Fooxtel Arts channel will broadcast Broadway’s ultimate night of nights the 70th Annual Tony Awards live and exclusive from the Beacon Theatre in New York City, next week.
Marking 70 years of excellence on Broadway, The Tony Awards honour theatre professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway and has been broadcast on CBS since 1978. For the first time, Tony Award winner James Corden of CBS’s “The Late Late Show” will host the Awards. Corden won a Tony Award in 2012 for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in One Man, Two Guvnors.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be hosting the Tony awards. Both times I’ve worked on Broadway have been amongst the happiest times of my professional life. I consider it a huge honour to be asked to host such an incredible night. It’s gonna be fun, I can’t wait to dust off my tap shoes!” said Corden.
Broadway’s biggest night will feature appearances by Oprah Winfrey, Cate Blanchett, Tony Nominees Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Carole King, Audra McDonald, Saoirse Ronan, Patina Miller and Nathan Lane, among others.
Returning to the Tony Awards stage for the first time since 1970, the legendary Barbra Streisand will present at the 2016 Tony Awards. While Streisand hasn’t appeared on the Tony Awards since 1970, Broadway has never left her. Streisand next releases “ENCORE: Movie Partners Sing Broadway,” her third and long-awaited Broadway album, later in 2016. Streisand’s “The Broadway Album” and “Back to Broadway” released in 1985 and 1993, respectfully, both went multi-platinum.
Receiving a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations is the musical Hamilton, alongside Bright Star with five nominations, School of Rock-The Musical with four nominations and Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed with ten nominations.
Mr. Miranda’s show about the Founding Father has taken down the musicals Billy Elliot and The Producers for the record of most Tony nominations received, with the two shows each having 15 nods.
For the category of best actor in a leading role in a play, Mark Strong (A View From the Bridge), Tim Pigott-Smith (King Charles III), Frank Langella (The Father), Jeff Daniels (Blackbird), and Gabriel Byrne (Long Day’s Journey Into Night) are nominated.
Jessica Lange (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), Laurie Metcalf (Misery), Lupita Nyong’o (Eclipsed), Sophie Okonedo (The Crucible), and Michelle Williams (Blackbird) are nominated for best actress in a leading role in a play. In addition to Ms. Soo, She Loves Me actress Laura Benanti is nominated for best actress in a leading role in a musical, as is Bright Star actress Carmen Cusack, The Color Purple actress Cynthia Erivo, and Waitress actress Jessie Mueller.
School of Rock actor Alex Brightman, Fiddler on the Roof actor Danny Burstein, and She Loves Me actor Zachary Levi are nominated for best actor in a leading role in a musical, alongside Miranda and Mr. Odom Jr. Hamilton’s strong presence continues in the category of best actor in a featured role in a musical, with actors Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson, andDaveed Diggs receiving nods for their work in Hamilton. Shuffle Along actor Brandon Victor Dixon and Waitress actorChristopher Fitzgerald also received nominations.
Contenders for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical are Adrienne Warren for Shuffle Along, Disaster! actress Jennifer Simard, Jane Krakowski for She Loves Me, Danielle Brooks for The Color Purple, and Renée Elise Goldsberry for Hamilton.
The actors who are nominated for best featured actor in a play are Reed Birney for The Humans, Bill Camp for The Crucible, David Furr for Noises Off, Richard Goulding for King Charles III, and Michael Shannon for Long Day’s Journey Into Night. The actresses nominated for best featured actress in a play are Pascale Armand for Eclipsed, Megan Hilty for Noises Off, Jayne Houdyshell for The Humans, Andrea Martin for Noises Off, and Saycon Sengbloh for Eclipsed.
The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre, on the CBS television network and broadcast exclusively in Australia on Foxtel Arts channel.
The 70th Annual Tony Awards live via satellite and only on Foxtel Arts, Monday, June 13 from 10am AEST. With a special encore Screening At 8.30pm AEST.
