Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr. Will Host the Tony Awards

Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr. will be splitting hosting duties for the upcoming 74^th Annual Tony Awards and the special concert following on September 26. This four-hour event will be in a new format to showcase theatre after a long year without Broadway, airing live from Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre.

McDonald will host the actual awards ceremony, which will show the acting awards and much of the other prizes. The ceremony will stream exclusively on Paramount Plus at 7 p.m.

Following the ceremony, Odom will be hosting a live concert event “The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back” from 9-11 p.m. This concert will air on CBS, featuring performances by Broadway favorites, with the three nominees for Best Musical, Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge! and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical performing as well as the presentation for the awards Best Play, Best Revival of a Play and Best Musical.

Nominees for the ceremony were announced in October of last year and voted on in March. Since Broadway shuttered in March 2020, there were only 18 eligible shows for nominations, compared to 34 shows the year before.

“While we look back, my greatest hope is that this event marks the beginning of a new era for Broadway — one with renewed commitment to inclusivity and belonging as well as appreciation for the sacred experience of live theater,” McDonald said in a statement.

“Broadway is a part of my DNA, and I’m so thrilled to see it open back up again,” Odom said. “There are so many talented artists going back to work and doing what they love for audiences who have missed these tremendous performances.”

Not everyone is happy about the new format for the ceremony. Theatre fans expressed their anger on social media. The #TonyAwards tag on Twitter revealed many people feeling frustrated about the ceremony being streamed exclusively on a paid service.

“Moving a major awards show to show exclusively on your paid subscription only streaming service is a guaranteed way to ensure I will never subscribe to said service, so congrats or something,” one Twitter user said.

“On the one hand: yes, extremely yes, to all of this. On the other: I’m still so frustrated by the majority of the #TonyAwards being put on a paid streaming service at a time when it should be made more accessible and not less. (And Audra gets shafted.)” said another.

McDonald is a six-time Tony winner, nominated again this season for her role in the revival of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” Odom won a Tony Award for his role as Aaron Burr in Hamilton and was also nominated for two Academy Awards this past year.

A limited number of tickets to the Awards will be available here starting Sept. 13.

Also by Veronica Flesher:

Reopening Broadway Strives for Inclusion and Diversity

Trans March on Broadway to Fight for Trans Visibility

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