The show will go on—finally. After postponing the Tony Awards indefinitely back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the American Theatre Wing has announced that the 2019–20 Broadway season will be recognized with a digital ceremony at a to-be-announced date this fall.
Other details for the 74th annual ceremony are still being parsed, including a platform for the event, as well as when and how nominations will be announced. However, the Tony Awards Administration Committee has issued a Feb. 19 eligibility cutoff, meaning only the shows that opened on or before that date will be in contention. (The season began on May 30, 2019, with “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.”)
An Updated List of Awards Shows Canceled or Postponed Due to COVID-19 That ruling, most notably, excludes two of the season’s shows that did get to officially open before Broadway shut down on March 12: “West Side Story” and “Girl From the North Country.” The decision is due to the fact that many Tony nominators traditionally attend performances in the immediate days and weeks following opening; since those two shows had only just opened (“West Side” on Feb. 20 and “Girl” on March 5), it was determined that not enough of the voting body had a chance to see them.
Several of the season’s plays and musicals were in the midst of or just about to begin preview performances at the time of the shutdown on March 12. All of them—including “Six,” which was slated to open that very night—are not eligible.
The Feb. 19 cutoff slims the already-anemic musical category to just four contenders: “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” “Jagged Little Pill,” “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” and “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.” It also means that there will be no eligible musical revivals this season.
On the play front, the lineup is more robust, as a number of productions completed limited runs in the fall and winter. Among the 10 contenders for best new play are “The Inheritance,” “The Sound Inside,” “Sea Wall/A Life,” and “Slave Play.” For best revival, there are just four contenders, including “Betrayal” and “A Soldier’s Play.”
If previous seasons’ rules hold true, categories with more than nine eligible contenders must automatically nominate five of them; categories with four eligible contenders must only nominate three, unless “difference in votes between the third-highest-ranked show and the fourth-highest-ranked show is 10% or less.”
Some categories this year, such as best original score, which only has one contender—“The Lightning Thief”—will either nominate that property and award a default win or simply forgo the category.
“Though unprecedented events cut the Broadway season short, it was a year full of extraordinary work that deserves to be recognized,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, in a statement. “The show must go on, no matter what—and it will.”
The Tonys had originally been scheduled to occur June 7 at Radio City Music Hall, to be broadcast on CBS. It is unclear at this time if CBS will air this year’s ceremony.
Looking for remote work? Backstage has got you covered! Click here for auditions you can do from home!