The 27th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on March 25, 1973, at the Imperial Theatre in New York City, and broadcast by ABC television. Hosts were Rex Harrison, Celeste Holm and co-hosts were Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach.
Eligibility Shows that opened on Broadway during the 1972–1973 season before March 14, 1973 are eligible.
Original plays All the Girls Came Out to Play Butley The Changing Room The Creation of the World and Other Business Elizabeth I Enemies The Enemy is Dead An Evening With Richard Nixon and... Finishing Touches 42 Seconds from Broadway The Jockey Club Stakes The Last of Mrs. Lincoln Let Me Hear You Smile The Lincoln Mask Look Away No Sex Please, We're British Out Cry Promenade, All! Ring Round the Bathtub The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild 6 Rms Riv Vu Status Quo Vadis The Sunshine Boys That Championship Season Tough to Get Help Voices Warp!
Original musicals Ambassador Dear Oscar Different Times Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope Don't Play Us Cheap Dude From Israel with Love Hard Job Being God Heathen! Hurry, Harry Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris A Little Night Music Mother Earth Pacific Paradise Pippin Shelter Sugar That's Entertainment Tricks Via Galactica
Play revivals Captain Brassbound's Conversion The Crucible Don Juan The Great God Brown The Little Black Book Lysistrata Don Juan in Hell Medea The Merchant of Venice Mourning Becomes Electra Much Ado About Nothing The Plough and the Stars
Musical revivals Irene Lost in the Stars Man of La Mancha Purlie
The ceremony The ceremony opened with a song-and-dance medley performed by Gwen Verdon, Paula Kelly, Helen Gallagher and Donna McKechnie.O'Connor, John. "TV Review: Tony Awards Pleasant Enough on A.B.C.", The New York Times, March 27, 1973, p. 95
The theme was the global reach of Broadway. The "Wide World of Broadway" featured narrations by Rex Harrison, Walter Slezak, Rossano Brazzi, Yul Brynner and Peter Ustinov, who brought the viewers to: Vienna: West Side Story; Tokyo: The King and I; Milan: Ciao, Rudy; Paris: Hello, Dolly!; London: Show Boat; Zagreb, Yugoslavia: Man of La Mancha; and Wichita Falls, Texas: My Fair Lady.
Musicals represented: Pippin ("Magic To Do"- Ben Vereen and Company)
A new series of awards was started this year, termed "Theater Awards '73", renewable annually.Phillips, McCandlish. "'Championship Season' Wins Tony: 'Little Night Music' Best Show-Alan Bates Top Actor Julie Harris a Winner New Special Awards", The New York Times, March 26, 1973
This was the fourth time that Julie Harris won a Tony Award (and her sixth nomination); she won a total of five with a sixth for Lifetime Achievement."Julie Harris" Internet Broadway Database
Winners and nominees Winners are in bold
Best Play Best Musical That Championship Season – Jason Miller Butley – Simon Gray The Changing Room – David Storey The Sunshine Boys – Neil Simon | valign="top" | A Little Night Music Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope Pippin Sugar Best Book of a Musical Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre Hugh Wheeler – A Little Night Music Micki Grant – Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope Melvin Van Peebles – Don't Play Us Cheap Roger O. Hirson – Pippin A Little Night Music – Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope – Micki Grant (music and lyrics) Much Ado About Nothing – Peter Link (music) Pippin – Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) |- ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play |- | valign="top" | Alan Bates – Butley as Ben Butley Jack Albertson – The Sunshine Boys as Willie Clark Wilfrid Hyde-White – The Jockey Club Stakes as Marquis of Candover Paul Sorvino – That Championship Season as Phil Romano | valign="top" | Julie Harris – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Mary Todd Lincoln Jane Alexander – 6 Rms Riv Vu as Annie Miller Colleen Dewhurst – Mourning Becomes Electra as Christine Mannon Kathleen Widdoes – Much Ado About Nothing as Beatrice |- ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical |- | valign="top" | Ben Vereen – Pippin as The Leading Player Len Cariou – A Little Night Music as Frederick Egerman Robert Morse – Sugar as Jerry Brock Peters – Lost in the Stars as Stephen Kumalo | valign="top" | Glynis Johns – A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt Leland Palmer – Pippin as Fastrada Debbie Reynolds – Irene as Irene O'Dare Marcia Rodd – Shelter as Maud |- ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Supporting or Featured Actor in a Play ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play |- | valign="top" | John Lithgow – The Changing Room as Kenny Kendal Barnard Hughes – Much Ado About Nothing as Dogberry John McMartin – Don Juan as Sganarelle Hayward Morse – Butley as Joseph Keyston | valign="top" | Leora Dana – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Elizabeth Edwards Maya Angelou – Look Away as Elizabeth Keckley Katherine Helmond – The Great God Brown as Margaret Penelope Windust – Elizabeth I as Elizabeth the Player Queen |- ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Supporting or Featured Actor in a Musical ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Performance by a Supporting or Featured Actress in a Musical |- | valign="top" | George S. Irving – Irene as Madame Lucy Laurence Guittard – A Little Night Music as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm Avon Long – Don't Play Us Cheap as David Gilbert Price – Lost in the Stars as Absalom Kumalo | valign="top" | Patricia Elliott – A Little Night Music as Charlotte Malcolm Hermione Gingold – A Little Night Music as Madame Armfeldt Patsy Kelly – Irene as Mrs. O'Dare Irene Ryan – Pippin as Berthe |- ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Direction of a Play ! style="background:#C0C0C0;" ! style="width="50%" | Best Direction of a Musical |- | valign="top" | A.J. Antoon – That Championship Season A.J. Antoon – Much Ado About Nothing Alan Arkin – The Sunshine Boys Michael Rudman – The Changing Room Bob Fosse – Pippin Vinnette Carroll – Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope Gower Champion – Sugar Harold Prince – A Little Night Music Best Choreography Best Scenic Design Bob Fosse – Pippin Gower Champion – Sugar Peter Gennaro – Irene Donald Saddler – Much Ado About Nothing Tony Walton – Pippin Boris Aronson – A Little Night Music David Jenkins – The Changing Room Santo Loquasto – That Championship Season Best Costume Design Best Lighting Design Florence Klotz – A Little Night Music Theoni V. Aldredge – Much Ado About Nothing Miles White – Tricks Patricia Zipprodt – Pippin Jules Fisher – Pippin Martin Aronstein – Much Ado About Nothing Ian Calderon – That Championship Season Tharon Musser – A Little Night Music
Special awards These awards were given under the new title of "Theater Awards '73". John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City (construction of legitimate theaters) Actors' Fund of America (honored for 90 years of assistance to needy and elderly theater people) Shubert Organization (for nearly 75 years of activity as well as for the Shubert Foundation)
Multiple nominations and awards
These productions had multiple nominations:
12 nominations: A Little Night Music 11 nominations: Pippin 7 nominations: Much Ado About Nothing 5 nominations: That Championship Season 4 nominations: The Changing Room, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, Irene and Sugar 3 nominations: Butley and The Sunshine Boys 2 nominations: Don't Play Us Cheap, The Last of Mrs. Lincoln and Lost in the Stars
The following productions received multiple awards.
6 wins: A Little Night Music 5 wins: Pippin 2 wins: The Last of Mrs. Lincoln and That Championship Season
See also
45th Academy Awards References
External links Tony Awards Official Site