Awarded by a panel of approximately 700 judges from various areas of the entertainment industry and press, it is generally regarded as the theatre's equivalent to the Oscars (which are awarded for excellence in film arts), the Grammys (excellence in musical performance), and the Emmys (excellence in television arts). The award was founded in 1947 by a committee of theatrical producers headed by Brock Pemberton, but not until the third awards ceremony in 1949 was the first Tony medallion actually given to award winners.
The award ceremony is broadcast on television, and includes songs from the nominated musicals, as well as video clips of or presentations about nominated plays.
Winning a Tony award in a major category (Best Play, Best Musical, Best Play Revival, Best Musical Revival, Best Actor, Best Actress) can dramatically increase a show's ticket sales. A shortlist for the award is published several weeks before the award ceremony; between then and the announcement of the winners, plays advertise how many Tonys they have been nominated for. Often this advertisement is disingenuous, critics contend, as many shows are nominated by default in years where there are few new plays and musicals.
For the purposes of the award, a "new" play or musical is one that has not previously been produced on Broadway and is not part of the "historical or popular repertoire." This phrase has been the subject of some controversy, as some shows have been ruled ineligible for the "new" categories, meaning that their authors did not have a chance to win the marquee awards of Best Play or Best Musical (or Best Score or Best Book for musicals). On the other hand, some people feel that allowing plays and musicals which are commonly produced to be eligible as new gives them an unfair advantage, because they will have benefited from additional development time as well as additional familiarity with the Tony voters. Shows recently transferred from Off-Broadway or London theater are eligible as new; so are productions based closely on movies .
Beginning with the 2006 awards, an additional category has been added (on a trial basis for the 2005-2006, 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons): Best Recreation of a Leading Role by an Actor/Actress. This category may honor actors and actresses who were cast as replacements and joined a long-running show after its official opening, and would not have otherwise had the chance to be recognized for a potentially Tony-worthy performance. This award may or may not be given in any particular year. Shows must submit replacements they deem worthy of conideration and a twenty-four-member committee of Tony voters called The Tony Awards Administration Committee must attend the shows and evaluate the performances.
No award was given in 2006, because neither of the two performers nominated (Jonathan Pryce and Harvey Fierstein) received the necessary sixteen votes for a win.
Following the 2006 Tony Awards, the Administration Committee voted unanimously to abandon the category.
2006 Tony Awards broadcast
The 2006 Tony Awards took place at Radio City Music Hall on June 11. In the United States, CBS broadcast the awards live from 8pm to 11pm Eastern time.
A complete list of nominations for the 60th annual Tony Awards, with winners shown in bold.:
