We are one step closer to the elusive Tony Awards. The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing have announced that a voting period is now set for March 1–15. The 784 members of the voting body will be casting ballots for work that opened between April 2019 and February 2020.
Though Broadway remained open through March 12 of last year, before shuttering indefinitely to slow the spread of the coronavirus, productions that opened in the weeks immediately prior to the shutdown were deemed ineligible.
A ceremony date has not yet been scheduled, however, the organizations stated that it will take place “in coordination with the reopening of Broadway.” Nominations for the Tonys, which were originally set to take place last June, were announced last October.
Now clear that the Tonys will celebrate Broadway’s return—and ideally help lure audiences back to the theater—the powers that be remain apprehensive to project a date for the show, as it is still unknown when theaters will be eligible to reopen.
With vaccine distribution underway, Dr. Anthony Fauci has suggested this coming fall as a reasonable timeline. Backstage will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes known.