Tony Telecasts

The 41st Annual Tony Awards were held June 6, 1987 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre with Angela Lansbury hosting for her third time. Heading into the ceremony, Me and My Girl and Les Miserables were neck in neck leading the pack for most nominations (with 13 and 12, respectively.) Behind them were Starlight Express with seven nominations and Rags with five. Although the category is titled “Best Revival of a Play or a Musical,” this season there were no musicals nominated.

The 1986-87 season was smack-dab in the middle of a volatile time, but not particularly bombastic itself. We found ourselves in the middle of President Ronald Reagan’s second term, with both the Cold War, the War on Drugs, and the AIDS epidemic raging. (Interestingly enough, a week after this telecast is when Reagan makes his famous speech in Berlin where he asks Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”) Also, this season occurred during the end of the Iran-Contra affair -- a political scandal that embroiled the country for about a year and a half, where the Reagan administration was found to be bartering arms for seven US hostages in the middle east...gotta love a quid pro quo…

On Broadway, the British invasion was HERE. With three out of four of the Best Musical nominees being British imports, Cats alive and well at the Winter Garden, and Phantom opening in the West End and waiting in the wings for their Broadway house, it seemed like Cameron Mackintosh, the RSC, and all their contemporaries were taking over the Great White Way.

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The 41st Annual Tony Awards were held June 6, 1987 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre with Angela Lansbury hosting for her third time. Heading into the ceremony, Me and My Girl and Les Miserables were neck in neck leading the pack for most nominations (with 13 and 12, respectively.) Behind them were Starlight Express with seven nominations and Rags with five. Although the category is titled “Best Revival of a Play or a Musical,” this season there were no musicals nominated.

The 1986-87 season was smack-dab in the middle of a volatile time, but not particularly bombastic itself. We found ourselves in the middle of President Ronald Reagan’s second term, with both the Cold War, the War on Drugs, and the AIDS epidemic raging. (Interestingly enough, a week after this telecast is when Reagan makes his famous speech in Berlin where he asks Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”) Also, this season occurred during the end of the Iran-Contra affair -- a political scandal that embroiled the country for about a year and a half, where the Reagan administration was found to be bartering arms for seven US hostages in the middle east...gotta love a quid pro quo…

On Broadway, the British invasion was HERE. With three out of four of the Best Musical nominees being British imports, Cats alive and well at the Winter Garden, and Phantom opening in the West End and waiting in the wings for their Broadway house, it seemed like Cameron Mackintosh, the RSC, and all their contemporaries were taking over the Great White Way.

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The 30th Annual Tony Awards were held at the Shubert Theatre, current home of A Chorus Line. As opposed to the usual June ceremonies we are used to, the ceremony took place in April 18, 1976 and broadcast by ABC television. The show featured six hosts, including Richard Burton and Jane Fonda It should be noted that while revivals of My Fair Lady and Hello, Dolly! (featuring Pearl Bailey) ran this season, there was no category for Best Revival or Best Revival of a Musical.

Heading into the April ceremony, the original productions of A Chorus Line and Chicago were virtually tied for nominations, with 12 and 11 respectively. Also nominated for Best Musical were Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures and a revue called Bubbling Brown Sugar. But the night went to A Chorus Line, winning 9 Awards, The awards for Set and Costume Designer going to Pacific Overtures and Chicago going home empty handed.

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The 30th Annual Tony Awards were held at the Shubert Theatre, current home of A Chorus Line. As opposed to the usual June ceremonies we are used to, the ceremony took place in April 18, 1976 and broadcast by ABC television. The show featured six hosts, including Richard Burton and Jane Fonda It should be noted that while revivals of My Fair Lady and Hello, Dolly! (featuring Pearl Bailey) ran this season, there was no category for Best Revival or Best Revival of a Musical.

Heading into the April ceremony, the original productions of A Chorus Line and Chicago were virtually tied for nominations, with 12 and 11 respectively. Also nominated for Best Musical were Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures and a revue called Bubbling Brown Sugar. But the night went to A Chorus Line, winning 9 Awards, The awards for Set and Costume Designer going to Pacific Overtures and Chicago going home empty handed.

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The 58th Annual Tony Awards were held June 6, 2004 at Radio City Music Hall with Hugh Jackman as the host, also a nominee this year for portraying fellow Aussie Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. Leading the pack this year was Ozian juggernaut Wicked with 10 nominations, followed by six for Avenue Q, five for The Boy From Oz and six for Caroline, or Change. In a rare year where four productions were nominated for Best Revival of a Musical, a Roundabout Theatre Company production of Assassins led with seven, followed by six for Fiddler on the Roof, five for Wonderful Town and two for Big River. 

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The 58th Annual Tony Awards were held June 6, 2004 at Radio City Music Hall with Hugh Jackman as the host, also a nominee this year for portraying fellow Aussie Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. Leading the pack this year was Ozian juggernaut Wicked with 10 nominations, followed by six for Avenue Q, five for The Boy From Oz and six for Caroline, or Change. In a rare year where four productions were nominated for Best Revival of a Musical, a Roundabout Theatre Company production of Assassins led with seven, followed by six for Fiddler on the Roof, five for Wonderful Town and two for Big River. 

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The 36th Annual Tony Awards were held on June 6, 1982 and hosted by Tony Randall. That season, there were a number of Broadway theatres being demolished to make way for the Marriott Marquis, so the theme of the telecast was to celebrate a great Broadway theatre at the home of that night’s celebration: the Imperial. Going into the Awards ceremony, Dreamgirls led the pack with 13 nominations, followed closely by 12 nominations for Nine. The original production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was nominated for seven awards, while the fourth contender, Pump Boys and Dinettes was nominated for just one. Only one musical was nominated for Best Revival, a Rex Harrison-led production of My Fair Lady.

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The 63rd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 7, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall and hosted for the first time by Neil Patrick Harris. Heading into the ceremony, Billy Elliot the Musical led the pack with 15 nominations, followed by 11 for Next to Normal and 8 for Shrek The Musical. The Public Theatre revival of Hair led the revivals, also with 8 nominations. Also in the running for Best Musical and Best Musical Revival were Rock of Ages, Guys and Dolls, Pal Joey and West Side Story.

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The 63rd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 7, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall and hosted for the first time by Neil Patrick Harris. Heading into the ceremony, Billy Elliot the Musical led the pack with 15 nominations, followed by 11 for Next to Normal and 8 for Shrek The Musical. The Public Theatre revival of Hair led the revivals, also with 8 nominations. Also in the running for Best Musical and Best Musical Revival were Rock of Ages, Guys and Dolls, Pal Joey and West Side Story.

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The 42nd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 5, 1998 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre and hosted by Angela Lansbury, at that time a four-time Tony Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical. Heading into the ceremony there were three shows tied for the most nominations: Into the Woods, The Phantom of the Opera and the Patti LuPone-helmed Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes. The season’s other two nominated new musicals, Romance/Romance and Sarafina! Both had five nominations. Also in the pack for Best Revival is a Joel Grey-led revival of Cabaret.

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