Theatre-goers will be pleased to hear that the much anticipated 2019-2020 Tony Awards will be going ahead as planned this year.
Like most of the awards ceremonies and other big events of 2020, the Tony Awards were put on hold while the pandemic was in full flow. Unlike previous years though, the ceremony will not involve a live audience, rather the awards will be presented on a live streaming platform followed by a concert showcasing some of the theatre world’s most famous musicals and artists.
The Tony Awards were first presented in April 1947, and were originally called the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre after the famous actor and theatre producer. The awards primarily focus on Broadway productions but do have an award for one regional theatre as well as several special awards such as the Tony Honours for Excellence in Theatre and the Isabelle Stevenson Award.
The engraved awards were designed in 1949 by Herman Rosse and depict a brass and bronze nickel-plated medallion sitting inside a pewter swivel, which is also nickel-plated. On the front face are the two well-known theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy and, while the reverse originally showed the profile of Antoinette Perry, it is now where the winner’s name, category and date are engraved. The black acrylic base used to bear an engraved plaque with this on. The base has also been enlarged to give a heavier and more substantial award.
The awards will take place on 26th September 2021.
