| 76th Tony Awards | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Date | June 11, 2023 |
| Venue | United Palace |
| Hosted by | Ariana DeBose Skylar Astin andJulianne Hough (preshow) |
| Most wins | Kimberly Akimbo (5) |
| Most nominations | Some Like It Hot (13) |
| Website | tonyawards |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | CBS Pluto TV |
| Viewership | 4.3 million |
| Produced by | Ricky Kirshner Glenn Weiss |
| Directed by | Glenn Weiss |
The76th Tony Awards recognized the achievements inBroadway productions during the 2022–23 season. The ceremony was held at theUnited Palace inNew York City on June 11, 2023.Ariana DeBose served as the host for the second year in a row, withSkylar Astin andJulianne Hough co-hosting a pre-show onPluto TV prior to the main telecast onCBS.
The most-awarded production of this season was new musicalKimberly Akimbo, which won five awards, includingBest Musical.Leopoldstadt was the most-awarded play, winning four awards, includingBest Play.Some Like It Hot led the nominations, at 13. WithJ. Harrison Ghee andAlex Newell winning awards for their performances onSome Like It Hot andShucked, respectively, they became the first openlynon-binary performers to win a Tony.[1]
The ceremony was held amid the2023 Writers Guild of America strike; while the guilds denied a waiver to the Tony Awards' organizers, they agreed to notpicket the venue, and no scripted materials were included in the ceremony.
In January 2023,The Broadway League andAmerican Theatre Wing renewed its contract withRicky Kirshner andGlenn Weiss's White Cherry Entertainment to produce the ceremony.[2] On April 12, 2023, it was announced thatAriana DeBose would return as host for a second consecutive year.[3] On April 25, 2023, it was announced that the pre-showThe Tony Awards: Act One would move fromParamount+ to its sisterfree ad-supported streaming television (FAST) servicePluto TV, prior to the main presentation onCBS and streaming on Paramount+.[4]
Nominees were announced on May 2, 2023; the musicalSome Like It Hot was the most-nominated show of the season, whileA Doll's House,Ain't No Mo', andLeopoldstadt were tied for most nominated play.[5]
“I'm live and unscripted. You're welcome. So to anyone who may have thought that last year was a bit unhinged, to them, I say, ‘Darlings, buckle up.’”
—76th Tony Awards hostAriana DeBose during her opening monologue[1]
On May 2, 2023, theWriters Guild of America (WGA) went onstrike against theAlliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.[6] On May 12, the WGA denied the American Theatre Wing's request for a waiver to allow theCBS telecast, thereby placing the ceremony's broadcast in uncertainty.[7] (CBS, along with the other major broadcast networks, are represented by the AMPTP in collective bargaining.) The Tony Awards Management Committee held an emergency meeting on May 15 to discuss the future of the ceremony. The meeting, however, was unproductive, with sources saying the committee would make another effort to convince the WGA for a strike waiver.[8] The options were to either hold a non-televised press conference on the original date—akin to the response of the65th Golden Globe Awards to the2007–08 WGA strike—or to postpone the ceremony until the strike is resolved—similar to the74th Tony Awards, which were postponed by more than a year due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[9] The same day as the emergency meeting, the WGA still once again denied the waiver but announced they would not picket the event, and the broadcast was set to continue as planned.[10]
The Tonys ceremony ultimately went on unscripted. Before the show began, hostAriana DeBose revealed to the audience the only words that would appear on theteleprompter that night: "Please wrap up" (the advisory to award winners to close their acceptance speech). The broadcast's opening performance number began with DeBose paging through a script of blank pages before launching into a dance number that was backed by music but free of lyrics.[1]Lin-Manuel Miranda initially wrote an opening number for the awards, but it was not performed because of the strike.[11][12]
The Tony Awards eligibility cut-off date for the 2022–23 season was April 27, 2023, for all Broadway productions which meet all other eligibility requirements.[13]
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The nominees for the 76th Tony Awards were announced on May 2, 2023 byLea Michele andMyles Frost.[14][15][16] The year's nominations included several non-binary performers, withJ. Harrison Ghee (forSome Like It Hot) andAlex Newell (forShucked) becoming the first twonon-binary performers to be nominated for performances in the same year and ultimately winning in their respective categories,[17] while others, such as Justin David Sullivan (from& Juliet), opted out of Tony consideration due to their gendered categories, urging awards shows to "expand their reach".[18] On their nomination forBest Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, Newell noted the genderless nature of the term "actor", hence their decision to be included for Tony consideration.[19]
The musicalSome Like It Hot led the nominations, with 13 nominations,[20] whileAin't No Mo' andLeopoldstadt tied for the most nominations for a play, each receiving six.[21]
Winners for each award are listed first and highlighted inboldface type.[22]
‡ The award is presented to the producer(s) of the musical or play.
| Names | Accolade |
|---|---|
| Jerry Mitchell | Isabelle Stevenson Award[23] |
| Jason Zembuch Young from South Plantation High School | Excellence in Theatre Education Award[24] |
| Joel Grey | Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement[25] |
| John Kander | Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement[26] |
| Pasadena Playhouse | Regional Theatre Tony Award[27] |
| Individual | Nominations | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Jordan E. Cooper | 2 | 0 |
| Natasha Katz | 1 | |
| LaChanze | 2 | |
| David Lindsay-Abaire | ||
| Casey Nicholaw | 1 | |
| Scott Pask | 0 | |
| Ben Ringham | ||
| Max Ringham | ||
| Emilio Sosa | ||
| Jennifer Weber |
Act One:
| Names | Notes |
|---|---|
| Kelly Coffey, CEO of City National Bank | presentedRegional Theatre Tony Award toPasadena Playhouse |
| Lin-Manuel Miranda | presentedSpecial Tony Award toJohn Kander |
| Denée Benton | presented Excellence in Theatre Education Award |
| Annaleigh Ashford | presentedIsabelle Stevenson Award toJerry Mitchell |
| Jennifer Grey | presentedSpecial Tony Award toJoel Grey |
Main Show:
| Names | Notes |
|---|---|
| Dominique Fishback andLily Rabe | presentedBest Featured Actor in a Play |
| Wayne Brady and Marcel Spears | presentedBest Featured Actress in a Musical |
| Lupita Nyong'o | presentedBest Direction of a Play |
| Colman Domingo andLea Michele | presentedBest Direction of a Musical |
| David Henry Hwang andKenny Leon | presentedBest Featured Actress in a Play |
| Uzo Aduba andCommon | presentedBest Revival of a Play |
| Tatiana Maslany andWilson Cruz | presentedBest Featured Actor in a Musical |
| Denée Benton | presented Excellence in Theatre Education Award |
| Julianne Hough andSkylar Astin | presentedBest Book of a Musical |
| Kelli O'Hara | presentedBest Revival of a Musical |
| Stephanie Hsu andLuke Evans | presentedBest Actor in a Musical |
| Marcia Gay Harden andUtkarsh Ambudkar | presentedBest Actress in a Play |
| LaTanya Richardson Jackson andSamuel L. Jackson | presentedBest Play |
| Barry Manilow andMelissa Etheridge | presentedBest Actress in a Musical |
| Matthew Broderick andNathan Lane | presentedBest Actor in a Play |
| Ariana DeBose | presentedBest Musical |
Performances
The following shows and performers performed on the ceremony's telecast:[28]
| Names | Song |
|---|---|
| New York, New York | "Cheering for Me Now" / "Theme fromNew York, New York" |
| Camelot | "C'est Moi" / "The Lusty Month of May" / "If Ever I Would Leave You" / "Camelot (Reprise)" |
| & Juliet | "Roar" |
| Some Like It Hot | "Some Like It Hot" |
| Into the Woods | "It Takes Two" |
| Ariana DeBose andJulianne Hough | "Hot Honey Rag" |
| Parade | "This Is Not Over Yet" |
| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" |
| A Beautiful Noise | "Sweet Caroline" |
| Joaquina Kalukango | "Wishing You Were Here Somehow Here Again" (In Memoriam) |
| Kimberly Akimbo | "Anagram" |
| Shucked | "Corn" / "Independently Owned" / "Somebody Will" / "Woman of the World" |
| Funny Girl | "Don't Rain On My Parade" – |
Many reviewers gave praise to the event for its ability to persist and make an entertaining show in spite of the fallout from the WGA strike. Neal Justin of theStar Tribune gave praise to DeBose's performance in the show and also added that "theater lovers may no longer be able to see that chandelier drop at the Majestic Theater in New York, but the Tonys ceremony on Sunday evening proved there was still plenty of reasons for viewers to make the trip East."[29] Charles McNulty of theLos Angeles Times applauded the recognition to writers made throughout the event and stated that without pre-written scripts, "theater people were allowed to be theater people." McNulty also gave praise to the event for its social justice messaging.[30] Writing forThe Washington Post,Peter Marks described the show as "akin to a kitchen accidentally creating a great dish by leaving out a classic ingredient," and echoed similar statements by McNulty, adding that the show demonstrated to actors, audiences, and writers to "let theater be theater."[31] Daniel Fienberg ofThe Hollywood Reporter described the show as a much-needed victory for Broadway theater.[32]
Though the show was generally praised, some criticized the unscripted show; Johnny Oleksinski of theNew York Post dismissed the unscripted joint as "sleepy," and "cringeworthy," adding that the show lacked any of the typical banter and skits due to lack of written lines.[33] Matthew Huff ofParade, though generally complimentary of the show, criticized the awkward transitions that resulted from going unscripted.[34]
During the airing of the event, viewers onParamount+ complained that instead of seeing the 76th Tony Awards, they instead were shown footage of theprevious years' Tony Awards. It was later revealed that this was due to confusion over Paramount+ subscription levels; the 76th Tony Awards were only available to premium users, leaving those who weren't only with the 75th. The distinction was not made in any of the Tony Awards' press release, resulting in viewers and news outlets being unaware of that the 2023 version was a premium only service. Further confusion ensued as DeBose hosted both the 2022 and 2023 events.[35]
The 76th Tony Awards accumulated 4.3 million viewers, earning it the title as the most viewed Tony Awards since2019. According to CBS, based on data from Paramount+, the show was also the most live streamed show ever, with a 13% streaming increase compared to 2022. Act one became the most watched live event inPluto TV's history.[36] The increase was notable in a time when general viewership for live U.S. television events has been declining while theSuper Bowl,Oscars andGrammys were streaking in annual ratings rebound since the previous year. While the 76th Tony Awards was the third least viewed Tony Awards show since records began, it is so far the largest viewership for the Tony Awards since itsswitch to live coast-to-coast U.S. telecasts the year prior, and marked the first time the Tony Awards experienced consecutive years of ratings increase since the63rd Tony Awards in 2009.[37]
ActorJoaquina Kalukango performed "Wishing You Were Here Somehow Here Again" From The MusicalThe Phantom of the Opera.
