The 75th Tony Awards: Here’s What to Expect
The Tony Awards, which honor plays and musicals performed on Broadway, will take place this year on Sunday, June 12, with a four-hour ceremony that begins on a streaming service and continues with a television broadcast.
The evening is the first Tony Awards ceremony to recognize shows that opened after the long shutdown of theaters brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The theater season was extraordinarily challenging, with ongoing Covid disruptions and fewer tourists than normal, and the ceremony is expected to highlight Broadway’s perseverance.
The nominators spread out their admiration quite widely: Of the 34 eligible shows, 29 got at least one nod, including the critically scorned “Diana.”
Here’s what to look out for on Sunday night:
How Do I Watch?
The main event, at Radio City Music Hall, starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time and is to be hosted by Ariana DeBose; it will be both broadcast on CBS and available to stream on Paramount+.
The broadcast show will be preceded by a one-hour segment, hosted by Darren Criss and Julianne Hough, that will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time and be viewable only on Paramount+. That hour is expected to include the announcement of many of the design and writing awards, as well as some performances.
The 2022 Tony Awards
This year’s awards, the first to recognize shows that opened after a long Broadway shutdown during the pandemic, will be given out on June 12.
- Hosting Duties: Ariana DeBose, who will host the ceremony, vows that this edition will celebrate the often unsung actors who have stepped in during the pandemic.
- Ruth Negga: The actress, who is nominated for her role as Lady Macbeth in Sam Gold’s staging of the play, infuses the character with intensity, urgency and vitality.
- Hugh Jackman: The actor may potentially win his third Tony Award for his role in “The Music Man.” He shared some thoughts on his life between film and theater.
- Choreography: Musicals like “MJ” and “Paradise Square” take on dances of the past but miss some opportunities to elevate the dancing; “For Colored Girls” effectively weaves language and motion.
There will also be a red carpet earlier in the evening; New Yorkers with Spectrum cable can watch coverage of the red carpet starting at 6 p.m. on NY1.
What Should I Expect?
The broadcast will feature performances from all six shows nominated for best new musical — “Girl From the North Country,” “MJ,” “Mr. Saturday Night,” “Paradise Square,” “Six: The Musical” and “A Strange Loop” — as well as from two of the three shows nominated for best musical revival, “Company” and “The Music Man.” And, of course, many awards will be bestowed.
Some of the presenters include Chita Rivera, Cynthia Erivo, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Silverman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bebe Neuwirth. Paris Jackson and Prince Jackson, two of Michael Jackson’s children, are expected to spotlight “MJ,” a jukebox musical about their father that is nominated for 10 awards, including best new musical and best book of a musical.
Among the other expected highlights: a tribute to the composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who died in November; a 15th anniversary reunion of the cast of “Spring Awakening”; and a lifetime achievement award for Angela Lansbury.
What Are Some of the Key Races?
Best new play: This Tony Award seems certain to go to “The Lehman Trilogy,” a riveting history lesson that chronicles the rise and fall of the Lehman Brothers financial empire. Two dark comedies are also in the running: “Clyde’s,” by Lynn Nottage, is set in a sandwich shop employing recently incarcerated individuals; and “Hangmen,” by Martin McDonagh, takes place at a bar run by Britain’s second-best executioner just after that country banned capital punishment. The other contenders are “Skeleton Crew,” Dominique Morisseau’s play about a group of workers at an automotive plant facing shutdown, and “The Minutes,” Tracy Letts’s look at the dark secrets kept by a small-town governing body.
Tony Awards: The Best New Musical Nominees
The 2022 nominees. The race for best new musical at the Tony Awards — traditionally the most financially beneficial prize — is a broad six-way contest this year. Here’s a closer look at each nominee:
“Girl From the North Country.” This musical combines the songs of Bob Dylan with a fictional story about a crowded boardinghouse during the Great Depression in the Minnesota city where Dylan was born.
“MJ.” This biographical jukebox musical follows Michael Jackson as he prepares for a world tour, but it sidesteps the sexual abuse allegations against the pop star.
“Mr. Saturday Night.” Based on a 1992 movie, this musical features Billy Crystal returning to the role of Buddy Young Jr., a has-been comic who is hungering for a comeback and reconnecting with family.
“Paradise Square.” In a show that explores shifting race relations, the love between Black and Irish New Yorkers in a Manhattan bar is threatened during the Civil War draft riots of 1863.
“Six: The Musical.” This British pop musical about the wives of Henry VIII mixes 16th-century marital politics with 21st-century selfies and shade in a sing-off among six sassy divas.
“A Strange Loop.” In this Pulitzer Prize-winning meta musical, a Black queer man who works as an usher on Broadway battles his demons and doubts while trying to write his own show.
Best new musical: The season’s most nominated show, “A Strange Loop,” is favored to win the all-important race for best new musical. The show, a meta-musical about an aspiring composer confronting his doubts and demons, scored 11 Tony nominations. If there is an upset here, it will most likely come from “MJ,” the biographical jukebox musical that follows Michael Jackson as he prepares for a world tour. Also in the mix: “Paradise Square,” which explores shifting race relations — and dance styles — in a Civil War-rocked New York City neighborhood; “Six,” a British pop musical about the wives of King Henry VIII; “Girl From the North Country,” which uses the songs of Bob Dylan to imagine life in a Depression-era Minnesota boardinghouse; and “Mr. Saturday Night,” Billy Crystal’s adaptation of the film with the same name.
Acting races: A number of well-known performers also scored nominations, including Sam Rockwell (“American Buffalo”), Mary-Louise Parker (“How I Learned to Drive”), Billy Crystal “Mr. Saturday Night), Hugh Jackman (“The Music Man”), Uzo Aduba (“Clyde’s), Rachel Dratch (“POTUS”), Phylicia Rashad (“Skeleton Crew”), Ruth Negga (“Macbeth”) and Patti LuPone (“Company”).
The races for best leading musical performers are especially contentious. Voters appear to be evenly split between two young actors, Myles Frost, 22, and Jaquel Spivey, 23, each of whom is making his professional stage debut this season. Frost is nominated for his convincing depiction of a driven Michael Jackson in “MJ,” and Spivey is nominated for his soul-baring performance as the self-doubting protagonist in “A Strange Loop.”
In the race for lead actress in a musical, the voters seem to be torn between Sharon D Clarke, who played the pained but powerful maid at the heart of a revival of “Caroline, or Change,” and Joaquina Kalukango, who plays a determined tavern owner in the new musical “Paradise Square.”
