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Tony Awards
Tony Awards

10 Fun Facts About The 2024 Tony Awards

The 77th Annual Tony Awards air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ Sunday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Before the big show, hosted by Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, POTUS star Julianne Hough and Freestyle Love Supreme’s Utkarsh Ambudkar will host Tony Awards: Act One, a live preshow on Pluto TV at 6:30 p.m. ET.

This year there were 39 new productions mounted on Broadway: 22 musicals and 17 plays. Here are 10 other fun facts before heading into awards show night!


Ariana DeBose at the 76th Annual Tony Awards. Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.
Ariana DeBose at the 76th Annual Tony Awards. Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.

Hot Stuff

Oscar winner Ariana DeBose is in high demand, and this marks her third time in a row hosting the Tonys. The actress, Tony Award–nominated in 2018 for her role as Disco Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, first showed off her hosting chops in 2022 at Radio City Music Hall. Last year, she took the show to the United Palace Theatre without a script, since the writer’s strike coincided with the show. That’s when she high-kicked her way into star power with her tour-de-force opening dance overture. This year, the show has moved again to the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. It marks DeBose’s triumphant return to Lincoln Center following her solo concert debut David Geffen Hall last year. And she won an Academy Award for her portrayal as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, which takes place on the same grounds where Lincoln Center was built.


Shoshana Bean, Eden Espinosa, and Lindsay Mendez in <i>Wicked</i>.
Shoshana Bean, Eden Espinosa, and Lindsay Mendez in Wicked.

Their Future Is Unlimited

Three former Elphabas from Wicked are nominated for Tony Awards this year. Eden Espinosa, nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for playing the title role in Lempicka, was the original Broadway standby in 2003, covering for Idina Menzel. She’d later return to the role numerous times, playing the role full-time on Broadway in 2006, and playing the role in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco productions. Shoshana Bean, nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Jersey in Hell’s Kitchen, joined Wicked in 2004, taking over as standby from Espinosa before replacing Menzel, becoming the second full-time Elphaba on Broadway. Lindsay Mendez, also nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Mary in Merrily We Roll Along, was Elphaba from May 2013 through February 2014, notably playing the role for the musical’s 10th anniversary performance.


Brian d'Arcy James and Jonathan Groff in Hamilton. Photos by Joan Marcus.
Brian d’Arcy James and Jonathan Groff in Hamilton. Photos by Joan Marcus.

We’ll Be Back

Two former King George IIIs return to Broadway this season and are Tony-nominated in the same category. Brian d’Arcy James, nominated for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in Days of Wine and Roses, originated Hamiltons King George III Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in 2015. When the musical transferred to Broadway, he’d already committed to starring in Broadway’s Something Rotten, so Jonathan Groff, who had replaced James in the Off-Broadway run, originated the comedic role on Broadway. He’s nominated for his role as Franklin Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along. James eventually played the role at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2017. The two remain friends and James was even at Groff’s Sardi’s portrait-reveal party just last month.


The cast of Stereophonic.
The cast of Stereophonic. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

Masquerading to the Top of the Charts

Stereophonic leads not only the play nominations this year, but it now holds the record as the most Tony Award–nominated play in history, with 13. Two acting categories have multiple nominations. Will Brill, Eli Gelb, and Tom Pecinka are nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Juliana Canfield and Sarah Pidgeon are nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play. It’s also one of a few plays in history that has been nominated for best score and orchestrations. Slave Play, which was part of the 2019–2020 season, previously held that title with 12 nominations.


Lindsay Mendez, Jonathan Groff, and Daniel Radcliffe in Merrily We Roll Along. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Lindsay Mendez, Jonathan Groff, and Daniel Radcliffe in Merrily We Roll Along. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Merrily It Rolls Along

When Merrily We Roll Along first debuted on Broadway in 1981 at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon), it infamously was a critical and financial failure. It closed 12 days after it opened. The run only garnered one Tony Award nomination, for composer Stephen Sondheim, who was nominated for best original score, though he didn’t win. (Nine by Maury Yeston won that year.) This year, the production came back to Broadway in a revival for the ages, now a critically acclaimed musical and box office smash. It is nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Orchestrations (Jonathan Tunick, nominated in this category, also did the original), and Best Sound Design of a Musical. Its three stars — Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez — all scored noms.


Daniel Radcliffe at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.
Daniel Radcliffe at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.

How to Advance in the Mailroom

Daniel Radcliffe, despite marking his fifth Broadway show in Merrily We Roll Along, has never earned a Tony nomination until now, for his portrayal of Charley Kringas. The Harry Potter icon made his Broadway debut in Equus back in 2008. In 2011, he led the company in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, his first Broadway musical. The Cripple of Inishmaan was added to his credits in 2014, followed by The Lifespan of a Fact in 2018.


Kara Young in Clyde's, Cost of Living, and Purlie Victorious. Photos by Joan Marcus, Julieta Cervantes, and Marc J. Franklin.
Kara Young in Clyde’s, Cost of Living, and Purlie Victorious. Photos by Joan Marcus, Julieta Cervantes, and Marc J. Franklin.

Third Time’s the Charm

Kara Young is three for three. This year she’s nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch. It’s the third year in a row she’s been honored in the same category: In 2022, she was nominated for Clyde’s, and in 2023 she was nominated for Cost of Living.


Camille A. Brown, Jocelyn Bioh, and Whitney White at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photos by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.
Camille A. Brown, Jocelyn Bioh, and Whitney White at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photos by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.

Making History

Camille A. Brown is nominated for her fourth Tony Award — this year for Best Choreography for her work on Hell’s Kitchen. She was previously nominated in 2022 for her direction and choreography of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, and in 2019 for Choir Boy. If she wins, Brown would be the first Black woman to win the award.

Similarly, over in the play nominees, Jocelyn Bioh and Whitney White, playwright and director, respectively, of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, each received their first Tony nominations this year. If either is to win, they’ll be the first Black woman to win in their respective category, Best Play for Bioh and Best Direction of a Play for White.


Adam Guettel and Kelli O'Hara at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photo by Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.
Adam Guettel and Days of Wine and Roses star Kelli O’Hara at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photo by Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.

It Runs in the Family

Adam Guettel, nominated for Best Score for Days of Wine and Roses, is the only Tony winner who is the grandson of another winner and the son of a Tony nominee. Guettel earned two Tonys in 2005: best score and Best Orchestrations for The Light in the Piazza. His grandfather Richard Rodgers won six Tonys as a composer of shows such as South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. Guettel’s mother, Mary Rodgers (Richard’s daughter), was a 1960 Tony nominee as the composer of Once Upon a Mattress.


Shoshana Bean and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.
Shoshana Bean and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions.

Bosom Buddies

Two of the seven nominees for Best Featured Actress in a Musical went to college together. Shoshana Bean, nominated for Hell’s Kitchen, and Leslie Kritzer, nominated for Spamalot, graduated in the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s class of 1999.


Check out this year’s nominations here, and stay up to date on all things Tony Awards here.