The Tony Awards Will Feature Stars of Stage and Screen Live from the Winter Garden Theatre September 26
By: Ellis Nassour
September 24, 2021: CBS and the American Theatre Wing’s 74th Tony Awards will feature a huge roster of stage and screen stars on Sunday in an entertainment-jammed live, four-hour event. The Awards and special The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! will telecast from Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre, soon to be the home of the much-anticipated revival of The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.
Catch the show on CBS and on demand at Paramount+.
The 74th Tonys will be presented live at 7 P.M., streaming exclusively on Paramount+. Tony, Grammy, and Emmy-winning Audra McDonald is hosting. .
Then, Academy Award nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. will host The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! from 9-11 P.M., live on CBS, bringing back the excitement of Broadway by celebrating the reopening of theatres after closures mandated by the Covid 19 virus. The joy and magic of live theatre will continue with performances from the three Tony-nominated Best Musical contenders: Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge!, and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. This will be followed by the presentation of Tonys for Best Play, Best Revival of a Play, and Best Musical.
Scheduled to appear are John Batiste, Stephanie J Block, Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Darren Criss, Robbie Fairchild, Beanie Feldstein, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jordan Fisher, Santino Fontana, Andrew Garfield, Jared Grimes, Josh Groban, Jennifer Holliday, Nikki M. James, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Norm Lewis, John Lithgow, Lindsay Mendez, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jennifer Nettles, Lynn Nottage, Adam Pascal, Bernadette Peters, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Andrew Rannells, Anthony Rapp, Anika Noni Rose, Lea Salonga, Ali Stroker, Courtney B. Vance, Daniel J. Watts and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Previously announced stars are: Annaleigh Ashford, Kristin Chenoweth, André De Shields, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christopher Jackson, Idina Menzel, Ruthie Ann Miles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bebe Neuwirth, Leslie Odom Jr., Kelli O’Hara, Ben Platt, Jeremy Pope, Chita Rivera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and BD Wong.
There”ll be performances by David Byrne and the cast of American Utopia; John Legend and the cast of Ain’t Too Proud; a reunion of cast members of Hairspray, including Marissa Jaret Winokur, Matthew Morrison, Kerry Butler, Chester Gregory and Darlene Love. The finale will be a spectacular number from Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of the returning Freestyle Love Supreme.
The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! is produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the Broadway League and American Theatre Wing, and White Cherry Entertainment, the team behind the annual Tonys. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers. Weiss is directing.
And the Nominees Are…
PLAY
Grand Horizons, Bess Wohl
The Inheritance, Matthew Lopez
Sea Wall/A Life, Simon Stephens and Nick Payne
Slave Play, Jeremy O. Harris
The Sound Inside, Adam Rapp
ACTOR, PLAY
Ian Barford, Linda Vista
Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea Wall/A Life
Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal
Tom Sturridge, Sea Wall/A Life
Blair Underwood, A Soldier’s Play
ACTRESS, PLAY
Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play
Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
Audra McDonald, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside
ACTOR, FEATURED ROLE, PLAY
Ato Blankson-Wood, Slave Play
James Cusati-Moyer, Slave Play
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance
ACTRESS, FEATURED ROLE, PLAY
Jane Alexander, Grand Horizons
Chalia La Tour, Slave Play
Annie McNamara, Slave Play
Lois Smith, The Inheritance
Cora Vander Broek, Linda Vista
DIRECTOR, PLAY
David Cromer, The Sound Inside
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Kenny Leon, A Soldier’s Play
Jamie Lloyd, Betrayal
Robert O’Hara, Slave Play
MUSICAL
Jagged Little Pill
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
ACTOR, MUSICAL
Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge!
ACTRESS, MUSICAL
Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge!
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
ACTOR, FEATURED ROLE, MUSICAL
Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge!
Derek Klena, Jagged Little Pill
Sean Allan Krill, Jagged Little Pill
Sahr Ngaujah, Moulin Rouge!
Daniel J. Watts, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
ACTRESS, FEATURED ROLE, MUSICAL
Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill
Celia Rose Gooding, Jagged Little Pill
Robyn Hurder, Moulin Rouge!
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
DIRECTOR, MUSICAL
Phyllida Lloyd, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Diane Paulus, Jagged Little Pill
Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge!
BOOK, MUSICAL
Jagged Little Pill, Diablo Cody
Moulin Rouge!, John Logan
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar, Kees Prins
The three nominated musicals do not have original scores as they are considered “juke box musicals.” Other musicals had just opened or were in early previews. However, not all members of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee of the American Theatre Wing and Broadway League, co-presenters of the Tonys, were able to attend by March 11 when theatre closures were mandated due to the pandemic. The Wing and League has chosen to drop the Original Score, Musical category.
ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN
FOR THE THEATRE
A Christmas Carol, Christopher Nightingale
The Inheritance, Paul Englishby
The Rose Tattoo, Fitz Patton
Slave Play, Lindsay Jones
The Sound Inside, Daniel Kluger
REVIVAL, PLAY
Betrayal, Harold Pinter
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Terrence McNally A Soldier’s Play, Charles Fuller
CHOREOGRAPHY
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Jagged Little Pill
Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge!
Anthony van Laast, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
ORCHESTRATIONS
Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill
Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine, and Justin Levine, Moulin Rouge!
Ethan Popp, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
SCENIC DESIGN, PLAY
Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
Soutra Gilmour, Betrayal
Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Derek McLane, A Soldier’s Play
Clint Ramos, Slave Play
SCENIC DESIGN, MUSICAL
Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, Jagged Little Pill
Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge!
Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
COSTUME DESIGN, PLAY
Dede Ayite, Slave Play
Dede Ayite, A Soldier’s Play
Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Clint Ramos, The Rose Tattoo
COSTUME DESIGN, MUSICAL
Emily Rebholz, Jagged Little Pill
Mark Thompson, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge!
LIGHTING DESIGN, PLAY
Jiyoun Chang, Slave Play
Jon Clark, The Inheritance
Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
Allen Lee Hughes, A Soldier’s Play
Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol
LIGHTING DESIGN, MUSICAL
Justin Townsend, Jagged Little Pill
Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge!
Bruno Poet, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
SOUND DESIGN, PLAY
Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid, The Inheritance
Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol
Lindsay Jones, Slave Play
Daniel Kluger, Sea Wall/A Life
Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside
SOUND DESIGN, MUSICAL
Jonathan Deans, Jagged Little Pill
Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Nevin Steinberg, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Click Here to see James Monroe Iglehart Announce the Tony Nominees
Jagged Little Pill – 15
Moulin Rouge! – 14
Slave Play – 12
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical – 12
The Inheritance – 11
A Soldier’s Play – 7
The Sound Inside – 6
A Christmas Carol – 5
Betrayal – 4
Sea Wall/A Life – 4
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune – 2
Grand Horizons – 2
Linda Vista – 2
The Rose Tattoo – 2
