Tony Awards 2019 offer a refreshing way to celebrate the best of theatre
Audiences are settling in to watch the best entertainment of Tony Awards 2019 – from unique and dark-themed performances, to the unpredictable winners’ speeches.
REUTERS/Gary Hershorn
By Clare Cavanagh | Jun 5, 2019
The theatre industry is buzzing with anticipation for the 73rd Tony Awards 2019, this Sunday, June 9th. The awards will be hosted by James Corden, a previous Tony Award winner himself, at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Established in 1947 by the American Theatre Wing, the name was given to honor actress-producer Antoinette Perry. The event recognizes excellence in musicals and plays staged on Broadway (Broadway broke box-office records reaching nearly $2billion in total revenue this year). The nominations in all categories, including acting performances, direction, production, design composition and other distinguished accomplishments, include some surprising choices within the industry.
This year, huge film and TV actors, such as Laurie Metcalf, Adam Driver, Jeff Daniels, Annette Bening, Ruth Wilson and Bryan Cranston, return to the stage – and it’s not the first time.
Actor Ray Fearon once said, “Theatre is the actor’s medium, it’s the place you want to come back to.” This has proven true for many acting stars, some of whom prefer engaging in live entertainment in New York to long days of filming on the east coast. It also invokes the personal love of the theatre and the joyful memories of being in the audience way before they themselves took to the stage.
It’s been an interesting year with the traditional choices of all-American stories and moveable blockbuster musicals being cast aside in favour of new and experimental versions of theatre. And, people are already predicting who will win the big prize on Sunday.
Broadcasters have observed that it has been difficult to predict who will win, especially with some previous front-runners overlooked in the nomination process. Unique performances this year have included dark themes and overwhelming creative sets, which will provide additional entertainment on the night.
Tony Awards will also pay tribute to Pride Month this year and Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is leading the red carpet design:
This was an extraordinary, risk-taking year for Broadway,” she says. “Everywhere you looked, fearless politics, inclusive casting, subversive storytelling and radically reimagined classics were dominating the New York stages. I’ve rarely been as excited and challenged at the theater as I was this year.
CBS is hosting the event and will be sharing conversations in the run up to the event on their podcast ‘CBS This Morning’ and stream songs from the Tony-nominated Best Musicals.
The event will be broadcast on four continents and highlights will be captured through @TheTonyAwards on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.