The Ensemblist

Welcome listeners to a new mini-series, bringing you all the drama behind the drama of a theatre season in Broadway history. In each podcast episode, we will watch a Tony telecast and then delve to the theatre season. We will each have the following week to research the season as a whole and then bring you our most surprising findings about how the telecast did and didn’t reflect the year on Broadway.  To join us for our first Tonys recap, be sure to watch the 1991 Tony Awards...

After two years at New York’s Beacon Theatre, the 2013 Tonys were broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall. From the moment the nominations were announced, the ceremony seemed destined to be a showdown between Kinky Boots and Matilda The Musical, with revivals of Pippin, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s CInderella and The Mystery of Edwin Drood following close behind. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the ceremony featured one of the most lauded openings in Tony Awards History, titled “Bigger...

After two years at New York’s Beacon Theatre, the 2013 Tonys were broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall. From the moment the nominations were announced, the ceremony seemed destined to be a showdown between Kinky Boots and Matilda The Musical, with revivals of Pippin, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s CInderella and The Mystery of Edwin Drood following close behind. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the ceremony featured one of the most lauded openings in Tony Awards History, titled “Bigger...

The 52nd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 7, 1998 at Radio City Music Hall. Hosted by Rosie O’Donnell for the second year in a row, Going into the ceremony, Ragtime led the pack with 13 nominations, followed by The Lion King with 11. The acclaimed Roundabout Theatre Company revival had 10 nominations, with Side Show and The Scarlet Pimpernel as new musicals, and 1776 and The Sound of Music as revivals...

The 42nd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 5, 1998 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre and hosted by Angela Lansbury, at that time a four-time Tony Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical. Heading into the ceremony there were three shows tied for the most nominations: Into the Woods, The Phantom of the Opera and the Patti LuPone-helmed Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes. The season’s other two nominated new musicals, Romance/Romance and Sarafina! Both had five nominations...

The 42nd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 5, 1998 at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre and hosted by Angela Lansbury, at that time a four-time Tony Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical. Heading into the ceremony there were three shows tied for the most nominations: Into the Woods, The Phantom of the Opera and the Patti LuPone-helmed Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes. The season’s other two nominated new musicals, Romance/Romance and Sarafina! Both had five nominations...

The 63rd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 7, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall and hosted for the first time by Neil Patrick Harris. Heading into the ceremony, Billy Elliot the Musical led the pack with 15 nominations, followed by 11 for Next to Normal and 8 for Shrek The Musical. The Public Theatre revival of Hair led the revivals, also with 8 nominations. Also in the running for Best Musical and Best Musical Revival were Rock of Ages, Guys and Dolls, Pal Joey and West Side Story.

The 63rd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 7, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall and hosted for the first time by Neil Patrick Harris. Heading into the ceremony, Billy Elliot the Musical led the pack with 15 nominations, followed by 11 for Next to Normal and 8 for Shrek The Musical. The Public Theatre revival of Hair led the revivals, also with 8 nominations. Also in the running for Best Musical and Best Musical Revival were Rock of Ages, Guys and Dolls, Pal Joey and West Side Story.

The 36th Annual Tony Awards were held on June 6, 1982 and hosted by Tony Randall. That season, there were a number of Broadway theatres being demolished to make way for the Marriott Marquis, so the theme of the telecast was to celebrate a great Broadway theatre at the home of that night’s celebration: the Imperial. Going into the Awards ceremony, Dreamgirls led the pack with 13 nominations, followed closely by 12 nominations for Nine...

The 58th Annual Tony Awards were held June 6, 2004 at Radio City Music Hall with Hugh Jackman as the host, also a nominee this year for portraying fellow Aussie Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. Leading the pack this year was Ozian juggernaut Wicked with 10 nominations, followed by six for Avenue Q, five for The Boy From Oz and six for Caroline, or Change...