraiser at Jack Doyle’s Pub — or you can create your own Tony viewing party (which doesn’t have to be as elaborate as these ideas from Pinterest.)
Why Watch
If you haven’t seen the plays or musicals up for awards, you might ask, what’s the point?
A goodly number of theatergoers apparently asked that question last year, when the Tony Awards broadcast attracted six million viewers, a drop of nearly a third from the year before (when Hamilton excitement boosted the ratings to a 15-year high.)
A big answer is you get to see performances from ten shows currently on Broadway, including Bruce Springsteen.
A bigger answer is that it’s fun once a year to feel part of a national community of theatergoers (enhanced via your Twitter feed.) Remember the opening number “Bigger” in 2013 written by Tom Kitt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and sung by Neil Patrick Harris?
“There’s a kid in the middle of nowhere sitting there, living for Tony performances singin’ and flippin’ along with the Pippins and Wickeds and Kinkys, Matildas and Mormonses.
So we might reassure that kid and do something to spur that kid.
Cause I promise you all of us up here tonight.
We were that kid…”
(There is a special reason this year: Scroll to the bottom for winner of the 2018 Excellence in Theatre Education Award)
Scheduled Performances
The Band’s Visit, Carousel, Frozen, Mean Girls, My Fair Lady, Once On This Island, SpongeBob SquarePants and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Also, the Tonys will feature a special performance from the 2017 Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen.
AND…Bruce Springsteen will perform live – reportedly around 10:45 p.m. , right before Bernadette Peters presents the award for Best Musical. (Notice there is no mention of any scenes from the straight plays.)
Hosts Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles will open the telecast with a new song sending up the season and its raft of shows based on movies and cartoons. Cast members from all the nominated musicals will join them.
Scheduled Presenters
The evening will feature appearances by: Uzo Aduba, Christine Baranski, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Melissa Benoist, Erich Bergen, Rachel Bloom, Matt Bomer, Rachel Brosnahan, Tituss Burgess, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Robert De Niro, Brandon Victor Dixon, James Monroe Iglehart, Christopher Jackson, Billy Joel, Patti LuPone, Tatiana Maslany, Katharine McPhee, Matthew Morrison, Carey Mulligan, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kelli O’Hara, Jim Parsons, Bernadette Peters, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Mimi Sommer, Amanda Sudano, Brooklyn Sudano, Ming-Na Wen, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Kerry Washington; Tony Nominees Tina Fey, John Leguizamo and Amy Schumer as well as Tony Award Lifetime Achievement recipients Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera.
What to Look For
The wealth was spread out this year in the nominations: Mean Girls and SpongeBob each received 12 Tony nominations; Angels in America, The Band’s Visit and Carousel all received 11 nominations; Harry Potter and My Fair Lady received 10. Will any of these shows wind up dominating?
How much effect will the Me Too movement have – in the selection of awards, and in the speeches?
Will the straight (non-musical) plays receive the short-shrift they usually do? (This seems likely, especially since only one of the Best Play nominees is still running. )
Tony Nominations
Below is the list of Tony nominations in the 26 competitive categories, plus the non-competitive Tonys being awarded this year.
(For a rundown on which nominees I feel SHOULD win, plus links to my reviews, click here)
Best Play
The Children
Farinelli and The King
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Junk
Latin History for Morons
Best Musical
The Band’s Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical
Best Revival of a Musical
My Fair Lady
Once On This Island
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Best Revival of a Play
Angels in America
Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Lobby Hero
Travesties
Best Book of a Musical
The Band’s Visit, Itamar Moses
Frozen, Jennifer Lee
Mean Girls, Tina Fey
SpongeBob SquarePants, Kyle Jarrow
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Angels in America, Music: Adrian Sutton
The Band’s Visit, Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
Frozen, Music & Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Mean Girls
Music: Jeff Richmond
Lyrics: Nell Benjamin
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani & Lil’C
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
Tom Hollander, Travesties
Jamie Parker, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Mark Rylance, Farinelli and The King
Denzel Washington, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Glenda Jackson, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God
Amy Schumer, Meteor Shower
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady
Joshua Henry, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Tony Shalhoub, The Band’s Visit
Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady
Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band’s Visit
Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls
Jessie Mueller, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Michael Cera, Lobby Hero
Brian Tyree Henry, Lobby Hero
Nathan Lane, Angels in America
David Morse, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Susan Brown, Angels in America
Noma Dumezweni, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Deborah Findlay, The Children
Denise Gough, Angels in America
Laurie Metcalf, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady
Alexander Gemignani, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Grey Henson, Mean Girls
Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Ari’el Stachel, The Band’s Visit
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Renée Fleming, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Lindsay Mendez, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Santo Loquasto, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Dane Laffrey, Once On This Island
Scott Pask, The Band’s Visit
Scott Pask, Finn Ross & Adam Young, Mean Girls
Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Ann Roth, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Paule Constable, Angels in America
Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Paul Russell, Farinelli and The King
Ben Stanton, Junk
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island
Donald Holder, My Fair Lady
Brian MacDevitt, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Tyler Micoleau, The Band’s Visit
Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, Travesties
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Angels in America
Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Tom Gibbons, 1984
Dan Moses Schreier, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, The Band’s Visit
Peter Hylenski, Once On This Island
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Brian Ronan, Mean Girls
Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott, Angels in America
Joe Mantello, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Patrick Marber, Travesties
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
George C. Wolfe, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Once On This Island
David Cromer, The Band’s Visit
Tina Landau, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Bartlett Sher, My Fair Lady
Best Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, My Fair Lady
Christopher Gattelli, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Steven Hoggett, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Justin Peck, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Best Orchestrations
John Clancy, Mean Girls
Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Annmarie Milazzo & Michael Starobin, Once On This Island
Jamshied Sharifi, The Band’s Visit
Jonathan Tunick, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories
Special Tonys
John Leguizamo and Bruce Springsteen
The Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre
photographer Sara Krulwich, costume beader Bessie Nelson, and Broadway dry cleaning service Ernest Winzer Cleaners.
2018 Regional Tony Award
LaMama Experimental Theatre Company
The Isabelle Stevenson Award
Nick Scandalios, Executive Vice President of the Nederlander Organization.
The Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Chita Rivera and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
2018 Excellence in Theatre Education Award
Melody Herzfeld of Parkland, Florida, a drama teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“On February 14th, when the unthinkable happened at Stoneman Douglas, Herzfeld and 65 of her students hid in her office for two hours until authorities led them to safety. From this event many of her students felt a call to action speaking out and using their voices. Others took to theatre and music as a way to express how the experience affected them. Under her guidance, just one week after the horrific events, her students performed an original song titled, “Shine,” at the CNN Town Hall, giving the whole nation a feeling of hope. “
