The 69th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall will be hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming Sunday night and will be televised on CBS 6.
Facts: The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League.
Only productions staged in designated Broadway theatres are eligible for nominations.
The musical that holds the record for most Tony Awards is “The Producers,” in 2001. It won 12 awards out of 15 nominations.
Producer/director Harold “Hal” Prince has won the most Tony Awards overall (21).
Actress Audra McDonald has won the most Tony awards as a performer (six).
The Tonys are named after Antoinette Perry, a Broadway actress and director who died in 1946.
Her charitable work with the American Theatre Wing during WWII inspired the Broadway community to create an award in her honor.
American Theatre Wing became famous for the “Stage Door Canteens,” in which GIs could drop in and be entertained by famous Hollywood and Broadway stars.
Timeline: April 6, 1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.
2015 Tony Award Nominees: Best Play “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” “Disgraced” “Hand to God” “Wolf Hall Parts One & Two”
Best Musical “An American in Paris” “Fun Home” “Something Rotten!” “The Visit”
Best Revival of a Play “The Elephant Man” “Skylight “This Is Our Youth” “You Can’t Take It with You”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play Steven Boyer – “Hand to God” Bradley Cooper – “The Elephant Man” Ben Miles – “Wolf Hall Parts One & Two” Bill Nighy – “Skylight” Alex Sharp – “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Geneva Carr – “Hand to God” Helen Mirren – “The Audience” Elisabeth Moss – “The Heidi Chronicles” Carey Mulligan – “Skylight” Ruth Wilson – “Constellations”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical Michael Cerveris – “Fun Home” Robert Fairchild – “An American in Paris” Brian d’Arcy James – “Something Rotten!” Ken Watanabe – “The King and I” Tony Yazbeck – “On the Town”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Kristin Chenoweth – “On the Twentieth Century” Leanne Cope – An American in Paris” Beth Malone – “Fun Home” Kelli O’Hara – “The King and I” Chita Rivera – “The Visit”
