73rd Tony Awards

The Tony Award nominations were announced on April 30, 2019 by Bebe Neuwirth and Brandon Victor Dixon and broadcast on CBS.[7]

Hadestown received 14 nominations, the most of any production of the season. Ain’t Too Proud followed, with 12 nominations. The plays The Ferryman and To Kill a Mockingbird each received nine nominations.[8]

The annual Meet the Nominees Press Reception took place on May 1, 2019 at the Sofitel New York Hotel.[9] The annual Nominees Luncheon took place on May 21, 2019 at the Rainbow Room. A cocktail party was held on June 3, 2019 at the Sofitel New York Hotel to celebrate the season's Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre and Special Award recipients.[10][11]

The Creative Arts Tony Awards ceremony was presented prior to the televised award ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by Danny Burstein, Karen Olivo and Aaron Tveit. The awards presented include honorary awards and technical categories.[12]

The ceremony's presenters included:[13][14]

The following shows and performers performed on the ceremony's telecast:[15][16]

The playwrights of the nominated plays spoke of their work. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter "Presenting the play nominees has always been the telecast's biggest challenge, and having the writers themselves take the stage to discuss the genesis and themes of their work felt particularly appropriate in such an uncommonly strong season for new plays. It helped that they were so entertaining."[17] The playwrights included James Graham (Ink), Jez Butterworth (The Ferryman), Tarell Alvin McCraney (Choir Boy), Taylor Mac (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus) and Heidi Schreck (What the Constitution Means to Me).[18]

During the broadcast's commercial breaks, Corden started Broadway Karaoke, whereby Broadway performers in the audience would karaoke a show tune without preplanning or rehearsal.[19] Equipped with a songbook, microphone, and with a pianist to accompany, Corden would pick various stars to sing during three of the telecast commercials.[19] Although the performances weren't broadcast, audience members and Corden's own film crew recorded the proceedings with some videos being posted online.[20] Corden, whose own late-night show has a successful and similar ongoing segment, Carpool Karaoke, which led to television's Carpool Karaoke: The Series, revealed the scheme on his show the following night of the Tonys.[19]

The first of three karaokes was Dear Evan Hansen‘s Ben Platt who sang “Tomorrow” from Annie.[21] During the next karaoke break was a performance of “96,000” from In the Heights by the upcoming film's Anthony Ramos who plays Usnavi, who was soon duetting with Christopher Jackson, who originated the role of Benny.[22] The third performance was a “showstopper” shared by Corden on his show the next night, weaving online videos as well as from his own crew.[20] Toward the end of the show he approached Pose’s Billy Porter, who garnered media attention for his red and pink haute couture gown upcycled from Kinky Boots’ curtains, to deliver what Corden said was an incredible performance of “Everything's Coming up Roses“ from Gypsy,[20] which received a standing ovation from the roughly 6,000 attendees.[23]

Of the ten nominated musicals, Be More Chill was the only one to not have a performance or segment on the telecast. Host Corden, with Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles, performed a parody of "Michael in the Bathroom", a song from the show.[35] Joe Iconis, the show's composer and sole Tony nominee, praised the parody for giving the show exposure on a large scale, but the award ceremony was nevertheless criticized by fans for not crediting the source material.[36][37] New York Post‘s Riedel noted Broadway League chief Charlotte St. Martin talked about the importance of getting young people to the theater, while the ceremony almost entirely ignored a show about teenagers whose target audience was mostly teenagers.[38] The day after the ceremony, both Corden and Groban credited the show.[39] St. Martin said, "We are doing everything we can to rectify [the situation]."[40] CBS's Facebook post of the number was later revised to credit Iconis and Be More Chill as the parody's source.

The ceremony averaged a Nielsen 4.3 ratings/8 share,[41] and was watched by 5.4 million viewers.[42] The ratings was a 10 percent decrease from previous ceremony's viewership of 6.3 million, becoming the lowest in its entire history.[43]