An aerial view of the 64th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall
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The Amazing Writers Guild of America denied a waiver request to allow the Tony Awards to air on CBS and to air on Paramount Channel+ on June 11, Hollywood Reporter to learn.
This week, this season’s Tony Awards management committee — which consists of eight representatives from the Broadway League, including chairwoman Charlotte St. Martin and well-known producers Jordan Roth and Scott Sanders, and eight representatives from the American theater wing, including chairwoman Heather Hitchens —filed a formal petition. to the Writers Guild for obtaining such a waiver, noting how much financially struggling Broadway shows depend on exposure from the Tonys’ telecasts to get a bump at the box office. (This season, shows suspended in hopes of bouncing the Tonys include front-running musical performances Some like it hot And Kimberly Akimbo and theatrical Leopoldstadt.)
The management committee has scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday morning to determine the best course of action forward.
The two alternative courses of action being evaluated appear to be: (a) sticking to the June 11 date and making a non-televised presentation of the awards, perhaps in the form of an intimate dinner or press conference in the presence of the nominees and the media; or (b) postpone the concert until the strike is over and the performance can be televised.
Representatives of the Broadway League, which includes many producers, theater owners, and operators, tend to support the first option, as many shows may not be able to run for months on end without Tony’s clearance on their tents and promotional materials.
However, the American Theater Wing appears to be more open to a delay, as this organization is seen as the custodian of the Tony Awards brand, which a non-televised show won’t help.
While the Tony Awards honor the Broadway industry, which many in the field see as separate from the TV and film industries and still needs to show awards as part of the post-pandemic recovery, the ceremony is broadcast on CBS and Paramount+, which are members of the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance.
The 76th Annual Tony Awards are announced on June 11 at the new location of the United Palace in Washington Heights, New York City. (The ceremony has traditionally been held at Radio City Music Hall.) Ariana DeBose has been chosen to host the ceremony for the second year in a row.
The show was to be divided into two parts, with a pre-titled show Tony Awards: Act One, Live on Paramount Global’s FAST platform, Pluto TV, 6:30-8pm ET / 3:30-5pm PT. The main event is set to air on CBS, 8pm-11pm EST / 5pm-8pm PT and also streams live and on demand on Paramount+. Pre-show hosts have yet to be announced.
This is the second time in recent history that the Tony Awards have been disrupted. The 74th Tonys, honoree of the 2019-20 Broadway season, takes place in September 2021, 15 months after its original schedule. Theaters were closed for most of that time period, but the ceremony also coincided with marketing about Broadway’s comeback.
At least one other awards show has been disrupted by the WGA strike so far. The MTV Movie Awards were moved to a pre-recorded show from a live ceremony on May 7, after the WGA said it would opt for the awards show. Host Drew Barrymore also pulled out before the show switched to pre-recording, in solidarity with the WGA. Syndicate Her sit-down was cancelled After changing the format.
Caitlin Houston contributed to this story.
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