76th Tony Awards
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.
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, 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 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 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. 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 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 playsAin't No Mo'Between Riverside and CrazyA Christmas CarolThe CollaborationCost of LivingFat HamGood Night, OscarThe Kite RunnerLeopoldstadtLife of PiMike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the PoolPeter Pan Goes WrongPictures from HomePrima FacieSummer, 1976The Thanksgiving PlayWalking with Ghosts
;Original musicals& JulietAlmost FamousBad CinderellaA Beautiful NoiseKimberly AkimboKPOPNew York, New YorkShuckedSome Like It Hot
;Play revivalsA Doll's HouseDeath of a SalesmanOhio State MurdersThe Piano LessonThe Sign in Sidney Brustein's WindowTopdog/Underdog
;Musical revivals1776CamelotDancin'Into the WoodsParade
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 and Alex Newell 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, 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.the producer of the musical or play.
Shows with multiple nominations and awards
| Awards | Production |
| 5 | Kimberly Akimbo |
| 4 | Leopoldstadt |
| 4 | Some Like It Hot |
| 3 | Life of Pi |
| 2 | Parade |
| 2 |
Presenters and performers
Act One:| Names | Notes |
| Kelly Coffey, CEO of City National Bank | presented Regional Theatre Tony Award to Pasadena Playhouse |
| Lin-Manuel Miranda | presented Special Tony Award to John Kander |
| Denée Benton | presented Excellence in Theatre Education Award |
| Annaleigh Ashford | presented Isabelle Stevenson Award to Jerry Mitchell |
| Jennifer Grey | presented Special Tony Award to Joel Grey |
Main Show:
Performances
The following shows and performers performed on the ceremony's telecast:
| Names | Song |
| New York, New York | "Cheering for Me Now" / "Theme from New York, New York" |
| Camelot | "C'est Moi" / "The Lusty Month of May" / "If Ever I Would Leave You" / "Camelot " |
| & Juliet | "Roar" |
| Some Like It Hot | "Some Like It Hot" |
| Into the Woods | "It Takes Two" |
| Ariana DeBose and Julianne Hough | "Hot Honey Rag" |
| Parade | "This Is Not Over Yet" |
| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" |
| A Beautiful Noise | "Sweet Caroline" |
| Joaquina Kalukango | "Wishing You Were Here Somehow Here Again" |
| Kimberly Akimbo | "Anagram" |
| Shucked | "Corn" / "Independently Owned" / "Somebody Will" / "Woman of the World" |
| Funny Girl | "Don't Rain On My Parade" – |
Reception
Critical reception
Many reviewers gave praise to the event for its ability to persist and make an entertaining show in spite of the fallout from the WGA strike. Neal Justin of the Star Tribune gave praise to DeBose's performance in the show and also added that "theater lovers may no longer be able to see that chandelier drop at the Majestic Theater in New York, but the Tonys ceremony on Sunday evening proved there was still plenty of reasons for viewers to make the trip East." Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times applauded the recognition to writers made throughout the event and stated that without pre-written scripts, "theater people were allowed to be theater people." McNulty also gave praise to the event for its social justice messaging. Writing for The Washington Post, Peter Marks described the show as "akin to a kitchen accidentally creating a great dish by leaving out a classic ingredient," and echoed similar statements by McNulty, adding that the show demonstrated to actors, audiences, and writers to "let theater be theater." Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter described the show as a much-needed victory for Broadway theater.Though the show was generally praised, some criticized the unscripted show; Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post dismissed the unscripted joint as "sleepy," and "cringeworthy," adding that the show lacked any of the typical banter and skits due to lack of written lines. Matthew Huff of Parade, though generally complimentary of the show, criticized the awkward transitions that resulted from going unscripted.
Audience reaction and ratings
During the airing of the event, viewers on Paramount+ complained that instead of seeing the 76th Tony Awards, they instead were shown footage of the previous years' Tony Awards. It was later revealed that this was due to confusion over Paramount+ subscription levels; the 76th Tony Awards were only available to premium users, leaving those who weren't only with the 75th. The distinction was not made in any of the Tony Awards' press release, resulting in viewers and news outlets being unaware of that the 2023 version was a premium only service. Further confusion ensued as DeBose hosted both the 2022 and 2023 events.The 76th Tony Awards accumulated 4.3 million viewers, earning it the title as the most viewed Tony Awards since 2019. According to CBS, based on data from Paramount+, the show was also the most live streamed show ever, with a 13% streaming increase compared to 2022. Act one became the most watched live event in Pluto TV's history. The increase was notable in a time when general viewership for live U.S. television events has been declining while the Super Bowl, Oscars and Grammys were streaking in annual ratings rebound since the previous year. While the 76th Tony Awards was the third least viewed Tony Awards show since records began, it is so far the largest viewership for the Tony Awards since its switch to live coast-to-coast U.S. telecasts the year prior, and marked the first time the Tony Awards experienced consecutive years of ratings increase since the 63rd Tony Awards in 2009.
''In Memoriam''
Actor Joaquina Kalukango performed "Wishing You Were Here Somehow Here Again" From The Musical The Phantom of the Opera.- Harry Belafonte
- Peggy Hickey
- Julie Hughes
- Mary Alice
- Eugene Lee
- Chase Mishkin
- Barry Humphries
- Lucy Simon
- Michael Feingold
- Robert LuPone
- Susan L. Schulman
- Chaim Topol
- Douglas McGrath
- Adrian Hall
- Everett Quinton
- James Rado
- Howie Jones
- Pat Carroll
- Robin Wager
- Peter Brook
- Steve Fickinger
- Charles Kimbrough
- Mario Fratti
- Melinda Dillon
- Max Woodward
- Perry Cline
- Michael Callan
- Seymour "Red" Press
- Marva Hicks
- Robert Kalfin
- Larry Storch
- Cynthia Weil
- Burt Bacharach
- Todd Haimes
- Frank Galati
- Edward Payson Call
- Ben Lipitz
- Don Sebesky
- Barbara Bryne
- Carole Cook
- Raquel Welch
- Paul Sorvino
- Tina Turner
- Angela Lansbury