Flying vampires, vogueing cats, a sweet transvestite and a Celine Dion send-up. Also: flashes of the past, via the singing missionaries of \u201cThe Book of Mormon,\u201d the publicity-seeking jailbirds of \u201cChicago\u201d and the striving hoofers of \u201cA Chorus Line.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Broadway season that just ended was sparser than many, especially on the musical front. But the producers of the 79th annual awards ceremony are hoping to turn that scarcity into an opportunity, packing the three-hour broadcast with nostalgia alongside newness.<\/p>\n
The televised portion of the ceremony, hosted by the pop star Pink, begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, broadcast on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. There\u2019s also a preshow segment, streaming on Pluto TV (a free service) beginning at 6:35 p.m. Eastern, at which awards for some of the design and other categories will be handed out.<\/p>\n
My colleague Melena Ryzik spent time with Pink last week, and told me that Pink has been getting advice from some of her famous pals, like Neil Patrick Harris, the Tony-winning actor and a four-time host of the show, as well as the comedic performers Amber Ruffin and Kerri Kenney-Silver.<\/p>\n
Her opening number, choreographed by Sarah O\u2019Gleby and written by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Mark Sonnenblick, will feature over 170 Broadway performers.<\/p>\n
Pink will host the Tonys.Credit…Paul R. Giunta\/Invision, via Associated Press<\/p>\n
Pink promises to do some of her signature acrobatics \u2014 though not as much as in her own arena performances. (Radio City Music Hall, the venue for the show, is not built for it, she said.) Mostly, she just wants to be funny.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of this was on my bingo card,\u201d she told Ryzik. \u201cAnd I\u2019m here for it; I\u2019m committed, I\u2019m all in. I just want to be a part of the celebration. I\u2019m glad I get to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The preshow ceremony will be hosted by the actors Laura Benanti and Tituss Burgess.<\/p>\n
During the telecast, there will be moments noting big anniversaries for four very-well known and historically important shows: \u201cChicago\u201d and \u201cA Chorus Line\u201d<\/a> (both 50), \u201cRent\u201d (30) and \u201cThe Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a> (15). Queen Latifah will be featured in the \u201cChicago\u201d tribute; Rachel Zegler will honor \u201cA Chorus Line\u201d; and Leslie Odom Jr. will sing a song from \u201cRent\u201d during the In Memoriam segment. For \u201cThe Book of Mormon,\u201d the stars of the original cast will reunite.<\/p>\n There are lots of competitive awards categories. Particularly close: best musical revival, with voters split between two very different contenders: \u201cRagtime<\/a>,\u201d an epic show about America\u2019s promise and perils, and \u201cCats: The Jellicle Ball<\/a>,\u201d a radically reconceived take on the now-and-forever musical.<\/p>\n Nichelle Lewis and Joshua Henry in \u201cRagtime.\u201dCredit…Sara Krulwich\/The New York TimesBryson Battle, left, and Junior LaBeija in \u201cCats: The Jellicle Ball.\u201dCredit…Sara Krulwich\/The New York Times<\/p>\n Other close contests include best actor in a play, where John Lithgow and Nathan Lane are leading the pack, and best play revival, where \u201cDeath of a Salesman<\/a>\u201d appears to have an advantage over \u201cOedipus<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The race for best new musical \u2014 traditionally the one with the most box office impact \u2014 features four contenders: \u201cThe Lost Boys<\/a>,\u201d a teen vampire musical with a pop rock score, based on the 1987 movie; \u201cSchmigadoon!<\/a>,\u201d a comedy about a couple trapped in a village whose residents sing, dance and generally behave like characters from Golden Age musicals; \u201cTitan\u00edque<\/a>,\u201d a spoof of \u201cTitanic,\u201d but with Celine Dion as one of the characters; and \u201cTwo Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)<\/a>,\u201d a charming rom-com. My annual voter survey<\/a> suggests that \u201cSchmigadoon!\u201d is likely to win, but an upset is always possible.<\/p>\n In the best play category, \u201cLiberation<\/a>,\u201d a Pulitzer-winning drama about a 1970s women\u2019s consciousness-raising group, looks likely to win over \u201cGiant<\/a>,\u201d about an antisemitism controversy confronting the children\u2019s author Roald Dahl; \u201cThe Balusters<\/a>,\u201d about a fractious neighborhood association; and \u201cLittle Bear Ridge Road<\/a>,\u201d about two lost souls in rural Idaho.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Flying vampires, vogueing cats, a sweet transvestite and a Celine Dion send-up. Also: flashes of the past, via…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,905,85128,100681],"class_list":["post-258533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-theater","tag-theater-broadway","tag-tony-awards-theater-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}