The 2023 Tony Awards are airing live Sunday, June 11, on CBS and Paramount+. Here’s what you need to know: Full list of winners | How to watch the ceremony | Best musical nominees, ranked | Why the audience deserves a Tony “I am live and unscripted, you’re welcome,” said Tonys host Ariana DeBose from the stage Sunday night. “So to anyone who may have thought that last year was a bit unhinged to them, I say darlings: buckle up.
” Because of the ongoing Writer’s Guild of America strike , there won’t be an opening number by Lin-Manuel Miranda — or any pre-written witty banter by Ariana DeBose, who also hosted the ceremony last year — but the 76th Tony Awards will air live from United Palace in New York on Sunday. As the first major awards show to be affected by the Hollywood strike, the ceremony was briefly canceled last month, only to be revived after a group of prominent playwrights — including Jeremy O. Harris and Tony Kushner — lobbied the WGA alongside the Tony Awards Management Committee for a waiver to proceed.
The Tonys are broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+, both companies that the WGA is striking against. But members of the guild have agreed not to picket as long as the show does not feature any scripted bits or commentary. Miranda is not a member of the WGA, but ceased writing his highly anticipated number for the Tonys in solidarity with striking writers.
Many of the playwrights with work being honored at the Tonys are also WGA members who shore up their livelihoods by writing for film and TV, and that crossover led to the possibility that the Tonys could suffer collateral damage from the strike. As did the fact that this year’s Tonys are notably diverse, with two gender nonconforming actors favored to win awards, five nominated plays and play revivals by Black writers, and four Black nominees for best actor in a play. Broadway — and theater at large — is still suffering fallout from the devastating COVID closures enacted during the height of the pandemic.
Ticket sales and attendance have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, and many critically acclaimed shows still lose money. The Tonys, which air early in nominated shows’ Broadway runs, shine a spotlight on winners and can boost interest and buzz vital to survival . Without a script, the show is expected to rely heavily on the song-and-dance numbers from nominated shows including “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Some Like it Hot.
” DeBose showed her support in her introductory remarks, and winners will likely make a point of expressing their solidarity with the WGA. “Our siblings, who are the WGA, are currently on strike in pursuit of a fair deal,” she said. “Sure, award shows are traditionally written by members of the WGA.
So in order for this show to go on, a whole host of people had to come together in order to find a compromise, and we are all here. So to every single person who had a hand in finding that compromise, I say a full throated thank you. .
. I am unscripted, as well as every presenter who comes on this stage tonight. We’re just making it up as we go along.
And that’s cool. Again, it’s a blessing to be here. ” — Jessica Gelt Producing artistic director Danny Feldman accepted the Regional Theatre Tony Award for Pasadena Playhouse on Sunday in one of the most remarkable turnarounds for an American theater.
“We are proud of Pasadena Playhouse to be one of the oldest not-for-profit regional theaters in the country,” Feldman said from the United Palace stage. “Our regional theaters in America, they are at the heart of the American theater. I’m willing to bet that the majority of folks here in this room and watching at home, the majority of us all had formative experiences at regional theaters.
And right now our theaters need us more than ever, so that they are here for the next generation. ” In 2010, the Playhouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . When Feldman took over the reins in 2016 , the theater was once again in a state of financial peril, with only enough cash to operate a month at a time.
How did he bring the official State Theatre of California back from the brink? By grounding it in the local community, prioritizing artistic excellence and refusing to underestimate the intelligence and his discernment of his audience. Instead of caving to box office fears, Feldman made a commitment to theater as a public forum, a gathering place for collective reflection and a showcase for virtuosity. The Playhouse launched one of its most ambitious initiatives this year, a 6 six-month long Sondheim Celebration that paid tribute to the late Broadway legend through a series of productions, concerts and community offerings.
The lineup included deluxe revivals of “Sunday in the Park With George” and “A Little Night Music” that allowed Angelenos to experience Sondheim with full orchestras and diverse casts that made the greatness of this artist seem at once exalted and accessible. Feldman has shown that nonprofit theaters can still dream big even when the headwinds are formidable, especially right now. “We need everyone to support, to buy tickets, to become subscribers and members to donate to our theater’s artists here in this room,” Feldman said while accepting the Tony.
“Go back and do a show at a regional theater. This is a formative, important time. ” “We share this award with our entire beloved Los Angeles theater community,” Feldman added in his speech.
“We love you. ” — Charles McNulty The ceremony has two chances to make history with the first openly non-binary actors to win a Tony Award. Alex Newell, nominated in the category of supporting actor in a musical, is featured in “Shucked,” a pop-country comedy set in a small town whose crop of corn has mysteriously gone awry.
They play Lulu, a local whiskey distiller who encourages their naive cousin to seek help outside their rural roots, but is then suspicious of the Floridian urbanite who claims he can fix everything. J. Harrison Ghee, nominated in the category of lead actor in a musical, stars in the tap-filled adaptation of “Some Like It Hot,” the 1959 hit comedy in which two musicians, after witnessing a murder, attempt to escape town as members of an all-female swing band touring the country.
They play Jerry, who initially adopts the name Daphne as a disguise, but comes to embrace a sense of self that touches on both identities. — Ashley Lee The innovative puppetry in “Life of Pi” was snubbed in the costume design category, after winning multiple awards for its design when running in the U. K.
Thankfully, it still won the awards for scenic design and lighting design — and rightfully so. Those hyperreal projections? The changing configurations of that lifeboat? The mechanism that makes that show-stopping storm moment possible? (You’ll know what we mean after you see the show. ) — Ashley Lee.
From: latimes
URL: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-06-11/tony-awards-2023-live-updates
