Tony Awards Fun Facts

On the eve of the 2015 Tony Awards this coming weekend, it is time to enjoy a few fun facts about the most prestigious awards on Broadway. Disclaimer: not all of these facts are “fun”, but if you love theatre you should at least find some of them interesting!

Did you know?

• The Tony’s are named after the co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, Antoinette “Tony” Perry (1888-1946).
• Mel Brooks’ The Producers holds the record for a musical winning the most Tony’s (12 awards from 15 nominations).
• Stephen Sondheim has won more Tony’s than any other composer (8).
• Neil Patrick Harris has hosted the Tony’s four times and ironically won an Emmy Award for hosting the Tony’s!
• Harold “Hal” Prince has won the most Tony’s of anyone (21).
• The first Tony Awards ceremony was held at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel in 1947. Today the Tony’s are held at Radio City Music Hall.
• Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman won the Tony for Best Play in 1949 and again won Tony’s for Best Revival in 1984, 1999 and 2012.
• Over the decades there have been a total of 10 ties for Tony Awards.
• The most Tony Awards won by a play was 7 (Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia, 2007).
• Off Broadway shows are not eligible for a Tony Award nomination.
• In 2011, The Scottsboro Boys received 12 Tony Award nominations and now holds the record for the most nominations without taking home a single Tony.
• There are currently 844 Tony Award voters. Of these, most live in or close to New York City and about 100 to 150 voters abstain each year.
• In 2004, I Am My Own Wife became Broadway’s only monodrama to win a Tony Award for Best Play. Actor Jefferson Mays also won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play as the only actor in the play!
• In its first year in 1947, attending the Tony’s cost only $7 and anyone could buy a ticket.