Year by Year

2020 – 74TH ANNUAL TONY AWARDS

Sunday, September 26, 2021
Winter Garden Theatre
Broadcast on Paramount+ and CBS

Executive Producers: Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss
Director: Glenn Weiss
Musical Direction: Patrick Vaccariello
Writer: Dave Boone
Creative Consultants: Sammi Cannold, Sergio Trujillo, Schele Williams

Hosts

Audra McDonald
Leslie Odom. Jr.

Presenters

Annaleigh Ashford, Jon Batiste, Erich Bergen, Stephanie J. Block, Wayne Brady, Kerry Butler, Darren Criss, Robin de Jesús, André De Shields, Beanie Feldstein, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jordan Fisher, Santino Fontana, Andrew Garfield, Mandy Gonzalez, Josh Groban, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Monroe Iglehart, Amber Iman, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, LaChanze, Cyndi Lauper, Norm Lewis, John Lithgow, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Debra Messing, Ruthie Ann Miles, Patina Miller, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lynn Nottage, Bernadette Peters, Wendell Pierce, Jeremy Pope, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Chita Rivera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Lea Salonga, Black Thought, Courtney B. Vance, Adrienne Warren, and BD Wong.

Awards Presentation

Hosted by Audra McDonald
Streamed live on Paramount+

Musical Performances

• Hairspray Reunion – Marissa Jaret Winokur, Matthew Morrison, Kerry Butler, Darlene Love, and Chester Gregory from the show’s Broadway cast reunited to perform “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”
• “What I Did for Love” – Ali Stroker performed the classic A Chorus Line ballad.
• “Anyone Can Whistle” – Jennifer Nettles performed the Sondheim musical’s title song.
• “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” – Jennifer Holliday reprised her Tony-winning turn from the original cast of Dreamgirls.

The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back!

Hosted by Leslie Odom, Jr.
Broadcast on CBS

Musical Performances

• Opening: “Broadway’s Back!” – Our host’s welcome began on the street outside the Winter Garden, and continued on stage with Broadway dancers, Wicked’s Elphaba (Lindsay Pearce), The Lion King’s Mufasa (Steven Taylor), Waitress’s Jenna (Angie Schworer), and a Broadway usher (Rachelle Rak). Written by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, and Amber Ruffin.
• American Utopia – David Byrne and the company of his American Utopia celebrated their Special Tony Award by “Burning Down the House.”
• Moulin Rouge The Musical! – The Best Musical nominee (and winner) made fans feel “Welcome to the Moulin Rouge!”
• Ain't Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations – John Legend joined cast members Nicholas G. Walker, Matthew M. Redmond, James K. Harkness, Jawan M. Jackson, and Jelani Remy in “My Girl” and ”Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”
• Broadway Advocacy Coalition (Special Tony Award) - Daniel J. Watts, Jared Grimes, and a company of dancers performed “What Does Your Silence Sound Like,” and were joined by Broadway Inspirational Voices to “Make Them Hear You.”
• “Move On” – Past Tony-winners Ben Platt and Anika Noni Rose offered up a duet from Sunday in the Park with George.
• “Beautiful City” - Host Leslie Odom, Jr. and his Carnegie Mellon University classmate (and past Tony host) Josh Groban dedicated a rendition of the Godspell tune to arts educators
• Jagged Little Pill – Nominees Celia Rose Gooding, Elizabeth Stanley, and the ensemble performed “Ironic” and “All I Really Want.”
• In Memoriam – A tribute to members of the Broadway community who passed on since the June 2019 Tony Awards ceremony included Robbie Fairchild dancing to “Give My Regards to Broadway,” Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “The Impossible Dream” (“The Quest”), and Kelli O'Hara and Norm Lewis performing “Somewhere.”
• Tina – The Tina Turner Musical – Tony-winner Adrienne Warren and the company performed a medley of “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” “Simply the Best,” and, with Skye D. Turner as Young Anna Mae, “Proud Mary.”
• “It Takes Two” – A duet from the score of Into the Woods featured Tituss Burgess and Andrew Rannells.
• “You Matter to Me” – Nicolette Robinson joined her husband, Leslie Odom, Jr., in a duet from Waitress, the show in which she made her Broadway debut.
• Iconic Broadway Duets – Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel reunited to sing “For Good” from Wicked; Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal reprised “What You Own” from Rent; and Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell transported the audience on the “Wheels of a Dream” from Ragtime.
• Finale – Artists from Special Tony Award honoree Freestyle Love Supreme recapped the night’s awards and performances. The company included Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chris Jackson, Wayne Brady, Anthony Veneziale, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Chris Sullivan, Kaila Mullady, Aneesa Folds, Tarik Davis, Andrew Bancroft, James Monroe Iglehart, Ashley Perez Flanagan, and Arthur Lewis.

Additional Elements

• Immediately after accepting their medallions, winners appeared on the Tony Awards #FirstImpressionsCam presented by City National Bank and hosted by Telly Leung.

Note: The 74th Annual Tony Awards ceremony, which celebrated excellence of achievement in Broadway’s 2019–2020 season, was delayed until 2021 by the global Covid-19 pandemic.