The Tony Awards on Sunday night will feature first-time hosts, a strong set of British nominees and an appearance from Bruce Springsteen. The show does not have a clear favourite, such as Hamilton in 2016, to take the lion’s share of the prizes.
Springsteen, who will receive a special award for his sold-out one-man Broadway show, attended the four-hour rehearsal on Sunday morning and electrified a sleepy crowd when he performed one song. He departed to a standing ovation.
It was a reminder that Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles will face a big test when they co-host the CBS telecast from the 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
In the era of #MeToo, major awards shows such as the Oscars and Golden Globes have acknowledged the issue of sexual misconduct and abuse of power. Bareilles and Groban will try to do that while avoiding any memory of last year’s host, Kevin Spacey, who has been accused by at least 24 men of sexual misconduct or assault.
The pair will also hope to end a ratings slide following the 2016 edition that was dominated by Hamilton, which drew 8.73 million viewers. Spacey’s ceremony last year drew 6 million, a drop of approximately 31%.
The show will be a victory lap for a Broadway season that saw grosses hit a record high of $1.7bn, up 17.1%. Attendance was up, at 13.79 million, an increase of 3.9%.
Producers will be thankful the telecast will not have to compete with the NBA finals or Stanley Cup playoffs, as both sports titles have been decided. Stars expected to be on hand on the night include Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, Billy Joel, Carey Mulligan, Jim Parsons and Kerry Washington.
The Sunday dress rehearsal normally has few actual stars in attendance but this year A-listers including Springsteen, Tina Fey, Kelli O’Hara, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Leguizamo and Tituss Burgess were there. The audience also cheered loudly when Patti Lupone, Uzo Aduba, Ming-Na Wen, Melissa Benoist, Tatiana Maslany, Christopher Jackson, James Monroe Iglehart and Rachel Brosnahan appeared.
Among British talent, four men – Jamie Parker (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Mark Rylance (Farinelli and the King), Tom Hollander (Travesties) and Andrew Garfield (Angels in America) – will compete against one American, Denzel Washington (The Iceman Cometh), for the best actor award.
Glenda Jackson is up for best actress for Three Tall Women, her return to Broadway after three decades. She is up against Amy Schumer (Meteor Shower), Condola Rashād (Saint Joan) and Lauren Ridloff (Children of a Lesser God).
Two new productions lead nominations for best musical, the top Tony, with Tina Fey’s Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants receiving 12 each. Many critics have, however, made The Band’s Visit the odds-on favourite.
Among plays, Angels in America – a National Theatre production – has 11 nominations and Harry Potter has 10.
Viewers will see performances from The Band’s Visit, Carousel, Frozen, Mean Girls, My Fair Lady, Once on This Island, SpongeBob SquarePants and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.