CBS presents “The 77th Annual Tony Awards,” which will broadcast live from The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City on Sunday, June 16, 2024.
The Tony Awards eligibility cut-off date for the 2023-2024 season is Thursday, April 25, 2024 for all Broadway productions which meet all eligibility requirements. Nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards will be announced on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
The 77th celebration will recognize all of the award categories and honor the incredible artistry of the 2023-2024 season. The Tony Awards is presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
The Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards, which was founded by the American Theatre Wing in 1947, are bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway. The Tony is one of the most coveted awards in the entertainment industry and the annual telecast – the night America watches Broadway – is considered one of the most prestigious programs on television. The Tony Awards have aired on CBS since 1978.
The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, and White Cherry Entertainment. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will serve as director.
Follow @TheTonyAwards on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook.
About the Tony Awards
The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. At The Broadway League, Lauren Reid is Chair and Charlotte St. Martin is President. At the American Theatre Wing, Emilio Sosa is Chair and Heather A. Hitchens is President & CEO.
Sponsors for The Tony Awards include: Carnegie Mellon University - the first-ever, exclusive higher education partner; City National Bank - the official bank of The Tony Awards; Playbill; Rainbow Room - the official partner of the Tony Nominee Luncheon; Sofitel New York - the official hotel of The Tony Awards; United Airlines - the official airline of The Tony Awards for over 20 years; Zacapa Rum - the official partner of the Tony Awards; Baccarat - the official partner of the Tony Awards; and Ketel One Vodka - the official partner of the Tony Awards.
About the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Designed by the renowned architect Philip Johnson especially for George Balanchine and New York City Ballet, the David H. Koch Theater, originally named the New York State Theater, opened in 1964, and was the second major venue to open at Lincoln Center. Home of New York City Ballet and host to performances by artists from across the globe, the David H. Koch Theater is considered one of the world’s greatest performing arts venues.
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Eight Decade Career: Broadway Legend Gone!
Chita Rivera was a ten-time Tony Award nominee and a three-time Tony Award recipient, including one for Lifetime Achievement. She won Tonys for The Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Rink. She originated the iconic role of Velma in Chicago.
She was a genuine trailblazer -- the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, she also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her autobiography, Chita: A Memoir, was just published last year. Chita Rivera has died at 91, ending a career that spanned every decade from the 1950s into the 2020s.
In 1957, a then-25-year-old dancer named Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero landed her big break originating the role of Anita in West Side Story on Broadway. She then went on to recreate the role for the movies and then starred again in a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's most recent remake of West Side Story.
Her list of Broadway triumphs is nothing less than illustrious: Call Me Madam, Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Mr. Wonderful, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie (where she created the role of Rosie opposite Dick Van Dyke), Jerry's Girls, Chicago, The Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink, The Visit, Nine, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, among others.
She frequently appeared on numerous television variety shows, dramas and TV sitcoms and she remained active even as a nonagenarian.
Chita Rivera was simply an astonishing force of nature. She was born to perform and give joy to millions and she delighted in it with every breath she took. More than an indefatigable pro, she was a generous performer who shared the spotlight with others and mentored additional generations that followed her.
If you ever saw her perform live (and we have) you know that she had an inner glow that captured and enraptured every member of the audience!
Adiós, Chita. You will never be replaced!
Sunday, January 7, 2024
On Broadway: Five We've Liked Recently
Time to Catch Up with some Broadway shows. Here are five that we've enjoyed recently:
Purlie Victorious. This is unquestionably one of the funniest shows on Broadway right now and Leslie Odom, Jr's performance is an absolute tour de force.
And while the show may be billed as a comedy (subtitled "a non confederate romp through the cotton patch") it's also poignant, instructive, heartfelt and insightful. Directed by Kenny Leon, it's a revival of a 1961 Ossie Davis play about Purlie Victorious Judson, a Black self-made traveling preacher. Purlie decides to return to his segregated Georgia hometown with a mission to buy and rehab its derelict church, Big Bethel. And that's where all the action begins because this is a tall order as the church, like the town, is in the grip of racist tyrant Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee.
This is a fast-paced show superbly directed with first-rate actors whose timing alone will leave you breathless. You'll have to listen closely (until your ears become attuned to it) as Purlie is performed mostly in Black southern dialect and runs 100 minutes with no intermission. But it's all worth it as you'll be enjoying a true diamond in the rough and a rare gem of the American theater. Look for this one to cop a lot of awards at Tony time including best revival of a play.
Here We Are. This is about as different from the four others we're spotlighting as you can possibly imagine. In fact, it's not like any show on Broadway right now and, technically it's not on Broadway proper as it's being performed at The Shed at Hudson Yards. This is Stephen Sondheim's final musical inspired by the films of the noted French director Luis Bunuel.
Starring Bobby Cannvale, Steven Pasquale, Tracie Bennett, David Hyde Pierce, Jin Ha, Amber Gray and others, this is truly an ensemble effort directed by Joe Mantello with orchestrations by Sondheim vet Jonathan Tunick and music supervision by Alexander Gemignani, son of the great Sondheim conductor Paul Genignani. Clearly, this whole show is done in homage to The Master himself, the great composer/lyricist whose career spanned eight decades.
Here We Are is an existential musical. In fact, parts of it may as well have been written by the father of existentialism, the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre because the show touches upon the very meaning of life itself, or lack thereof. But, the show is also about where one should dine on a given afternoon or evening, the pageantry of Catholicism, the wasteful indulgence of the bourgeoisie, capitalist greed, the drug culture, the seemingly ominous times we live in and the irrepressible optimism of youth.
And since this is a Sondheim show (with a book by David Ives) it's provocative, topical, piercingly funny and often conflicted. Some of it will remind you of Company; some of it will remind you of A Little Night Music and some of it may even remind you of Merrily We Roll Along (now playing on Broadway to packed houses). But, in the end it's all new (if still somewhat unfinished) and worth seeing simply for itself.
Harmony. - If ever a musical was relevant to the here and now it's the new show Harmony, with music by the great Barry Manilow and book and lyrics by Bruce Sussman. (Video above)
And isn't it a shame that this musical reverberates today more than ever, since it's about the antisemitic persecution of the Comedian Harmonists, an ensemble of six young men in 1920s Germany. This is the true story of a group that took the world by storm with their blend of sophisticated close harmonies and uproarious stage antics. It's something that Manilow says he's been wanting to bring to the stage for decades. Standouts in the cast include the amazing Chip Zien who is bound to cop a Tony nomination as the star/narrator of the whole production and two women who become involved with the Hamonists, Julie Benko and Sierra Boggess.
This is a Big Story to tell set against epic, historic events but the show must also focus on the real, everyday human struggles of these six guys. As you might expect, the tale is harrowing at times but it helps that the book is full of heart (coupled with regret and reflection) as the story is told in remembered flashbacks. Though the show can be boisterous and preachy in parts it is often redeemed by beautiful music and lyrics in songs such as Where You Go and Every Single Day, one of the finest ballads you'll hear on a Broadway stage right now. The singing in this show (both individual and ensemble) will blow you away!
Ain't Too Proud. - Here's another show about a singing group -- and one that also encountered discrimination. Ain't Too Proud concerns itself with the life and times of the legendary Temptations, the R&B sensations who helped put Motown on the map. In this show you'll meet not just The Temptations but also The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Tammi Terrell and the mastermind behind the Motown Sound, Berry Gordy.
As in Harmony, the story is narrated via reminiscences by the singing group's founder, in this case Otis Williams, portrayed by Michael Andreaus in the performance we attended. Again, the voices here are all first rate even in the touring company which is journeying throughout the country. And, oh those synchronized, carefully calibrated movements that accompanied the singing! The Temptations (and many other Motown groups) didn't so much dance as they moved in unison and always impeccably attired. It's explained that this became their calling card so that Black people could take pride in and emulate them while white folk could be reassured by their clean cut appearance and precise performance. In this manner, they shattered racial barriers and gave rise to "crossover" success on the Billboard charts and beyond.
In Ain't Too Proud you'll be treated to more than 30 tunes by The Temptations and other groups and learn the anguished story of a group that struggled but endured. In fact, from 1960 to the present day, more than 25 guys have composed the five members of The Temptations. It's an epic story that's not always easy to squeeze into two plus stage hours but it's guaranteed first-rate entertainment. (Video below)
Shucked. It isn't often these days that a show comes to Broadway with an original story and original music and lyrics -- not the musicalization of a book or a movie or a previously produced play. No, we're talking something completely original. And that's exactly what Shucked is -- a show which was in development for many years and was finally brought to Broadway where it was always meant to be.
We saw a recent performance and absolutely loved it! Featuring a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie), a score by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and directed by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray), this corn-fed, corn-bred American musical says it's "sure to satisfy your appetite for great musical theater." And it must be doing something right because it's enjoying a successful run at the Nederlander Theater (through January 21) and will soon be touring throughout the country.
Shucked is about a small town that depends totally on its vibrant corn crop -- until the crop, mysteriously, stops producing the town's lifeblood. What happened and why? And how does Shucked get it mojo back? Well, that's what this corn huskin' tale is all about.
Yeah, Shucked is corny. But it's also clever, surprising, timely and laugh out loud funny. You'll have to listen closely because the one-liners (even in the songs) come at you faster that a road runner. If you saw the scene from Shucked on the recently televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade you know what we're talking about. And Alex Newell totally brings the house down when she sings the defiant, tuneful "Independently Owned." In fact, all of the members of the young, exuberant Shucked cast are wonderful.
And here's the thing we loved most about this show -- Shucked is not overly impressed with itself. It doesn't pretend to be delving into the meaning of life. It doesn't try to be slick or sophisticated. It aims for down home authenticity, and it succeeds. But please don't get the idea that Shucked is dim witted -- far from it! The production values are first rate and this show provides a good dose of social commentary while managing to nonetheless serve it all up with a plenty of heart.
Be sure to get tickets when it some to a city near you!
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