Nominations for the 74th annual Tony Awards will be revealed October 15, organizers said Thursday. The announcement will be hosted by James Monroe Iglehart and stream live on the Tony Awards YouTube channel at noon ET/9 a.m. PT.
Eighteen Broadway productions are eligible for this year’s Tony competition, a figure that is significantly lower than last year’s pre-coronavirus pandemic 34 eligible shows. The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, which put on the show, said in August that the Tonys will be presented digitally this year, with the COVID-19 lockdown shuttering Broadway’s doors on March 12.
The Tonys had been scheduled for June 7 at New York’s Radio City Musical Hall with its usual live broadcast on CBS, but the shutdown of Broadway as COVID-19 gripped New York City and the world made it impossible to go forward. There’s still no date for this year’s virtual ceremony; the 2019 noms and ceremony were separated by 41 days.
The Tony Awards Nominating Committee will meet to vote on this year’s nominations on Tuesday.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize Broadway’s magnificent work of during the 2019-2020 season,” said Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, and Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League, in announcing the noms date today. “Our Broadway community has been incredibly resilient during this difficult time, and we look forward to paying tribute to the performers and artists.”
The official eligibility cutoff date for Tony consideration was February 19, 2020, for all Broadway productions opening in the 2019-2020 season. Three high-profile productions that had already began performances prior to the shutdown — West Side Story, Girl From the North Country and Six — are not eligible because not enough Tony voters had been invited.
Variety was the first out with the noms date news today.