The 74th Tony Awards were held on September 26, 2021, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2019–20 season. After being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the ceremony was held at the Winter Garden Theatre and was broadcast in two separate parts on CBS and Paramount+. Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr. served as hosts.
The musical Jagged Little Pill led the nominations with 15, while the play with the most nominations was Slave Play, with 12. At the ceremony, Moulin Rouge! won ten awards, including Best Musical, becoming the production with the most wins of the season. The Old Vic production of A Christmas Carol won five awards, and The Inheritance won four, including Best Play. At 90 years old, Lois Smith became the oldest performer to win a Tony Award for acting, receiving the award for Featured Actress in a Play.
Background Originally scheduled to be held on June 7, 2020, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and televised by CBS, the ceremony was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nominations were originally scheduled to be announced on April 28, 2020. Various receptions were scheduled to be held, including the Meet the Nominees Press reception (April 30) and Tony Nominees luncheon (May 19). At the Tony Honors reception, the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre award was to be presented. On March 25, 2020, it was announced that the ceremony and all associated events had been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. New York had ordered the closure of all Broadway theatres on March 12 due to restrictions on gatherings. The ceremony's broadcaster CBS aired a sing-along version of the film adaptation of Grease on the Tony Awards' originally-scheduled night.
On August 21, 2020, it was announced that the ceremony would be held virtually later in the year, with further details to be announced at a later date. No subsequent date in the year was ever set. The nominations were announced on October 15, 2020, by James Monroe Iglehart. Voting for the Tony Awards was held from March 1–15, 2021, and the ceremony was announced to be held in conjunction with the reopening of Broadway. Jagged Little Pill led the nominations with fifteen, and Slave Plays twelve nominations broke the record for most nominations for a non-musical play (11) set by Angels in America at the 2018 ceremony.
Ceremony information On May 26, 2021, it was announced that the ceremony would be held on September 26 of that year in a format that differed from previous years. Paramount+ first streamed a two-hour ceremony at 7:00 p.m. ET with presentations of the awards for individual categories. CBS then aired a two-hour primetime special, The Tony Awards Present: Broadway's Back!, presented as a concert to "celebrate the joy and magic of live theatre". The special included performances of "beloved classics" and the three Best Musical nominees, and the presentation of the awards for Best Musical, Best Revival of a Play, and Best Play. On September 13, Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr. were announced as hosts of the Tony Awards ceremony and Broadway's Back! special respectively.
In explaining the decision to split the ceremony between two platforms, producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss said that allowed for a four-hour ceremony in total, as opposed to the typical three-hour limit imposed on a television-exclusive broadcast. Kirshner said that this also gave the chance to air complete acceptance speeches for winners in all categories, saying "In the past, a lot of these awards have been in a pre-show where they got a 10 second blurb on the air. Now they get their full award on the air."
Performances
Tony Awards
"You Can't Stop the Beat" (from Hairspray) – Marissa Jaret Winokur, Matthew Morrison, Kerry Butler, Chester Gregory & Darlene Love "What I Did for Love" (from A Chorus Line) – Ali Stroker "Anyone Can Whistle" (from the musical of the same name) – Jennifer Nettles "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (from Dreamgirls) – Jennifer Holliday
Broadway's Back!
Source: "Broadway's Back Tonight!" (opening number) – Leslie Odom Jr. "Burning Down the House" – American Utopia "My Girl" / "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" – John Legend and the cast of Ain't Too Proud "Lady Marmalade" / "Because We Can" – Moulin Rouge! Broadway Advocacy Coalition "Move On" (from Sunday in the Park with George) – Ben Platt & Anika Noni Rose "Ironic" / "All I Really Want" – Jagged Little Pill "Beautiful City" (from Godspell) – Josh Groban & Odom "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" (from Man of La Mancha) – Brian Stokes Mitchell "Somewhere" (from West Side Story) – Norm Lewis & Kelli O'Hara "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" / "The Best" / "Proud Mary" – Tina "It Takes Two" (from Into the Woods) – Tituss Burgess & Andrew Rannells "You Matter to Me" (from Waitress) – Odom & Nicolette Robinson "For Good" (from Wicked) – Kristin Chenoweth & Idina Menzel "What You Own" (from Rent) – Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp "Wheels of a Dream" (from Ragtime) – Audra McDonald & Mitchell Freestyle Love Supreme
Eligibility The official eligibility cut-off date for Broadway productions opening in the 2019–20 season was originally to have been April 23, 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic cutting the 2019–20 theatre season short, on August 21, 2020, it was announced that only the 18 shows that opened before February 19, 2020, would be considered eligible. A revival of West Side Story that opened February 20, 2020 and the new musical Girl from the North Country, which opened March 5, 2020, were thus not considered eligible because too few nominators and voters saw them before Broadway shut down on March 12, 2020. This meant that for the first time since 1993, there was no award for Best Revival of a Musical given out, as there were no eligible productions. Girl From the North Country was nominated the following year.
Original Plays A Christmas Carol Grand Horizons The Great Society The Height of the Storm The Inheritance Linda Vista My Name Is Lucy Barton Sea Wall/A Life Slave Play The Sound Inside
Original Musicals Jagged Little Pill The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical Moulin Rouge! Tina
Play Revivals Betrayal Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune The Rose Tattoo A Soldier's Play
Non-competitive awards Special Tony Awards were given to the following: The Broadway Advocacy Coalition David Byrne's American Utopia Freestyle Love Supreme
The award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre was given to Graciela Daniele. Julie Halston received the Isabelle Stevenson Award.
Winners and nominees Winners are listed first, and are highlighted in boldface: Best Play ‡ Best Musical ‡ The Inheritance – Matthew LópezGrand Horizons – Bess Wohl Sea Wall/A Life – Simon Stephens and Nick Payne Slave Play – Jeremy O. Harris The Sound Inside – Adam Rapp |valign="top" | Moulin Rouge! Jagged Little Pill TinaBest Revival of a Play ‡Best Book of a MusicalA Soldier's Play Betrayal Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de LuneDiablo Cody – Jagged Little Pill John Logan – Moulin Rouge! Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar, and Kees Prins – TinaBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a PlayAndrew Burnap – The Inheritance as Toby Darling Ian Barford – Linda Vista as Wheeler Jake Gyllenhaal – Sea Wall/A Life as Abe Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal as Robert Tom Sturridge – Sea Wall/A Life as Alex Blair Underwood – A Soldier's Play as Captain Richard DavenportMary-Louise Parker – The Sound Inside as Bella Joaquina Kalukango – Slave Play as Kaneisha Laura Linney – My Name Is Lucy Barton as Lucy Barton Audra McDonald – Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune as FrankieBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a MusicalAaron Tveit – Moulin Rouge! as ChristianAdrienne Warren – Tina as Tina Turner Karen Olivo – Moulin Rouge! as Satine Elizabeth Stanley – Jagged Little Pill as Mary Jane "M.J." HealyBest Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a PlayDavid Alan Grier – A Soldier's Play as Sergeant Vernon C. Waters Ato Blankson-Wood – Slave Play as Gary James Cusati-Moyer – Slave Play as Dustin John Benjamin Hickey – The Inheritance as Henry Wilcox Paul Hilton – The Inheritance as Morgan/Walter PooleLois Smith – The Inheritance as Margaret Jane Alexander – Grand Horizons as Nancy Chalia La Tour – Slave Play as Teá Annie McNamara – Slave Play as Alana Cora Vander Broek – Linda Vista as JulesBest Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalDanny Burstein – Moulin Rouge! as Harold Zidler Derek Klena – Jagged Little Pill as Nicholas "Nick" Healy Sean Allan Krill – Jagged Little Pill as Steve Healy Sahr Ngaujah – Moulin Rouge! as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Daniel J. Watts – Tina as Ike TurnerLauren Patten – Jagged Little Pill as Joanne "Jo" Taylor Kathryn Gallagher – Jagged Little Pill as Bella Fox Celia Rose Gooding – Jagged Little Pill as Mary Frances "Frankie" Healy Robyn Hurder – Moulin Rouge! as Nini Myra Lucretia Taylor – Tina as Gran GeorgeannaBest Direction of a PlayBest Direction of a MusicalStephen Daldry – The Inheritance David Cromer – The Sound Inside Kenny Leon – A Soldier's Play Jamie Lloyd – Betrayal Robert O'Hara – Slave PlayAlex Timbers – Moulin Rouge! Phyllida Lloyd – Tina Diane Paulus – Jagged Little PillBest Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics Written for the Theatre)Best ChoreographyChristopher Nightingale (music) – A Christmas Carol Paul Englishby (music) – The Inheritance Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb (music) – The Rose Tattoo Lindsay Jones (music) – Slave Play Daniel Kluger (music) – The Sound InsideSonya Tayeh – Moulin Rouge! Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – Jagged Little Pill Anthony Van Laast – TinaBest Scenic Design in a PlayBest Scenic Design in a MusicalRob Howell – A Christmas Carol Bob Crowley – The Inheritance Soutra Gilmour – Betrayal Derek McLane – A Soldier's Play Clint Ramos – Slave PlayDerek McLane – Moulin Rouge! Riccardo Hernández and Lucy MacKinnon – Jagged Little Pill Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg – TinaBest Costume Design in a PlayBest Costume Design in a MusicalRob Howell – A Christmas Carol Dede Ayite – Slave Play Dede Ayite – A Soldier's Play Bob Crowley – The Inheritance Clint Ramos – The Rose TattooCatherine Zuber – Moulin Rouge! Emily Rebholz – Jagged Little Pill Mark Thompson – TinaBest Lighting Design in a PlayBest Lighting Design in a MusicalHugh Vanstone – A Christmas Carol Jiyoun Chang – Slave Play Jon Clark – The Inheritance Heather Gilbert – The Sound Inside Allen Lee Hughes – A Soldier's PlayJustin Townsend – Moulin Rouge! Bruno Poet – Tina Justin Townsend – Jagged Little PillBest Sound Design of a PlayBest Sound Design of a MusicalSimon Baker – A Christmas Carol Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid – The Inheritance Lindsay Jones – Slave Play Daniel Kluger – Sea Wall/A Life Daniel Kluger – The Sound InsidePeter Hylenski – Moulin Rouge! Jonathan Deans – Jagged Little Pill Nevin Steinberg – TinaBest OrchestrationsKatie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine – Moulin Rouge! Tom Kitt – Jagged Little Pill Ethan Popp – Tina
‡ The award is presented to the producer(s) of the musical or play.
Productions with multiple nominations and awards
+ Productions with multiple nominations Nominations Production 15 Jagged Little Pill 14 Moulin Rouge! 12 Slave Play Tina 11 The Inheritance 7 A Soldier's Play 6 The Sound Inside 5 A Christmas Carol 4 Betrayal Sea Wall/A Life 2 Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune Grand Horizons Linda Vista The Rose Tattoo
+ Productions with multiple wins Awards Production 10 Moulin Rouge! 5 A Christmas Carol 4 The Inheritance 2 Jagged Little Pill A Soldier's Play
Reception Critical reviews