# 73rd Tony Awards
The 73rd [Tony Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-awards) honored the best of the 2018–2019 Broadway season at a ceremony held on Sunday, June 9, 2019, at [Radio City Music Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/radio-city-music-hall) in New York City, broadcast live on CBS and hosted by [James Corden](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-corden) in his second stint as emcee[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/). The musical *Hadestown* dominated the night, winning eight of its 14 nominations, including Best Musical, while Jez Butterworth's play *The Ferryman* took Best Play[2](https://playbill.com/article/inside-the-73rd-annual-tony-awards-ceremony).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | Sunday, June 9, 2019, Radio City Music Hall, New York City[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/) |
| Broadcast and host | CBS telecast; hosted by James Corden, his second time after 2016[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/) |
| Top winner | *Hadestown*: 8 wins from 14 nominations, including Best Musical[2](https://playbill.com/article/inside-the-73rd-annual-tony-awards-ceremony) |
| Best Play | *The Ferryman* by Jez Butterworth, which also won for Sam Mendes's direction and two design awards for Rob Howell[3](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/arts/hadestown-captures-8-tony-awards-including-best-musical) |
| Historic first | Ali Stroker (*Oklahoma!*) became the first person who uses a wheelchair to win a Tony Award[4](https://time.com/5603667/2019-tony-awards/) |
| Spread of awards | Winnings spread across 26 categories over a dozen shows[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/tony-awards-2019-hadestown-wins-best-musical-and-the-ferryman-snags-best-play/2019/06/09/b090b6b8-8953-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html) |
| Viewership | 5.46 million viewers, an all-time low at the time[6](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/6/24/tony-awards-2019-opinion/) |
## Production and telecast
The ceremony was presented by Tony Award Productions, the joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss served as executive producers, Weiss also directed, and the opening number was written by David Javerbaum and Tom Kitt[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/). Corden, a Tony winner himself for *One Man, Two Guvnors* (2012), opened the show with a self-referential number pitting live theater against streaming television, singing "The stage is our noble mission" while naming competing shows including *Game of Thrones*, *Fleabag*, and *The Handmaid's Tale*[4](https://time.com/5603667/2019-tony-awards/).
Performances came from the nominated musicals *Ain't Too Proud*, *Tootsie*, *Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!*, *Beetlejuice*, *The Prom*, *Hadestown*, *Kiss Me, Kate*, and *The Cher Show*, plus a rare musical segment from a play, "Rockin' Jerusalem" from *Choir Boy*[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/). The playwrights of the five Best Play nominees, [Jez Butterworth](https://www.edgepedia.org/jez-butterworth), Tarell Alvin McCraney, Taylor Mac, James Graham, and Heidi Schreck, each introduced their own work[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/). [Karen Olivo](https://www.edgepedia.org/karen-olivo), Aaron Tveit, and Danny Burstein co-hosted the Creative Arts Awards, presented before and during breaks in the telecast[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/).
## Major winners
*Hadestown*, [Anaïs Mitchell](https://www.edgepedia.org/anais-mitchell)'s adaptation of the [Orpheus and Eurydice](https://www.edgepedia.org/orpheus-and-eurydice) myth set to a New Orleans jazz sound, won Best Musical along with Best Direction of a Musical for Rachel Chavkin, Best Original Score, orchestrations, set design, lighting, sound, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for André De Shields[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/tony-awards-2019-hadestown-wins-best-musical-and-the-ferryman-snags-best-play/2019/06/09/b090b6b8-8953-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html). *The Ferryman* won four awards: Best Play, direction for [Sam Mendes](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-mendes) (his first directing Tony), and both Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design of a Play for Rob Howell[3](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/arts/hadestown-captures-8-tony-awards-including-best-musical).
In the acting categories, [Bryan Cranston](https://www.edgepedia.org/bryan-cranston) won Leading Actor in a Play for *Network*, his second acting Tony, while [Elaine May](https://www.edgepedia.org/elaine-may) (*The Waverly Gallery*), Santino Fontana (*Tootsie*), and [Stephanie J. Block](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephanie-j-block) (*The Cher Show*) were each first-time winners[3](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/arts/hadestown-captures-8-tony-awards-including-best-musical). Celia Keenan-Bolger won Featured Actress in a Play for *To Kill a Mockingbird* and Bertie Carvel won Featured Actor in a Play for *Ink*[7](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/2019-tony-awards-winners-list/).
**Best Revival winners.** Daniel Fish's revival of *Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!* won Best Revival of a Musical, with [Ali Stroker](https://www.edgepedia.org/ali-stroker) taking Featured Actress in a Musical[8](https://broadwaydirect.com/2019-tony-award-winners/). *The Boys in the Band* by Mart Crowley won Best Revival of a Play[7](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/2019-tony-awards-winners-list/).
## Milestones and speeches
Two wins carried particular weight. Ali Stroker's Featured Actress win made her the first person who uses a wheelchair to win a Tony Award, and she dedicated it to "every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation, or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena"[4](https://time.com/5603667/2019-tony-awards/). Elaine May, 87, who had last appeared on Broadway 52 years earlier, won her first acting Tony[4](https://time.com/5603667/2019-tony-awards/).
Rachel Chavkin, the only woman nominated for direction that season, used her acceptance speech to call the lack of representation of women and people of color in theater "a failure of imagination by a field whose job it is to imagine how the world could be"[4](https://time.com/5603667/2019-tony-awards/). Bryan Cranston closed his speech with "The media is not the enemy of the people. Demagoguery is the enemy of the people"[6](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/6/24/tony-awards-2019-opinion/).
## Reception and ratings
The telecast ran about three hours and drew an audience of 5.46 million viewers, an all-time low for the Tonys at the time, which a Harvard Crimson commentary attributed to competition from streaming television even as it argued the performances showed theater matching the best of television[6](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/6/24/tony-awards-2019-opinion/). Some special honorees, including Isabelle Stevenson Award recipient [Judith Light](https://www.edgepedia.org/judith-light) and Lifetime Achievement winners [Rosemary Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosemary-harris), Harold Wheeler, and [Terrence McNally](https://www.edgepedia.org/terrence-mcnally), accepted their awards off-camera, a scheduling choice that drew criticism[4](https://time.com/5603667/2019-tony-awards/). Cynthia Erivo performed "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from *The Lion King* as the In Memoriam tribute[1](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/).
## References
1. [The Tony Awards Year by Year – 2019, American Theatre Wing](https://www.tonyawards.com/history/year-by-year/2019/)
2. [Inside the 73rd Annual Tony Awards Ceremony, Playbill](https://playbill.com/article/inside-the-73rd-annual-tony-awards-ceremony)
3. ['Hadestown' captures 8 Tony Awards, including best musical, PBS NewsHour (AP)](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/arts/hadestown-captures-8-tony-awards-including-best-musical)
4. [Here Are the Best, Weirdest and Wildest Moments of the 2019 Tony Awards, Time](https://time.com/5603667/2019-tony-awards/)
5. [Tony Awards 2019: 'Hadestown' wins best musical, and 'The Ferryman' snags best play, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/tony-awards-2019-hadestown-wins-best-musical-and-the-ferryman-snags-best-play/2019/06/09/b090b6b8-8953-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html)
6. [Fewer People Are Watching The Tonys: Does it Matter?, The Harvard Crimson](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/6/24/tony-awards-2019-opinion/)
7. [73rd Annual Tony Awards List Of Winners, CBS New York](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/2019-tony-awards-winners-list/)
8. [2019 Tony Award Winners, Broadway Direct](https://broadwaydirect.com/2019-tony-award-winners/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Companies, venues, and stage institutions › Festivals, awards, and stage institutions › Major anglophone theater awards*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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