The 76th Tony Awards recognized the achievements in Broadway productions during the 2022–23 season. The ceremony was held at the United Palace in New York City on June 11, 2023. Ariana DeBose served as the host for the second year in a row, with Skylar Astin and Julianne Hough co-hosting a pre-show on Pluto TV prior to the main telecast on CBS.
The most-awarded production of this season was new musical Kimberly Akimbo, which won five awards, including Best Musical. Leopoldstadt was the most-awarded play, winning four awards, including Best Play. Some Like It Hot led the nominations, at 13. With J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell winning awards for their performances on Some Like It Hot and Shucked, respectively, they became the first openly non-binary performers to win a Tony."Tony Awards telecast makes inclusive history and puts on quite a show despite Hollywood strike," from Associated Press, 6/12/2023
The ceremony was held amid the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike; while the guilds denied a waiver to the Tony Awards' organizers, they agreed to not picket the venue, and no scripted materials were included in the ceremony.
Ceremony information In January 2023, The Broadway League and American Theatre Wing renewed its contract with Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss's White Cherry Entertainment to produce the ceremony. On April 12, 2023, it was announced that Ariana DeBose would return as host for a second consecutive year. On April 25, 2023, it was announced that the pre-show The Tony Awards: Act One would move from Paramount+ to its sister free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service Pluto TV, prior to the main presentation on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Nominees were announced on May 2, 2023; the musical Some Like It Hot was the most-nominated show of the season, while A Doll's House, Ain't No Mo', and Leopoldstadt were tied for most nominated play.
Impact of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike
On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. On May 12, the WGA denied the American Theatre Wing's request for a waiver to allow the CBS telecast, thereby placing the ceremony's broadcast in uncertainty. (CBS, along with the other major broadcast networks, are represented by the AMPTP in collective bargaining.) The Tony Awards Management Committee held an emergency meeting on May 15 to discuss the future of the ceremony. The meeting, however, was unproductive, with sources saying the committee would make another effort to convince the WGA for a strike waiver. The options were to either hold a non-televised press conference on the original date—akin to the response of the 65th Golden Globe Awards to the 2007–08 WGA strike—or to postpone the ceremony until the strike is resolved—similar to the 74th Tony Awards, which were postponed by more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The same day as the emergency meeting, the WGA still once again denied the waiver but announced they would not picket the event, and the broadcast was set to continue as planned.
The Tonys ceremony ultimately went on unscripted. Before the show began, host Ariana DeBose revealed to the audience the only words that would appear on the teleprompter that night: "Please wrap up" (the advisory to award winners to close their acceptance speech). The broadcast's opening performance number began with DeBose paging through a script of blank pages before launching into a dance number that was backed by music but free of lyrics. Lin-Manuel Miranda initially wrote an opening number for the awards, but it was not performed because of the strike.
Eligibility The Tony Awards eligibility cut-off date for the 2022–23 season was April 27, 2023, for all Broadway productions which meet all other eligibility requirements.
Original plays Ain't No Mo' Between Riverside and Crazy A Christmas Carol The Collaboration Cost of Living Fat Ham Good Night, Oscar The Kite Runner Leopoldstadt Life of Pi Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool Peter Pan Goes Wrong Pictures from Home Prima Facie Summer, 1976 The Thanksgiving Play Walking with Ghosts
Original musicals & Juliet Almost Famous Bad Cinderella A Beautiful Noise Kimberly Akimbo KPOP New York, New York Shucked Some Like It Hot
Play revivals A Doll's House Death of a Salesman Ohio State Murders The Piano Lesson The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window Topdog/Underdog
Musical revivals 1776 Camelot Dancin' Into the Woods Parade Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Winners and nominees The nominees for the 76th Tony Awards were announced on May 2, 2023 by Lea Michele and Myles Frost. The year's nominations included several non-binary performers, with J. Harrison Ghee (for Some Like It Hot) and Alex Newell (for Shucked) becoming the first two non-binary performers to be nominated for performances in the same year and ultimately winning in their respective categories, while others, such as Justin David Sullivan (from & Juliet), opted out of Tony consideration due to their gendered categories, urging awards shows to "expand their reach". On their nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, Newell noted the genderless nature of the term "actor", hence their decision to be included for Tony consideration.
The musical Some Like It Hot led the nominations, with 13 nominations, while Ain't No Mo' and Leopoldstadt tied for the most nominations for a play, each receiving six.
Competitive awards Winners for each award are listed first and highlighted in boldface type.
Best Play ‡Best Musical ‡ Leopoldstadt Ain't No Mo' Between Riverside and Crazy Cost of Living Fat Ham Kimberly Akimbo & Juliet New York, New York Shucked Some Like It HotBest Revival of a Play ‡Best Revival of a Musical ‡ Topdog/Underdog A Doll's House The Piano Lesson The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window Parade Camelot Into the Woods Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet StreetBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a PlaySean Hayes – Good Night, Oscar as Oscar Levant Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – Topdog/Underdog as Booth Corey Hawkins – Topdog/Underdog as Lincoln Stephen McKinley Henderson – Between Riverside and Crazy as Pops Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman as Willy LomanJodie Comer – Prima Facie as Tessa Ensler Jessica Chastain – A Doll's House as Nora Helmer Jessica Hecht – Summer, 1976 as Alice Audra McDonald – Ohio State Murders as Suzanne AlexanderBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a MusicalJ. Harrison Ghee – Some Like It Hot as Jerry/Daphne Christian Borle – Some Like It Hot as Joe/Josephine Josh Groban – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Sweeney Todd Brian d'Arcy James – Into the Woods as The Baker Ben Platt – Parade as Leo Frank Colton Ryan – New York, New York as Jimmy DoyleVictoria Clark – Kimberly Akimbo as Kimberly Levaco Annaleigh Ashford – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Mrs. Nellie Lovett Sara Bareilles – Into the Woods as The Baker's Wife Lorna Courtney – & Juliet as Juliet Capulet Micaela Diamond – Parade as Lucille FrankBest Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play Brandon Uranowitz – Leopoldstadt as Ludwig Jakobovicz/Nathan Fischbein Jordan E. Cooper – Ain't No Mo' as Peaches Samuel L. Jackson – The Piano Lesson as Doaker Charles Arian Moayed – A Doll's House as Torvald Helmer David Zayas – Cost of Living as Eddie Miriam Silverman – The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window as Mavis Parodus Bryson Katy Sullivan – Cost of Living as Ani Kara Young – Cost of Living as Jess Nikki Crawford – Fat Ham as Tedra Crystal Lucas-Perry – Ain't No Mo' as Passenger #5Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Alex Newell – Shucked as Lulu Kevin Cahoon – Shucked as Peanut Justin Cooley – Kimberly Akimbo as Seth Weetis Kevin Del Aguila – Some Like It Hot as Osgood Fielding III Jordan Donica – Camelot as Sir Lancelot du Lac Bonnie Milligan – Kimberly Akimbo as Aunt Debra Julia Lester – Into the Woods as Little Red Riding Hood Ruthie Ann Miles – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as The Beggar Woman NaTasha Yvette Williams – Some Like It Hot as Sweet Sue Betsy Wolfe – & Juliet as Anne Hathaway/AprilBest Direction of a PlayBest Direction of a Musical Patrick Marber – Leopoldstadt Saheem Ali – Fat Ham Jo Bonney – Cost of Living Jamie Lloyd – A Doll's House Stevie Walker-Webb – Ain't No Mo' Max Webster – Life of Pi Michael Arden – Parade Lear deBessonet – Into the Woods Casey Nicholaw – Some Like it Hot Jack O'Brien – Shucked Jessica Stone – Kimberly AkimboBest Book of a MusicalBest Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre Kimberly Akimbo – David Lindsay-Abaire & Juliet – David West Read New York, New York – David Thompson and Sharon Washington Shucked – Robert Horn Some Like It Hot – Matthew López and Amber Ruffin |valign="top" | Kimberly Akimbo – Jeanine Tesori (music) and David Lindsay-Abaire (lyrics) Almost Famous – Tom Kitt (music and lyrics) and Cameron Crowe (lyrics) KPOP – Helen Park and Max Vernon (music and lyrics) Shucked – Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally (music and lyrics) Some Like It Hot – Marc Shaiman (music and lyrics) and Scott Wittman (lyrics) |- !Best Scenic Design of a Play !Best Scenic Design of a Musical |- |valign="top" | Andrzej Goulding and Tim Hatley – Life of Pi Miriam Buether – Prima Facie Rachel Hauck – Good Night, Oscar Richard Hudson – Leopoldstadt Dane Laffrey and Lucy Mackinnon – A Christmas Carol Beowulf Boritt – New York, New York Mimi Lien – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Michael Yeargan and 59 Productions – Camelot Scott Pask – Shucked Scott Pask – Some Like It HotBest Costume Design of a PlayBest Costume Design of a Musical Brigitte Reiffenstuel – Leopoldstadt Nick Barnes, Finn Caldwell, and Tim Hatley – Life of Pi Dominique Fawn Hill – Fat Ham Emilio Sosa – Ain't No Mo' Emilio Sosa – Good Night, Oscar Gregg Barnes – Some Like It Hot Sophia Choi and Clint Ramos – KPOP Susan Hilferty – Parade Jennifer Moeller – Camelot Paloma Young – & Juliet Donna Zakowska – New York, New YorkBest Lighting Design of a PlayBest Lighting Design of a Musical Tim Lutkin – Life of Pi Neil Austin – Leopoldstadt Natasha Chivers – Prima Facie Jon Clark – A Doll's House Bradley King – Fat Ham Jen Schriever – Death of a Salesman Ben Stanton – A Christmas Carol Natasha Katz – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Ken Billington – New York, New York Lap Chi Chu – Camelot Heather Gilbert – Parade Howard Hudson – & Juliet Natasha Katz – Some Like It HotBest Sound Design of a PlayBest Sound Design of a Musical Carolyn Downing – Life of Pi Jonathan Deans and Taylor Williams – Ain't No Mo' Joshua D. Reid – A Christmas Carol Ben Ringham and Max Ringham – A Doll's House Ben Ringham and Max Ringham – Prima Facie Nevin Steinberg – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Kai Harada – New York, New York Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann – Into the Woods Gareth Owen – & Juliet John Shivers – ShuckedBest ChoreographyBest Orchestrations Casey Nicholaw – Some Like It Hot Steven Hoggett – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Susan Stroman – New York, New York Jennifer Weber – & Juliet Jennifer Weber – KPOP Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen – Some Like It Hot John Clancy – Kimberly Akimbo Sam Davis and Daryl Waters – New York, New York Dominic Fallacaro and Bill Sherman – & Juliet Jason Howland – Shucked
‡ The award is presented to the producer(s) of the musical or play.
Non-competitive awards